1993-1994 348 TB & TS

They are not the same. GTB/GTS upgrades were only done in Europe.

Only Spiders in US from 94 have also the upgrades, but not the tb & ts.

Read these posts too, please:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/440474-differences-between-tb-ts-vs-gtb-gts.html
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/513864-what-exactly-348-gts.html#post144511502

 

I believe the "Serie Speciale II" cars from 1994 also have the Spider/GTS updates, but there were only 15 of them.

 

I believe you will find that all of these models are different, some of them only subtly. The Euros were doing their own thing and became, reportedly, quite jealous over the US only Serie Speciales. It looks to me that the technical progression went TB/TS > GTB/GTS > SS I/Challenge/SS II > GTB/GTS Competizione.

 

The Euro GTB and GTS had a revised motor with a different intake manifold, valves, and pistons. ECUs must be different as well. I believe compression ratio is different too. This final series of these cars had a slightly more powerful motor and is more valuable for that reason. Steering wheels are slightly different. Production numbers are low, so they are relatively rare. None of the US cars ever received this revised motor. If you can find a true GTB or GTS you should seriously look at buying it. There is a lot more info here on Fchat, do a search and you will find many threads.

 

I've never heard of any differences in valves but the CR was bumped slightly and the intake plenums were indeed a bit larger on the Euro GTB/GTS cars. The GTB/GTSs were rated at 320 hp, whereas the US Speciales were rated at 312. No idea if that is an accurate representation of the difference in output or not.

IIRC the SSs and the GTB/GTSs each had their selling points-- I'm not sure one was necessarily "better" than the other. I like the GTB/GTS models because they retained the original tail lights, which I prefer over the SS versions. But otherwise I quite like the SS cars, which have their own advantages.

If you're looking for the ultimate performance 348 but don't care about rarity then it's better to buy the latest model that you can find and swap out the parts that matter than it is to pay a premium for a limited edition that loses value when it's modified.

As far as I can tell, the later the 348 the better, with the exception of the rear wheel bearings. Earlier cars have bearings that are replaceable, whereas later cars use a non-serviceable hub assembly that is very spendy to replace.

 

Who were these "Euro's" who allegedly "became, reportedly, quite jealous over the US only Serie Speciales."?

Customers?
Dealers?
Motoring journalists?

"back in the day", the vast majority of "Euro" customers didn't have a clue that there were any real differences between Euro-spec 348's and US-spec cars apart from some lighting differences, let alone that there was a US only Serie Speciale (and it was more than likely the same with dealers and motoring journalists too).

Had there been a major fuss made in Europe about the Speciale, then Ferrari would soon have made it available for European customers, but they obviously decided that the market in Europe for the model was too small to bother with.

Even to this day, it's only the in-depth Ferrari 348 aficionado's who really know the differences between the various market 348's, the rest are blissfully ignorant! (in fact, I suspect a lot of people who are "aware" of the 348, would see a Speciale and assume the owner has just removed the rear grille from over the lights).

 

I agree with phill, only a train spotter type (real one not the drug type!) would even know the difference or care.

 

Actually it was the dealerships who reportedly got after the factory to produce the great Competiziones. The later Euro engines have a slightly higher compression ratio and slightly more advanced timing. The H engines, as they are called, also have a slightly greater volume intake plenum, which I tried to replicate on my car. I cannot tell you if it nets anything.