Came across this guy a coupel of time. A class A shmuck!!! He loves to criticise the 348. Here's his latest attack. http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=63&t=482592 His previous attack http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=63&t=393349&i=0
Then there's this journalist http://www.channel4.com/4car/ft/feature/feature/9774/3 by Andrew Frankel "...But only one of all these cars I've mentioned is entirely unworthy of the greatest road car name of all; after all, even an automatic 400i has a certain gentlemanly charm to it. The worst Ferrari I have ever driven is the 348tb. It was quite quick and quite attractive but these more obvious strengths cloaked for only an instant the fact that the car was no damn good to drive. To improve its packaging it had its gearbox slung transversely across the back of the car, which turned the sometimes obstructive Ferrari five-speed gearshift into a thing of piggish obstinacy. Worse, while other Ferraris were undoubtedly unforgiving on the limit, this one was a sociopath. I once spent a morning at a test track with some very experienced drivers and, in a safe and controlled environment, found out a little more about its behaviour. And we discovered that if you were less than lightning quick with your reactions, there'd be more chance of persuading Margaret Thatcher to vote Labour than stopping the 348 from spinning. It was also hugely expensive. So that's it. The list is not long, but I'm glad Ferrari has summoned up a few clunkers in its time. The cars may be godlike but the people who make them are only human. Once in a while, even geniuses have their off days."
Love it. Let's drive those prices down - I'm toying around with the idea of getting a Nero TB to compliment my Rossa TS. Shhhhh, don't let the secret out that these can be really great and fun cars with a little elbow grease.
Why bother posting it Sy ... they are both very old quotes. He may have posted this morning but it is copied from an older post. He had a bad one, he was unlucky, he's pissed off. No more, no less. However, he is a fairly decent guy who helps out a lot of us Le Mans goers with info and advice on best places to stay when we go down there Like I said, if he'd bought my or your car Sy he would have been raving about them, he was just unlucky. He has a large part of a wing or bumper from the crash on his garage wall, quite a cool ornament actually
Just what I thought, maybe he got a bad one. I'm kinda curious, any of yis taken yours to speed & duplicated the same feel?
People rarely take the time to rave and praise anything... but they're very quick to go public when they're pissed! Quite often,those rants are embellished and highly exaggerated too. One guy who hits an oil slick and crashes into a wall HARDLY translates to me as ''a dangerous car''... sounds more like a dangerous DRIVER to me!! I'm surprised he didn't bash the tire manufacturer too! The rest of that nonsense is simply the opinion of one or 2 people! WHO CARES! You know what they say about opinions....
Eveyone is entitled to their opinion, but I have to agree with several of his points - the stock 348TB without spacer is a floater over 100 mph and does not instill much confidence when pushing it. The interior parts melt, the slates do crack, the gearbox without proper oil is trucklike, A/C modules go on the fritz, oil pump tensioner needed replacing, cats burn out making the dashboard light up like a Christmas tree... The car had a lot of teething issues which would kill any modern day cars, and was unacceptable the high asking price. The reputation as a poor handling car is deserved considering the lineage as well as the mediocre reliability. If I had bought it new and paid MSRP I would be livid, would consider it a POS and find a way to get rid of it ASAP. The good news is that the "bones" are good and $40K gets you a lot of car if you are willing to overlook the nagging issues, buy spacers and a good alignment.
The Nero Alleanza eagerly awaits your decision. I agree, you wouldn't find many (any?) modern car buyers who would put up with the usual early 348 issues. I think this group sometimes forgets that you all know a lot more of about them, and have a lot more patience, than the average guy looking for a $40K sports car with a prancing horse on it.
Jaggie, you might be right regarding the car as a new purchase. I wasn't there so I can only read the history on the model. As far as being a current critique I can only argue the points made previously. The 348 is a lot of car for the money and we are thankful for the prior bashing it received. I have a 1993 model and I would have never considered an earlier model. In fact if it wasn't an SS I would have bought a '93 either. I bought a '94 Spider first on the recommendation of my mechanic who, of course, knew all about the car. It was a good decision. As for interior melted parts - not common and very fixable. The gearbox? What Ferrari manual likes petroleum based oil?! Easy fix with synthetic. A/C is all about grounding. All minor stuff and easily fixable. Notice there is really nothing regarding the engine itself - bullet proof I tell ya.
Thank goodness the brotherhood... and the patience of the brothers that have gone in ($$) harms way before us
You need to own a 348 to appreciate it. Joy rides and track tests can be overtly subjective and misrepresentative.
Can someone explain his comment ...."where they will spend an hour or two taking the dashboard apart to restart your aircon which, after a flat battery, no longer works.". I have had a bad battery and disconnected the batter many times. I never remember having a problem with my A/C afterwards.
Same here, that whole comment is BS! And for once, I agree with Vince... I have fixed ALL the notorious 348 flaws... most of which the 355 ALSO has! I've done all the work myself and have probably spent a total of about $250 on dumb little parts and misc materials and chemicals. Granted, I should never have had to do ANY of that crap to a $120K car... but at least the resolutions were pretty painless for me AND my wallet.
er, pardon? I'll try and answer what i think the question is ... I had my Spider at around 170mph and it felt absolutely fine ... I just ran out of runway before we hit the speed lasers so I couldn't get that extra 400 revs We were also quite happily cruising in Germany at 160mph when me and my mate in his DB9 got pulled by the police! Luckily they only wanted to have a look at the cars and let us on our way after 20 mins Image Unavailable, Please Login
No, I'll say again... he's not a moron or a bad guy. He is peed off with his experience but helps out a lot of Le Mans goers who he has only known previously through the forum
Sorry Al, if he had a bad one then OK he's pissed off.He's told everyone about it before but then starts that thread yesterday going over it again, just pathetic if you ask me.
You cant ***** and moan about this stuff. Enzo said your paying for the engine. He threw in the car for free.
The guy originally pretended that he had a huge problem getting at the battery behind the front wheel and made a long post about how difficult is was and how he was stranded. Turns out it was all made up, his car was apparently an 89/90. Also pretended he had a D-type. Turned out to be a kit car. Went on about how many expensive cars he had so was more qualified, but also kept a car he hated for years before HE crashed it. To START a thread (carefully removing the made up parts he was called on originally) like this is pretty lame IMO - pointless trolling from a sad old man.
Hmm, fair enough. He seemed ok from the Le Mans forum but haven't actually met him in person so prepared to stand corrected You have PM by the way Chris.