Hello Ferrarista, Is it only me (probably) or does anyone else out there feel less comfortable driving their F-car at night? It is often hard enough to be visable (being so low) during the day and the possibility of hitting a deer or another obstacle in the road that you simply can't see because of the darkness...like a killer pothole!! Thanx.
Only you. I drive my 328 more late at night then during the day. I like 2-3am...no traffic, no gawkers, just you and the road. That said, welcome to the site, please take your time to fill out your profile so we can get to know you.
You guys are bad !! Leave him alone......night time is difficult to drive. I personally prefer the 5/6am blast of the open road on a Sunday morning. BTW: If your have trouble driving in the dark, maybe a good idea to stop. NO?
Well he has not filled out his profile, so we do not know which fcar he is talking about. Chances are there is something we can do to help him...perhaps new brighter fog and headlights?
No he's right to exercise caution...Vincent355 mentioned it in his journey.. a neighbor's brother once hit a cow in a 240Z.. They found the cow the next day, in the road.... They found him three days later, upside down over a levee, hood crushed down on the carbs and throttle...wide open... He was killed instantly as it hit the windshield....hopefully.
Depends where and how late at night/early morning. In big cities,late evening could be a little annoying in any Exotic, because of all the wackos ,high on booze or something else,trying to race or just giving you a hard time.
What would be a good, brighter headlight be for a 308? We have a lot of deer to dodge here in Iowa. I've already had picked off two on the freeway with my truck.
Try a search .....theres some good info here on both halogen (easy) and HID (more involved) upgrades for the 3x8s.... Anyone link a thread on that?????
Old Archives SEARCH http://www.ferrarichat.com/discus/messages/256120/217706.html http://www.ferrarichat.com/discus/messages/256120/3976.html http://www.ferrarichat.com/discus/messages/256120/98730.html FYI: The lights on the 308 here have the uogrades and yes, VERY nice at night ALSO, upgrade the instrument panel bulbs and hotwire the dash dimmer to remove it from the system. Makes a HUGE difference as well.
I understand completely the fear of hitting a deer while driving on/off Skidaway Island at dusk. I always went 10 under. One guy I worked w/ at UGA hit 2 in one year. Sometimes they just run into the side of your car. Worse yet, once I slammed on brakes & barely stopped in time to avoid hitting a BOAR broadside. He didnt budge - just stood in the middle of the lane while I drove around. ½ ton of boar, back taller than my hood, would have easily totaled my RX7.
Although I drive my 355 at night time, too, lighter traffic in day time is much preferred. Visibility is always better during day time for any cars. I drive SUV as a daily, so the driver's view is quite different, and I understand Chiaroman's concern. Fortunately, 355's headlamp is comfortable enough for night time driving. It's not a problem, but my 328's dash instruments were pretty dark during the night. I like bright instruments better, so felt uncomfortable.
My recent personal experience of hitting a raccoon at 11:45 at night while doing 90+ on the Merritt Parkway here in Connecticut, has caused me to be more conservative. Now I stick to around 75-80...
I live in the Bay Area and on I280 dear are not uncommon. I hit one coming back from a poker game three years ago. I was lucky I could brake, and steer away and only hit his hip. The deer just walked away and I while in a state of shick and getting all kinds of failure messages on my dash limped to a nearby park and ride to assess the damage... put a good bit of damage on my BMW (bumper, hood, grill, headlamp, both fog lamps and the fender. It also cracked the windshield. There was blood every where on the side of the car. If I am driving my wife around to a dinner party there is no problem driving the 360 at night but if I am driving like I do during the day forget it. You cannot see far enough even with the 360's bright lamps. That's when you have to ask yourself why I am doing this at night?
Its not so bad with a late-model Ferrari. The older ones dont have the Xenon, makes it harder to see. i understand, just upgrade to a 360! -Doug
What the crap? Night, rain, snow, hail, road salt, mud, deer, cops, rush hour... when the heck CAN you actually drive a Ferrari?! Forget caution! I'm going to christen my car, "WNTRBTR."
The evenings is when I go for a drive. At dusk, there are a few factors that all come into play: 1) 308 headlights suck (I need to upgrade). 2) If you are getting older, your vision is not what it use to be at 20 3) Deer are out in full force 4) If betwwen 6:00PM and 8:00PM, many of the drunks are on the road after a few hours of drinking beer with their construction buddies. Those old ford F150's with the gun racks can bend a lot of Ferrari metal. 5) When it's dark out and you drive fast, that's a bad combo. Things sneak up on you faster! 6) You have to concentrate more and have less time to come up with goofy FChat thread material.
I will never drive at night. Why you ask? Have you ever seen what a 308 looks like with the headlights on?
I prefer driving at night. That way I don't have to think about the fact the 328 air-conditioning sucks!
Nighttime on the superslab isn't too bad -- lots of lighting already there. But those twisty back roads through the woods -- oh, brother. I miss my rally lights.
I just bought an '04 4Runner. The low beams are great, but the high beams will fry a moquito at about 75 feet!
I feel much safer at nite in my 308 with the lights on, that way, other drivers can see me way better than in the daytime with no lights on. ferraris are so low, many folks dont see me comming in the daylight. john