Got my first Ferrari: 348 (impression..)

Very nice - Congrats! I just got my 1st Fcar, a 348, a few weeks ago, and I'm still smilling. Everytime I step into the garage, it's "OMG, there's a Ferrari in my garage!".

Enjoy the miles, and thx for the pic's. Isn't '93 a GTB? I thought they had the spacers for wider rear track. We didn't get the 348GTB's on this side of the water.

 

Welcome to the 'club'. The high speed handling CAN be fixed eith a couple of tweaks:

Serie Specialle front lip spoiler
Wider 18" wheels

Mine has this set up and has zero handling problems.

 

Didn't realize the Series Speciale spoiler lip helped - a PO added one to mine, and I just thought it was for looks. Thx!

 

I recently bought an '89 348. It was a bit twitchy at around 140 mph, so I think I know what you are talking about. I understand that the model you have has some suspension improvements from the early ('89-'90) 348's. You can add spacers, but it is recommended that different wheels help two ways. They put a different (better) loading on the wheel bearings, and also reduce unsprung (rotating) wheight. I have read that the stock 348 wheels are some of the heaviest ever used on a modern Ferrari. I personally like the looks of the stock wheels, but changing them will supposedly bring noticeable improvement to both acceleration and handling. Good luck, the car looks awesome!
BT

 

Congratulations and beautiful car. Get the 355 wheels as quick as you can(See photo for example).

As for reliability, you will likely find your 348 to be darn near as reliable as a Toyota. Mine has been. Enjoy it - it may well be the cheapest car you will EVER own!
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Wecome to the 348 brotherhood.

Yes the 348s are twitchy above 130. The reason is as you stated, because of the rear wheel off set. Putting spacers in the rear to widen the rear track will help with the twitchieness, or go with some larger rims. Another reason you feel it more is because there is no power steering.

 

welcome. and congrats. youve bought the best looking ferrari ever made. seriously. like you it has been my dream car since i saw them come out new. had one in my garage for a year now, and whenever i get a bit down i go and have a look in the garage and realize i have a peice of history of my very own. people critisize the side rakes to the air intakes on the 348. but thats what makes them distinctivly ferrari. so many of the newer ferraris you have to look at twice to check if they are a ferrari. not the 348. and in fairness not the testarossa or the 355. these have to be the 3 best ever made, 355 and testarossa coming in a close second to a 348 though. in my humble opinion. and yes i know some of the others go faster. but if speed was the only criteria on which we bought vehicles, we would all just drive formula one cars. ferrari 348. the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

 

Henkie.

Your car must be earlier then 1993. In 1992 the badges were chromed not black.
Where is you battery located ? If in the back in the engine bay its no later then a 1992. In 1993 the battery where moved to front wheel well.

In 1992 wide track was introduced to the car. No need to for spacers.

In 1993 the engine was upgraded from 300 bhp tp 320 bhp. You can no this if you have a larger pelnum chamber.

Note a lot of early cars were stood in stoarge during the recession and but back on the market in later years claiming to be later models when they were actually not. Your chassis number seems to below for 1993 model.

 

Also, on the models 1992 onwards the rear engine cover was fully painted red not black and the side skirts around the car was painted red instead of left black.

 

I'm sorry Justin, but you have made a number of misstatements which I need to correct.

First, the chrome badges did not appear until the 1994 model year.

In the US, the chrome horses appeared on the Serie Speciale, which was a special 100-car edition. The first 25 cars or so were in fact 1992 models. In any event, either black or chrome badges could have been put on by a previous owner, so a visual examination would not tell us the model year for sure.

The widened track was not introduced in 1992. It was introduced with the US-only Serie Speciale. The widened track was standard on the 348s Spider, which of course are 1994 and 1995 cars. The non-US 1994 GTS and GTB 348s may have the widened track, but I cannot be sure.

The engine change came only for the 1994 model year. The redline was raised from 7400 to 7700 RPMs and the rated horsepower increased from 300 to 310.

Henkie's chassis number is not low for a 1993 model. My 348 is chassis # 94001. It was produced in April of 1992, and it was called a 1992 348. I've seen a 348 Speciale with a chassis number of 94198. That car was also produced in April 1992, but is a 1993 model year car!!! So 96XXX is definitely a 1993 model year car.

As for the lower skirts, those remained black until the 1994 model year. The exception is the Serie Speciale 348s, which had body-colored lower skirts.

 

FWIW, I think the 348 w/ Tubi & t.p. is one of the funnest cars to drive, more so even than my TR. Speaking of serial #'s, my dad's 348 Spider is #99505 & the insurance co. keeps telling us it's a 355!! "Please check your VIN again" they told him last week (he just got it). It must be one of the last made.

 

Henkie

welcome to the 348 club - you'll never regret taking the plunge. I've had mine for a year, and wish I'd bought it earlier (finances and children having something to do with that!)

My cars a 91TS with chassis number 90669 - seems sad that I can remember a chassis number without looking it up, but that's what owning one of these beasts does to you! Can't say I've noticed the car being twitchy, but as stated earlier, no power steering will give you direct feedback, so try not to confuse it with a problematic car - anyway these cars were built to give the driver the closest thing to track cars, so I guess we all need to learn to drive them on the limit.

