Discussion
I am meant to be going to South Wales this weekend around 250 miles away to stay for 2 nights. I have been looking forward ages to driving the 355 down there as the family is going separately but now looking at the weather forecast it looks dreadful.
What is the recommendation here re 355 in the wet? As I see it there are two issues: firstly there is no traction control (to what extent can that be solved by sensible driving to the conditions) and secondly: I am unable to park the car under cover for the 2 nights I am there, so the car will be being rained on on and off for 48 hours.
I think I know the answer in my heart (i.e. I should take the Golf) but what's the view here?
What is the recommendation here re 355 in the wet? As I see it there are two issues: firstly there is no traction control (to what extent can that be solved by sensible driving to the conditions) and secondly: I am unable to park the car under cover for the 2 nights I am there, so the car will be being rained on on and off for 48 hours.
I think I know the answer in my heart (i.e. I should take the Golf) but what's the view here?
They spin in the wet at low speed and not especially reliable in the damp...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrkaPWtKICI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrkaPWtKICI
Yipper said:
They spin in the wet at low speed and not especially reliable in the damp...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrkaPWtKICI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrkaPWtKICI
They're perfectly useable in the wet, it's only ever the mush behind the steering wheel that's an issue, likewise a well looked after car will cause no reliability issues as the result of a few days in the damp.hunter 66 said:
Enjoy it .... that is what it is for .... will be Banned one day according to todays papers ....
^^^^^^^^ This! Enjoy!Just as a counterpoint to all those who believe that a car is only to be driven (+/- abused ), I believe that every car should be treated with due respect , and used sensibly within the limits that they were designed for .
I had my 355 gtb 2.7 for 10 years and drove it all round Europe , including in torrential rain when that was unavoidable .
Even at speed , in the wet, and on well threaded Bridgestones , it was never a problem , when driven with respect
Lack of traction control was never an issue
What I would be much more concerned (and I speak from bitter experience ), is leaving the car out in the pouring rain for 48 hours
the only time I had a breakdown in the 10 years , was following just such park-up , and it was neither cheap nor easy to fix the problem
the are vent all along the rear engine cover, and water just pours in
(with the countach, in the days when I used to take it to southern Europe , I had plastic cut-outs to try and minimise the water ingress through the vents when parked up-----much more difficult with the 355 because of the location and size and number of the vents )
these are now old cars , and need to be treated as such
Maybe ring ahead , and try and find a garage for the car
I am just planning a driving trip through Holland , Germany , Poland , Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania , and am doing just this.
Incidentally I treat my 137,000 mile 1993 series1 mx5 with just the same care ---as again its now an old and adorable girl ---and would do this for the mx5 , just as I would do it for either of the Lambos or the Porsche or the X Bow
I really do get annoyed by those who glibly say ''its just a car, so just drive it ''
Best of luck , and enjoy the w/e either way
I had my 355 gtb 2.7 for 10 years and drove it all round Europe , including in torrential rain when that was unavoidable .
Even at speed , in the wet, and on well threaded Bridgestones , it was never a problem , when driven with respect
Lack of traction control was never an issue
What I would be much more concerned (and I speak from bitter experience ), is leaving the car out in the pouring rain for 48 hours
the only time I had a breakdown in the 10 years , was following just such park-up , and it was neither cheap nor easy to fix the problem
the are vent all along the rear engine cover, and water just pours in
(with the countach, in the days when I used to take it to southern Europe , I had plastic cut-outs to try and minimise the water ingress through the vents when parked up-----much more difficult with the 355 because of the location and size and number of the vents )
these are now old cars , and need to be treated as such
Maybe ring ahead , and try and find a garage for the car
I am just planning a driving trip through Holland , Germany , Poland , Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania , and am doing just this.
Incidentally I treat my 137,000 mile 1993 series1 mx5 with just the same care ---as again its now an old and adorable girl ---and would do this for the mx5 , just as I would do it for either of the Lambos or the Porsche or the X Bow
I really do get annoyed by those who glibly say ''its just a car, so just drive it ''
Best of luck , and enjoy the w/e either way
carspath said:
Just as a counterpoint to all those who believe that a car is only to be driven (+/- abused ), I believe that every car should be treated with due respect , and used sensibly within the limits that they were designed for .
I had my 355 gtb 2.7 for 10 years and drove it all round Europe , including in torrential rain when that was unavoidable .
