Took the 991 for a run today-IMO nervous when the tyres are cold, but once WARMED up and heated in the tyres , very chuckable car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I’m not even a Porsche guy, but I like that car. Looks good. And check out how similar the wheels are to the Emiras. Nice (silver) wheels really make a car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very similar, my only issue with this car is the light colored dash-need to wear sunnies to lose the dash reflection -new cars do it so well . I'm not sure after driving this I could be bothered taking the E-type on a rally again .
Yeah mate it’s excellent. Best car I’ve owned. Still haven’t finished running it in (only done 900km) so haven’t been able to wind it out yet. Think I’ll have to take it for a drive today.
Hi Steve, so say the 355 was less expensive to maintain, is it something you could enjoy as “easily” as the lotus ?
Hi Adrian. Yes, I think so. I owned the 355 for 11 years and did nearly 40,000km in it (including four or five track days), so it certainly got driven and enjoyed, and apart from that one period where no-one could work out what the problem was with the gearchange it was very reliable. That issue wasn't the cars fault - as soon as someone came along who knew what they were doing it was solved in a day. While I say the Emira is the best car I've owned, the 355 is definitely the most "special" car I've owned. It has something about it that is hard to put your finger on. They really do look beautiful, and of course the sound is incredible. No Lotus is ever going to better that (but I'd argue most other Ferraris aren't as pretty either. Except the Mondial, of course). That said, the reactions I've been getting in the Emira have been universally positive. Every drive there are thumbs up out of windows, people with their phones out etc. The main reason I'm really glad I sold the 355 and bought the Emira is because now I'm old I want modern comfort and convenience as well as the sports car driving enjoyment. I no longer want one or the other. The Emira has everything my BMW has (including heated seats!), Apple Carplay connects within seconds and works well, all the interfaces work seamlessly with a nice mix of touchscreens and proper buttons, the heating is strong and the aircon is coooooool. There's also the fact that its one third the price of even the cheapest Ferrari, and while it'll never be a Ferrari I think it offers 90% of the experience, which makes it pretty good value IMO. And when something goes wrong instead of the dread of a looming four or five figure bill and scouring the planet for parts it'll just go back to the dealer and that will be that. Performance wise, it's definitely faster than the 355, but not by a lot. The main difference is the way the power is delivered. Below 4000rpm an old persons gopher would keep up with a 355, but above that (and especially above 5000rpm) the 355 is genuinely fast. The Emira pulls hard from 2000rpm and is very linear. I'm looking forward to taking it all the way to 7000 to see what the top end is like but the engine feels very strong. As I said when I first saw pictures of the Emira and read the specs; to me it's basically a modern 355, and now that I can compare them directly I think that's a pretty accurate assessment.
