The 355 has the same racing experiance of any BMW, Mercedes, Toyota. ie The car has the same brand name as an F1 car, Wow, The same name.
what? why would you compare a 355 and Gallardo anyway? Different generation of car, difference price point. Makes no sense.
There isn't much on this thread that makes sense. Somehow it's entertaining though....none of this talk is going to sway my want of a 355 spider
nor my ownership of a '97 GTB (going on 3 years and now much further after I got over the hump of thinking about an '06 ZO6) jd
Actually they had a whole race series expressly for the 355. Get your facts straight. Every negative reply I've seen has been from a Lambo person. By the way here is the Lambo racing site http://www.samedeutz-fahr.com/lamborghini/
You may find this offensive, but I am guessing you don't know how to drive. I owned an Elise and a friend has an 04 Zo6, niether of which will embarass my 355. The Zo6 was a little faster off the line, but at speed was the same and over 100 the 355 starts to leave it. The Elise although fast in its own right, doesn't post the numbers like a well running 355. Maybe your car needed a valve job? Pretty common power loss on a 355. If you want a Torque monster, buy a Viper, if you want a real sports car that is also the best sounding instrument in the world buy a 355.
Again go back to reality. No one is talking about an Elise. That car is a turd. And a Z06, driven properly, will smoke a 355. My modified 355, was the strongest 355 ive ever been in. Felt stronger than most 360's.
I just wrote a freaking magnum opus of a response and for some reason it didn't let me post and then the text was all gone. Plus while I was writing I forgot to bid on an Ebay item that I really wanted that just ended, so basically I'm pretty PO'ed. In any event, here's the adumbrated version: I think the online car community would be a lot better off if the members realized that not everyone is looking for the same thing in a car. I think it's really important to talk about what car is faster, what handles better, what looks better, and so on. But at the end of the day, people aren't stupid or jaded, etc. for liking what they like. There are countless cars that I would never buy in a million years, but I understand why people do. And I think as people who purport to be "car people" it's important to do that. What I see in a lot of these debates is people who are just talking right past each other without even realizing that they are just on two totally different planes. They are talking about two totally different things from different perspectives and yet they act as though they are debating the same thing. The people who really just want the fastest car on the road just don't get the appeal of something slower, why someone would choose something slower in every respect for the same price. And the latter people don't get the speed people, think they are missing the bigger picture. And so. My point was basically this. There's a lot of different ways in which cars can appeal. (I went into this long thing about how the 355 is now no longer a modern car and should have been moved out of this section a long time ago, but I can't be bothered to type all that out again.) And I'm not saying that "car people" should feel all these appeals themselve, but they should at least recognize they are there. I would not buy a DB9, but I understand why someone would. It looks great. I would never buy an Elise but I want some creature comforts, but then I wouldn't buy an M3 either, becasue that's just too creature-comfort, BMW-y. And so on. But I see the appeal. I just don't feel it myself. My point is that people who like things differently than you aren't being stupid or blinded. In fact, they have their eyes fully open. They just see something different than you do.
And they have a racing series just for Miatas and one for Neons ect One make/model racing is just that, and means nothing. You may be able to give your 355 a race history if you start the green 355 convertible challenge you might even win as those cars are rarer then an Enzo. Sounds stupid doesn't it. Sort of like saying a one make/model race series gives a car a racing heritage. I like the 355, but it has not a car I would pay for at today's prices. Dollars for dollar I would buy a 81 308GTSi first. To each his own.
Torque win races HP sells cars, the 355 only has 268ft lbs torque, torque is what gives wheelspin, if you want torque and wheelspin get a 12 cylinder. 355s are old cars now, you can't expect them to compare to new models.
The point is poster asked a question " Is the 355 Fast". Donkey trustees went into the obligatory "of course its super fast , its a Ferrari" remarks. Level headed people step in, calling Donkey Dorks bluff, and they go back into the " Its not about numbers, its about the heritage, its about the whole experience etc" Bullcrap. I had a 355 Spider, not just any 355 Spider, but a PERFECT 355. The orgasm never came....... Get over it. The 355 wasnt very spectacular in 1995, how do you think it will fare 11 years later.
also, one needs a certain level of maturity to be able to enjoy and make love with anything less than a "super model". Otherwise one will have only a very very lonely existence chasing the illusion-desire and craving only objects of the senses. This is how one losses the real sense of reality and losses the ability to be able to love at all.
So in other words, what you are saying is that in order for myself to reach your level of maturity Ive got to be prepared to bang ugly chicks? I think Ill stay just as i am.
Tobias, I could be late in responding but here is some of my feedback: The 355 is a quick car, but not really very fast. To give an idea, my '04 911 has identical performances and would easily keep up (despite the minor modifications on the porsche.) Or, The ZCP M3 we have; which does fairly well against the 996, would not be very far from the 355. But this is okay, because what the 355 offers, no other car can, even the newbie Ferraris... Frankly, the 430 will never have the class of the 355... The 360 does better, but still seems youthful when compared to the 355 and therefore may be less classy. The 'oomph' factor: this is quite evident, especially in the manual car. Even the 348 has the 'oomph' of which you know you are in a special sports car, not just one, but one of Ferrari's...