The later GTS & GTB's had improvements including the wider track. My friends got a Maranello Speciale (UK's version of the Series Speciale), which has got a deep front spolier, drilled pedals, momo steering wheel, wider track and battery in the front, I believe they made 7 of these in RHD versus the US 100. 6 months from now, you'll know everything about your car and more and be tempted to start changing the wheels etc - all I would suggest is to get a Tubi exhaust and change the cat pipes for straight flow pipes (decat) - the sound is awsome, especially with the roof off - enjoy

 

welcome to the group. Being a new 348 owner myself, I can tell you all these guys are great and offer helpful advice.

 

Diddo!!

 

The last 348 Spider that I know of is 99900, a blue one in Germany. Still, your dad's 99505 is indeed relatively "high" in the s/n-range, although not really one of the last made. It should be black/black, right?

 

First off, congratulations on your full-size Ferrari. I got my 348 spider about a year ago and had some early things that needed fixing but it has been fabulous once I got it sorted. Just came back from running the car for a four day holiday and it was flawless.

On the handling thing, I have 18" wheels on my car, with 235 and 295 section tires, and aside from the "road feel" due to the non-power steering, the car is rock steady. I've had it to around 140 mph and its been fine. My serial number is 96057 so might be a bit later than yours, but my understanding is that the later spiders had the wider track rear end plus I have 10" wheels in the rear which may be helping.

Again, welcome to the 348 brotherhood and I trust you will enjoy your car at every opportunity. For what it is worth, I heartily recommend an exhaust upgrade as I think mine sounds fantastic with the Tubi/Hyperflow cat combination. Download http://www.albertfattal.com/Parti Ferrari Video-06.avi
for a video example.

Again, congratulations.

Cheers
Kevin

 

You are correct about the US spec cars, but sorry not about the european spec cars. I spend two years looking into the models before buying my 1994 spider.

With regard to the European spec cars I am correct. From 1989 to 1992 348's had 300 bhp which were the ts and tb. In mid 1993 the engine were upgraded to 320 bhp and were called gts, gtb, spider and 1994 appeared the gtc. Production ceased on models early 1995.

The European spec cars are more powerful then the US spec cars only a approx 10 bhp standard.

The European spec cars got chrome badges , red side skirts in late 1992.

European spec cars got the wider track in late 1992 / early 1993.

F348 Ferrari Spyder

The F348 Ferrari Spyder was launched in 1993, running alongside the evolutionised F348 GTB/GTS. It was the first two-seater spyder sportscar made by Ferrari since the 365 GTB/4 (Daytona) Spyder last sold in 1974. It was the first mid-engine two seater Spyder produced by Ferrari.

There have been many engineering developments and design refinements to F348 series that have improved its Performance, Handling and Comfort.

In addition to the modifications to the body configuration of the F348 Spyder, there had been significant technical changes that enhanced the performance and road stability.

Engineering developments included a transverse gearbox with revised ratios for quicker acceleration and a free flowing exhaust system for higher power output. The wider rear track with an improved suspension system assured better handling and manoeuvrability.

In 1994, the evolutionised F348 GTB/GTS cease production with the all new F355 GTB/GTS. The F348 Ferrari Spyder’s were still produced alongside the F355 series.

The late F348 Ferrari Spyder’s were further evolutionised by introducing the F355 characteristics onto the F348 Spyder’s as a development platform for the all new F355 Spyder that was to be released in 1995, when the F348 Spyder cease production.

 

henkie

leuk. Een beetje Nederlandse versterking op het Ferrari-eigenaren front, hier op Fchat. Aan mij hebben jullie niks. Ik heb weliswaar een "F-car" en ze is nog rood en Italiaans ook, maar het gaat hier om een Fiat Punto

Hoe dan ook, de auto ziet er fantastisch uit (ik vind de voorzijde en achterzijde van de 348 zelfs mooier dan van de 355. Die 348 ziet er van die zijden gewoon agressiever uit). Geniet ervan, maar dat zal wel lukken. Ik zie je verhalen over Ferrarieigenaarschap belangstellend tegemoet!


translation:

henkie

Nice to have some dutch reinforcement on the Ferrariowners-front here at Fchat. I´m no good to you people. I do actually own a F-car and she is even red and Italian, but were talking about a Fiat Punto here

Anyway, the car looks fabulous (I prefer front- and backside of the 358 over those from the 355. The 348 looks more agressive from that angle). Enjoy the car, but I´ll trust you will. Looking forward to your stories on Ferrari-ownership.

 

Thats a very nice looking 348! It's always nice to see someones dream come true!
I'm still in the dreaming stage with 1:18s myself. So are you going to sign up at the FCN and join some meetings?

 

You drive a beautiful 348. There´s really no need for modesty.

 

By the way henkie great looking car. I must say the lines of the TB and GTB are very nice compared to GTS and TS.

I just like spiders because when you hear the engine note of decatted tubi with roof down is out of this world.....

Enjoy your drive..................