I found my new ride.

Jstas

Sami wrote: »

There definitely are sexy Ferraris out there, but the ones above...well, not up to par.

The "sexy" Ferraris aren't fun.

The F355 was one of the first road going cars to have the F1 style flappy-paddle gearbox shifter. It's also blisteringly quick and handles like it is on rails. It is not plagued by the crappy reliability that older Ferraris are and it is quite attainable in used condition for your average guy. I would take an F355/360/430 over any other Ferrari aside from a few classics from the 50's and 60's.

But I'd also have to acquire the Ferrari's nemesis, the Ford GT40 and GT. That Lotus Esprit will beat up on most Ferraris too.

But the ugly Ferraris have always been the top performers. The nice thing about the F355/360/430 is that they were performers and they aren't ugly. I don't think anything that has come off the drawing boards of Pininfarina has ever been truly ugly.

But two cars everyone should have the opportunity to spend some time with are an Alfa Romeo and a Ferrari.

cmy330go

F355 remains one of my all time favorite Red Heads for styling. It even looks wicked good in spyder form.


The old F40 is also among my favorites.

Sami

Jstas wrote: »

The "sexy" Ferraris aren't fun.

The F355 was one of the first road going cars to have the F1 style flappy-paddle gearbox shifter. It's also blisteringly quick and handles like it is on rails.

The 355 is a decent car to drive, not really that fast though that people tend to think.

ohskigod

Jstas wrote: »

You can pick up one of these for less than $60K now!



Granted, it's no Chevy :rolleyes: or Nissan :rolleyes: but it is a Ferrari!

yeah, gotta add the cost for the tub of crisco to slather on my naked body, and of course the crow bar for leverage to get me into the g*damn thing

that what I love about my stang, it's fast enough. I can make it faster and handle better at will (and checking account) and most importantly...I FIT IN IT...LOL


truth be told, the 355 didnt float my boat, but I DID fall in love with the 360 Modena

Jstas

ohskigod wrote: »

yeah, gotta add the cost for the tub of crisco to slather on my naked body, and of course the crow bar for leverage to get me into the g*damn thing

that what I love about my stang, it's fast enough. I can make it faster and handle better at will (and checking account) and most importantly...I FIT IN IT...LOL


truth be told, the 355 didnt float my boat, but I DID fall in love with the 360 Modena

Well, I guess that's the benefit of being of a "normal" height. Yes, in the rest of the world we skew the average because so many Americans are freakishly tall.

But I fit in a Ferrari just fine! And you wouldn't have to modify a Ferrari in any way. They are built balanced very well. People do modify them but unless it's to go racing, they are wasting time. You won't necessarily make a Ferrari better, just screw up its balance.



Oh and Sami, while it isn't as fast as the super supercars, the F355 did muster a 0-60 time around 4.2-4.3 seconds and clicks off a 1/4 mile in about 12.7 seconds. No, not crazy fast but weighing in at just under 3200 pounds and having 375 ponies on tap with a 9,000 RPM redline, it's plenty fast enough to lay some smack down on many cars out there at the time and even today. On top of that it's is a total blast to drive! With thee introduction of the 355 F1 version, those times dropped a couple of tenths too. Plus, it's a Ferrari! Not a gussied up Datsun.

The 360 is faster and the 430 is faster even still but the F355 I like for it's eclectic appeal in that it was a major departure for the way Ferrari normally did bidness.

But, anyway, back to the Datsun.

Yay! It's fast! Has sterile designing! Isn't an Infiniti G35 and oh yeah, it's fast!


Gimmie one of these bathtubs with a turbocharged 2.3L Ford engine and a T-56 and I'll have all the fun I can handle!



Now THAT'S an exercise in "styling". It's the exact opposite of a Ferrari in the style department. It's got Panasports too! WOOHOO!

Jstas

Dang, all this talk about Ferraris and then I find this:

Airplay355

Geeze, that pole sliced through that car like butter...

Jstas

Here we go, found that video...well at least a link to it on AutoBlog.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/06/video-webrides-tv-pits-nissan-gt-r-against-ford-gt-in-super-lap/

It should be embedded in the story about halfway down the page.

MikeC78

Must of been drunk on hubris.

SlowcarIX

Jstas wrote: »

Well, I guess that's the benefit of being of a "normal" height. Yes, in the rest of the world we skew the average because so many Americans are freakishly tall.

But I fit in a Ferrari just fine! And you wouldn't have to modify a Ferrari in any way. They are built balanced very well. People do modify them but unless it's to go racing, they are wasting time. You won't necessarily make a Ferrari better, just screw up its balance.



Oh and Sami, while it isn't as fast as the super supercars, the F355 did muster a 0-60 time around 4.2-4.3 seconds and clicks off a 1/4 mile in about 12.7 seconds. No, not crazy fast but weighing in at just under 3200 pounds and having 375 ponies on tap with a 9,000 RPM redline, it's plenty fast enough to lay some smack down on many cars out there at the time and even today. On top of that it's is a total blast to drive! With thee introduction of the 355 F1 version, those times dropped a couple of tenths too. Plus, it's a Ferrari! Not a gussied up Datsun.

The 360 is faster and the 430 is faster even still but the F355 I like for it's eclectic appeal in that it was a major departure for the way Ferrari normally did bidness.

But, anyway, back to the Datsun.

Yay! It's fast! Has sterile designing! Isn't an Infiniti G35 and oh yeah, it's fast!


Gimmie one of these bathtubs with a turbocharged 2.3L Ford engine and a T-56 and I'll have all the fun I can handle!