Even at speed , in the wet, and on well threaded Bridgestones , it was never a problem , when driven with respect
Lack of traction control was never an issue
What I would be much more concerned (and I speak from bitter experience ), is leaving the car out in the pouring rain for 48 hours
the only time I had a breakdown in the 10 years , was following just such park-up , and it was neither cheap nor easy to fix the problem
the are vent all along the rear engine cover, and water just pours in
(with the countach, in the days when I used to take it to southern Europe , I had plastic cut-outs to try and minimise the water ingress through the vents when parked up-----much more difficult with the 355 because of the location and size and number of the vents )
these are now old cars , and need to be treated as such
Maybe ring ahead , and try and find a garage for the car
I am just planning a driving trip through Holland , Germany , Poland , Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania , and am doing just this.
Incidentally I treat my 137,000 mile 1993 series1 mx5 with just the same care ---as again its now an old and adorable girl ---and would do this for the mx5 , just as I would do it for either of the Lambos or the Porsche or the X Bow
I really do get annoyed by those who glibly say ''its just a car, so just drive it ''
Best of luck , and enjoy the w/e either way
Kind of hard to enjoy the weekend if you are frantically phoning around and trying to find a garage at the slightest hint of a raincloud i'd have thought.I had my 355 gtb 2.7 for 10 years and drove it all round Europe , including in torrential rain when that was unavoidable .
Even at speed , in the wet, and on well threaded Bridgestones , it was never a problem , when driven with respect
Lack of traction control was never an issue
What I would be much more concerned (and I speak from bitter experience ), is leaving the car out in the pouring rain for 48 hours
the only time I had a breakdown in the 10 years , was following just such park-up , and it was neither cheap nor easy to fix the problem
the are vent all along the rear engine cover, and water just pours in
(with the countach, in the days when I used to take it to southern Europe , I had plastic cut-outs to try and minimise the water ingress through the vents when parked up-----much more difficult with the 355 because of the location and size and number of the vents )
these are now old cars , and need to be treated as such
Maybe ring ahead , and try and find a garage for the car
I am just planning a driving trip through Holland , Germany , Poland , Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania , and am doing just this.
Incidentally I treat my 137,000 mile 1993 series1 mx5 with just the same care ---as again its now an old and adorable girl ---and would do this for the mx5 , just as I would do it for either of the Lambos or the Porsche or the X Bow
I really do get annoyed by those who glibly say ''its just a car, so just drive it ''
Best of luck , and enjoy the w/e either way
Sorry to annoy you but it IS just a car at the end of the day, something that should be enjoyed.
No-one has mentioned abusing the car and as far as using it sensibly within the limits that they were designed for...i'm 100% sure it was designed to withstand a bit of rain.
frenmor said:
I am meant to be going to South Wales this weekend around 250 miles away to stay for 2 nights. I have been looking forward ages to driving the 355 down there as the family is going separately but now looking at the weather forecast it looks dreadful.
What is the recommendation here re 355 in the wet? As I see it there are two issues: firstly there is no traction control (to what extent can that be solved by sensible driving to the conditions) and secondly: I am unable to park the car under cover for the 2 nights I am there, so the car will be being rained on on and off for 48 hours.
I think I know the answer in my heart (i.e. I should take the Golf) but what's the view here?
Only advice is to take it easy in the wet particularly on standing water, they run a lot of rear camber and the contact patch in a straight line is not huge promoting aquaplaning at the rear, particularly if tread depths are lowWhat is the recommendation here re 355 in the wet? As I see it there are two issues: firstly there is no traction control (to what extent can that be solved by sensible driving to the conditions) and secondly: I am unable to park the car under cover for the 2 nights I am there, so the car will be being rained on on and off for 48 hours.
I think I know the answer in my heart (i.e. I should take the Golf) but what's the view here?
Drove mine in the rain and in the snow (on summer tyres, not on purpose...) and it was perfectly well behaved - it is not like it has a lot of torque low down .... Did 20-25k miles in 2.5 years and a lot of those in England, so it saw plenty of rain.
Also was parked on the road in London regularly and worked fine - it obviously got rained on a lot thanks to London weather
Don't see an issue with it personally and if I still owned it, would still drive it in all weather - probably most awesome car I ever owned
Also was parked on the road in London regularly and worked fine - it obviously got rained on a lot thanks to London weather
Don't see an issue with it personally and if I still owned it, would still drive it in all weather - probably most awesome car I ever owned
MDL111 said:
Drove mine in the rain and in the snow (on summer tyres, not on purpose...) and it was perfectly well behaved - it is not like it has a lot of torque low down .... Did 20-25k miles in 2.5 years and a lot of those in England, so it saw plenty of rain.
