Thoughts after one week of daily driving my 308

So it's been a little more than a week since I brought home my 308 and I've put about 500 miles on it including the 200 miles trip home from San Diego. Thought I share some early impression as this is my first Ferrari and a whole new experience.

For comparison, I should say that the car it's replacing is my '09 BMW Z4 3.0 - 6 speed. That's the one with the new body style, retractable hard top, and the smaller naturally aspirated straight 6. I love it and have since I leased it two years ago. It's great fun to drive, the top is 20 seconds up and down, and comfortable for long or short drives. If I did it again, I'd want the larger engine and sport package, but that's it.

But on to the Ferrari. It's a '84 QV GTS and I've been driving it nearly every day for the last 12 days. My intention is to use it a daily, or near daily, driver so that's I've been doing - to work, the supermarket, whereever I need to go. And through all that, I've been really pleased to find that it's been very livable. It starts up easily everytime and warms up quickly. Although I haven't done it everytime, it's clearly better to let it warm up until the idlings drops a bit before starting out. In our climate (cool at night, warm in the day) I've found that it needs a few minutes in the morning, but little to no time during the day to be ready.

My longer highway drives have been more confortable than I expected - I find the ride quite smooth (not compared to a Buick, of course, but within the sports car realm) and the seats are also more comfortable than I expected. It had no problem getting to and cruising comfortably along at 80 mph.

It's not perfect, even at only 5'-8" and 150 lbs the seats are a little narrow and the finding the right combination of seat position and recline to allow access to the clutch and wheel is tricky and still a work in progress. The steering wheel is in full up position and I'm debating dropping it a bit to make for a more comfortable driving position vs. leaving it as-is to leave more room when entering and exiting and for my left knee. Speaking of getting in and out, it's definitely an aquired skill - I've more or less got my technique down: Twist, drop and slide in; turn, legs out and heave upward to get out. Not the most graceful, but not bad.

Driving around town (Santa Barbara, in my case) is not bad at all. The lack of power steering takes some getting used, but it feels completely different to me after a week than it did at the start - much more natural as I spend time with it. That said, parallel parking is horrible. I have been fortunate when parking on the street to find spots at the end of blocks or next to no parking zones so I could just pull in or out easily but the one time I had to really go back and forth, it was nerve-wracking and exhausting! At any speed above very low, it's easy. Stop and go traffic isn't fun - mostly I feel like I'm riding the clutch too much and start seeing dollar signs, but the clutch is heavy enough to get tiring as well.

It's not terribly fast, my BMW feels faster and more nimble, but it's more engaging. I know every moment that I am controlling a mechanical object when I drive it and that it's fun in of itself. Regarding feeling fast, I realize that more engine noise can give the impression of less power (feels like engine is working harder) and this may be a factor as well. With my BMW, I can run it up to 5000 rpm and hear just a lovely hum while the 308 at 5k is roaring so that may influence the sense of speed, power, and torque.

I read alot on the forums about strangers reacting to the car, pulling alongside, and so on and have been surprised to not really observe this myself. I've gotten a few questions or comments at the gas station, but little particular attention while driving. I have noticed however, that when it's been parked on the street outside my office, many times pedestrians will stop and check it out.

That about sums up the experience so far. I drove my BMW in to work today and was surprised by how accustomed the 308 I had become. The clutch felt so light, the shifter almost too easy to move from gear to gear and I felt like I was sitting high above the road! Truth is, I'd like to keep both cars, but that doesn't make sense for me (I do have another to use when I'm not driving the 308). Toughest critic is my daughter. She loves the BMW and hates change so this is pretty tough on her. I asked her today what didn't like and she responded "it's red, it's loud, and it's too showoff-y...."

I'm happy with my choice. It was the right time to do it and fufills a long-time dream. As my Aunt and Uncle (who previously owned a GT4, jag e-type, and other great cars) said - "it's one of those 'should do in a lifetime' things" And so I have.

Hopefully this will be helpful for anyone coming along thinking about a similiar purchase - similiar threads were helpful for me. I'll try and update it periodically as I drive the car more.

 

Thanks for the responses - I am definitely enjoying the car! I'm driving it again today....

I totally agree about being a better driver, I find the the same thing. Because the car makes you think about it most all the time, I am more watchful and observant as i drive.

Now that I've got the squeaking/squealing thing figured out, I'll be comfortable running it up to higher rpm. I'm also pretty conservative as I get used to new cars so the more I drive it, the more I'll start to push it and get a feel for it's power and handling.

Regarding size and the seats. I've wouldn't mind being taller, but even back in high school, I said that at least I would be just the right size to fit in the sports cars I wanted. And the one I wanted most? Ferrari 308.

 

thanks! I'm really enjoying it, have driven all but about 4-5 days since bringing it home a little over two weeks ago. Took it for a great back roads drive with our local cars and coffee group yesterday and got to push it more than I had before. Not a prayer of keeping up with the 355's, 430's, and new 911's ahead of me, but for most of the drive I was behind my friends 328 which gave me a good idea of how hard to push and what it was capable of.

And I'm driving it to work today. Time to start checking the oil, I just realized.....

 

Yes, of course you are correct. An effortless 65 mph was obtained and maintained throughout the drive.