Now THAT'S an exercise in "styling". It's the exact opposite of a Ferrari in the style department. It's got Panasports too! WOOHOO!

fraction of the price, 10x the fun...plus its got a hondah motor...reliability+fun, hard to beat

SlowcarIX

carrera gt vs lamp post :eek:

cmy330go

SlowcarIX wrote: »

fraction of the price, 10x the fun...plus its got a hondah motor...reliability+fun, hard to beat

If I had 40k to 50k to blow on anything....An Atom would be right at the top of the list.

Jstas

SlowcarIX wrote: »

fraction of the price, 10x the fun...plus its got a hondah motor...reliability+fun, hard to beat

A Honduh engine is not a bonus IMO. And since when is a Caterham 7 more than an Ariel Atom?

Here is a link to specs and prices. MSRP on the Classic is about $27K. That is without an engine and trans. But you can pick up a turbo 2.3L Ford from a junkyard, like I said, have the block gone over and rebuild it for less than $2K and get a brand spankin' new Tremec T-56 from Summit Racing for about $3500. At just over $30K, you have a sports car with a modest 225 horses and a 6 speed.

http://www.uscaterham.com/classicspecs.html

It's even cheaper to get the kit and build it yourself.

Jstas

BTW, that's a power to weight ratio of about 5.4 pounds for every horsepower. That will get you mid 10's in a 1/4 mile and 0-60 times in the mid 3 second range. And it'll do it reliably.

Jack the boost up on that little Ford, it'll handle 350-400 horses all day with a good intercooler, and you get a car with insane power levels that will genuinely be hard to handle.

For 400 horses, power to weight drops to about 3 pounds for every horsepower and if you could actually get traction and manage to hook well enough, that kinda power is good for mid 8's in a 1/4 mile at about 160 MPH plus a 0-60 time in the 2 second range.

SlowcarIX

power is nothing without control...:)

go intercoolerless and inject water



this thread is is so derailed lol

Jstas

Water runs out, air is free.


And a Caterham 7 is essentially a Lotus Super 7 which was first built by Colin "The Man" Chapman in the 60's. It is the epitome of control and balance provided you don't go stupid crazy with your engine and transmission combination.

SlowcarIX

Jstas wrote: »

Water runs out, air is free.


And a Caterham 7 is essentially a Lotus Super 7 which was first built by Colin "The Man" Chapman in the 60's. It is the epitome of control and balance provided you don't go stupid crazy with your engine and transmission combination.

:eek:

where there is gas station, there is water

water has extremely high latent heat of vaporization - a little goes a long way. Also you dont inject it until you are in the high load cells...:D

Jstas

And this is about the only Caterham 7 I would have with a Honda engine in it.

http://www.caterhamfireblade.com/

Yeah, Super 7 chassis with a Honda Fireblade motorcycle engine in it. 347 horses or something like that? Car tips the scales at just over 1,000 pounds too. Like 1047 I think it was? Yeah, that is pretty impressive.

Jstas

SlowcarIX wrote: »

:eek:

where there is gas station, there is water

water has extremely high latent heat of vaporization - a little goes a long way. Also you dont inject it until you are in the high load cells...:D

Again, air is free, doesn't have to be filled up at a gas station and doesn't have to be injected. NOS is the same. Not viable solutions for a street car IMO.

SlowcarIX

another benefit of injecting water besides supressing detonation - steam cleans plugs and pistons and valves by decoking

plug on left: 4,000 miles w/o water injection
plug on right: 13,000 miles with water injection



NOS....................stay away from it :eek:

Sami

If air isn't enough, you're not running it fast enough...

I was riding my CBR in stop-an-go today, almost overheated because it wasn't getting enough cooling. Ambient temp is around low 90's right now here in northern Texas.

Ron-P

Is it really that hard to drive a car and steer clear of poles?

Ron-P

cmy330go wrote: »

If I had 40k to 50k to blow on anything....An Atom would be right at the top of the list.

No sheet, that thing is awesome looking and I bet hella-fun to drive.

Face

Ron-P wrote: »

Is it really that hard to drive a car and steer clear of poles?

With a Eclipse, yes.

trubluluc

....but in a couple years when gas costs $10.00 per gallon, you may rethink needing 480 horsepower to pull your wagon.
That 19 miles per gallon rating ain't driving it the way you'll want to drive it. It will be closer to 9 miles per gallon when you're getting on it.
I lived through the muscle car days, and they are just a fond memory now.
I'll take a smooth, quiet ride and a killer sound system any day.
Can you say Lexus....I knew that you could.

mule

I can deraill more:)

I would much rather have this...



My loader dosen't fit into some of the areas I want to build new jumps and I am just getting to old to hand dig.

Hmmm.... the mule needs to make more $$$

mule

Nope.

But this gets it goin'!

[/QUOTE]


Nice! just saw this, my friends dad drove that car at Le Mans in 67 I think.

Sherardp

Nice car when you see it up close and personal. I saw this one a few days ago out here in Japan. Pardon the crappy pix I took these with my cell phone.

BeRad

MMMmmm... That GTR is a sexy car for the era. I'd love to take one of those around the Nurburgring northern loop. That'd be a drive you'd never forget.

dagame27

C'mon, no love for taking an old Porsche and popping 400HP in it for $10K. If you add up the Purchase price+maintenance+mods, I'm under $20,000, and have owned it for nearly 7 years. While not hte fastest car in the world, it could hang quite well with most on a racetrack.

Aside from that, The F355 Ferrari is absolutely gorgeous!