Also was parked on the road in London regularly and worked fine - it obviously got rained on a lot thanks to London weather
Don't see an issue with it personally and if I still owned it, would still drive it in all weather - probably most awesome car I ever owned
As my first supercar and Ferrari I can't argue with that but its only fair to look after her in old age - she was 21 in March and with 40,000 miles she likes to be treated gently nowadays. Paid £49k for her with 22k miles in 2005 and wouldn't part company with her for any moneyAlso was parked on the road in London regularly and worked fine - it obviously got rained on a lot thanks to London weather
Don't see an issue with it personally and if I still owned it, would still drive it in all weather - probably most awesome car I ever owned
carspath said:
What I would be much more concerned (and I speak from bitter experience ), is leaving the car out in the pouring rain for 48 hours
the only time I had a breakdown in the 10 years , was following just such park-up , and it was neither cheap nor easy to fix the problem
the are vent all along the rear engine cover, and water just pours in
I totally get this.... last year I was having building work done at home and so I moved my 355 out of the garage and well out of harms way, but this meant it was left outside for 5 weeks from late March until early May. I still took it for a couple of small runs in this time. But - during this time it developed an electrical fault and I can't help thinking that leaving the engine exposed to the elements didn't help at all. Thankfully I cured the problem (it was the gearbox pulse sensor) for about £150 plus a couple of hours of my time so it wasn't too bad. I also noticed that the aluminium spark plug covers got really shabby with surface pitting during this time - I ended up refurbishing them.the only time I had a breakdown in the 10 years , was following just such park-up , and it was neither cheap nor easy to fix the problem
the are vent all along the rear engine cover, and water just pours in
Had my 355 for 15 years, driven it in any weather all over the UK. I carry an external car cover for extended stays away parked in a driveway or good hotel car park. I only use it if the weather really kicks off
http://www.carcovershop.co.uk/Breathable-All-Weath...
http://www.carcovershop.co.uk/Breathable-All-Weath...
R8Steve----I totally understand that a 355 is a car.
The point I was making is that you cannot treat it like a 2010 R8
Yes, both are cars , but one was designed to be pretty much an everyday car , and one was patently not.
This surely does not need further explanation or clarification to anyone who has had personal experience in dealing with low production volume Italian cars of the 70's ,80's or 90's (and beyond)
The OP presumably came here for some clear-headed, practical advice , and it does him no favours to bleat on about ''its just a car, so just use it ''
In my case , a 355 which had been meticulously serviced , and never gave any problems over a 10 year period , would not start after being left out (the first time during my ownership ) in the rain for 48 hours
A small amount of water had got into the electronics as well as the spark plug wells , and the cost to diagnose and repair the resultant fault came to over £2500
I believe this documented personal experience should be of greater value to the OP , in answer to his question , than a bleat
The point I was making is that you cannot treat it like a 2010 R8
Yes, both are cars , but one was designed to be pretty much an everyday car , and one was patently not.
This surely does not need further explanation or clarification to anyone who has had personal experience in dealing with low production volume Italian cars of the 70's ,80's or 90's (and beyond)
The OP presumably came here for some clear-headed, practical advice , and it does him no favours to bleat on about ''its just a car, so just use it ''
In my case , a 355 which had been meticulously serviced , and never gave any problems over a 10 year period , would not start after being left out (the first time during my ownership ) in the rain for 48 hours
A small amount of water had got into the electronics as well as the spark plug wells , and the cost to diagnose and repair the resultant fault came to over £2500
I believe this documented personal experience should be of greater value to the OP , in answer to his question , than a bleat
Yes ago I remember staying in a hotel on some Lamborghini Club UK jaunt.
We were having dinner and a lovely chap, Huw Dundas, was clearly agitated.
I couldn't understand why.
Then someone explained.
It had started to rain.
Apparently Huw's beautiful red Miura SV had never got wet before.........
Saw the same thing at Salon Prive a couple of years ago when it started to rain and people started running around a line up of £2m+ Ferraris.
Nonsense.
We were having dinner and a lovely chap, Huw Dundas, was clearly agitated.
I couldn't understand why.
Then someone explained.
It had started to rain.
Apparently Huw's beautiful red Miura SV had never got wet before.........
Saw the same thing at Salon Prive a couple of years ago when it started to rain and people started running around a line up of £2m+ Ferraris.
Nonsense.
Gassing Station | Ferrari V8 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff