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Review 1 of 18
Price Paid:
$70000.00
from Switzerland Year / Model Reviewed:
1996 F355 Berlinetta Summary:
Fantastic handling, fantastic looks, gorgeous sound, excellent build quality of interior and bodywork. A masterpiece of contemporary art and engineering. Don't believe those who say it's outdated - on Swiss mountain roads as well as on most European racetracks I can still keep up with all my friends driving 360 Modenas. Beware of running expenses though - it does have mechanical weaknesses, like valve guides prone to wear, ditto for main bearings on certain unfortunate batches; also standard exhaust manifolds crack and need to be replaced with "racing" items, much longer lasting and cheaper. Strengths:
Revs to 8500 rpm, does 185mph on the autobahn, it handles better than ANY japanese joke-mobile if you have the guts to take it to 10/10ths. It can change from tame around town to savage on the open road just by changing gear 2000 rpm later than usual... very flexible engine, if somewhat low on torque under 4000 rpm. Fuel consumption surprisingly low when cruising on speed-restricted highways (23-25 mpg). Expect 12-13 mpg when charging hard. Weaknesses:
Damn expensive to run. People who can't find faults in these cars haven't really driven them. My F355 is very well card for but not pampered, it gets driven hard often in summer. I've had to pay for the "privilege": rebuilt engine at 27,000 miles, including cracked exhaust manifolds and a new clutch. Altogether, it cost me US$15,000. Alas, now I've got a rebuilt engine, and I can't wait to kick a** again! Similar Products Used:
Maserati Spyder, Coupe, 3200GT, Ghibli, Biturbo. Ferrari 360 Modena, 550 Maranello. No Porsches, and I'm not interested either.
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