Best 355 Upgrades Repairs, Etc.

Thanks for this info. I’ve always felt that the suspension is the weak point on my 355. I rarely drive it fast but the few times I’ve been into triple digits were a little scary. It was much more floaty than I expected. On a drive with more modern cars I had trouble keeping up not because of a lack of power but a lack of confidence that the suspension could handle the road conditions at triple digit speeds.

I’m not familiar with the Delta Vee shocks, can you give us some details? Pricing, where you got them, installation, etc...

 

indeed the 360 steering wheel is hands down one of the best upgrades..

unless recently changed.. Bilstein no longer offers rebuild service, and in fact the last I heard DeltaVee had stopped temporarily too unless you had it done recently

I'll check out the superformance bushings and balljoint kit..

 

which kit did you buy..

http://www.superformance.co.uk/355/suspension.html

 

Very interesting post! My 97 spider doesn’t have the high speed issues you describe jgriff so it sounds like you need some suspension freshening (and a good alignment perhaps?). My car is stable at “higher” speeds

Regarding the 360 wheel, I had a 360 before the 355 and always said the 360 steering wheel is the nicest modern Ferrari steering wheel. Right dimensions, uncluttered with no buttons on it (don’t get me going on the 458 and later steering wheels), simple 3 spoke with well-placed grips and looks great. Unfortunately for me, I like to keep things stock (besides a tubi exhaust and challenge grill although I used an OEM grill), but I can definitely see why someone would want to upgrade to the 360 wheel!

Doug- my 355 had the stock exhaust when I got it- I put a used tubi on but will say even before I made the switch that the stock exhaust does sound well enough to leave alone- between a decent volume of sound, the bypass valves that open at higher rpm and throttle, and the flat crank v8 it is quite nice- the tubi is just that much better but I could see leaving it stock for your preference to do the upgrades that you did. The 360 stock exhaust is probably the worst stock exhaust from Ferrari- they went overboard trying to comply with multi-market noise restrictions and my dad’s lexus es300 sounds about as sexy at low rpms . My 360 had a tubi on it when I got it- and most 360s have an aftermarket exhaust. I did put hyperflow cats on both my old 360 and this 355...

 

I'm going back to stock exhaust on my 355 spider, nice sound with the top down, no need to say hey look at me its honda boy racer LOL

 

My experience also, although I will say it was night and day better after new tires and alignment. These cars seem to respond differently to tires and tire pressures.

Best upgrade I found so far is a full tank of gas and a sunny day.....

 

yes indeed ive found tire pressure plays significant roll in handling just on the street..
before taking my car out for first brief run I checked pressure of all tires.. they were all off by 3-5psi after sitting approx. 5.5 months.
the ~6km drive to the "free" air hose in my area ( cannot accept to pay $1.50 for air), the car felt very mushy..
put the air back to spec.. and noticed immediately it firmed up.. unlike regular cars.. tire can be missing 10psi and not notice anything.

however in regards to stock exhaust.. my car had it when I first got it.. it was quite disappointing, it was the first thing I bought within 2 weeks of owning the car.. found a Nouvalari here.. the stock exhaust is a useless boat anchor.. huge piece of junk hanging off the back..

 

LED low and high beam headlight and fog light upgrades: Upgraded my Headlights to LEDs


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Good choice, I run soft bushings on street cars. Harder ones tend to give less grip on the streets