quote:
355 je se zmeraj na osnovi 348
F355 was definitely the star of the 90s and one of the best Ferraris ever made. Oddly, its predecessor, 348, was quite notorious due to poor controllability (by Ferrari standard, of course), harsh ride and less than perfect build quality. Autocar’s triple test in March 1994 ranked the 348GTB last, beaten by Porsche 993 Carrera and Honda NSX. When Luca di Montezemolo became Ferrari’s managing director, declining sales, deteriorating brand image and lack of motivation were the problems he faced. He was shocked that the 348 he drove was so poor, even more surprising to him was that the engineers in Maranello didn’t realise that. He decided to push Ferrari back to the orbit set by Enzo Ferrari by improving handling and introducing new technology. In addition, he wanted to surpass Enzo’s achievement by raising Ferrari’s build quality and comfort up to the level of Porsche. The first new model under the new vision was F355, which was launched in late 1994.
F355 was not a clean-sheet design. Its chassis and powertrain were based on the 348 just as the styling implied. Talking about styling, Pininfarina’s work in the F355 was very limited. It’s virtually a 348 with modified details, such as odd-looking circular fog lamps, revised shape of air dam, rear bumper, rear spoiler, skirts, engine cover etc., oh yes, don’t forget the deletion of the cheese-slicer side intake grilles which was always my favourite. Though many people fascinated with the new styling, I maintain that the old 348 looked far purer and original.
Although all the changes seemed minor, the summation of them converted the F355 into a completely different car than 348. The 348 was always nervous at the limit, in contrast, the F355 was highly controllable. Power oversteer could be induced and catch easily. There’s fine feel in the steering, although some criticised as too light and some disliked its rather slow ratio (3.2 turns from lock to lock). The chassis was very balanced and communicative, and cornering limit from the strong powerplant, grippy tyres and great brakes was lifted to new height. Many regarded it as the best Ferrari chassis since the Dino 206/246GT.
On the other hand, as Montezemolo required, the F355 was also rather easy to live with. Clutch was lighter, 6-speed box was slicker to shift and have a much useful close ratio to make use of the limited torque. The cabin was carefully crafted, with good materials and tasteful design to match. The softened springs and electronic damping provided exceptional bump absorption that hardly imagined for such a supercar. Besides, the F1 semi-auto transmission added later reduced driving effort (especially in city) without deteriorating performance. Most customers chose that option.
Hvala. Tega pa nisem nikjer zasledil. Sem mislil, da je 355 bolj sofisticiran pod kožo.
LP
R type
Accord 2.0 16V l.95