After seing the new 458 Italia being tested by Autocar, we are going to have a look back at one of its ancestors, or let's just say "older sisters" since it's not that old: the Ferrari 348 ts which i had the chance to drive for a day, thanks to a very good friend.
I am not going to be very technical about this car as by now it's no longer a technological master piece. Though this is why i liked it...
The 348 is the proud decendent of the Ferrari F40 which is by the way based on the Competizione version of the iconic 288 GTO (simply known as the GTO). Great pedigree! For me, those cars define a great era in the history of Ferrari.
It has a 3.4 L V8 that produces 300Hp which is a good screamer! The weight is about 1400 Kilograms.
Driving the 348 is a real pleasure. The direction, though a bit tough, is precise and feels acoustic, if i may say. You just feel directly connected to the road (have you heard that before? me too). That sensation is stressed by the low driving position which however, doesn't affect the visibility of the road. It's also nice to handle the uncommonly used inverted gear lever.
The 348 ts also proved to be at ease when driven in town. It's not very painful to drive, and the driving position is confortable. Plus, with the removable hard top taken off, you acn clearly listen to the 3.4 L V8 screaming at the back. So it can be a good everyday car if you don't have luggage, don't need an extra two places... And oh, if you're ready to pay for a little extra fuel beacause i have to admit that the car's consumption is pretty high... So you see what kind of everyday car i'm talking about.
Surprisingly, on a "closed road" the car managed to reach 300Km/h (187 mph). I didn't have the equipement to verify if that figure matched the real speed of the car. But this was an astonishing performance, considering the age of the car.
A quick look at the engine in the back and..
..Oh, the hidden headlights, nice!
As a bonus, here's the review of the car by no other than Jeremy Clarkson on the old version of Top Gear, nice hair! I like it when he says: "I had to sacrifice my self in the name of this program and to drive around in this for a week". Yeah it was a very severe punishment..
Driving the nearly 20 years old Ferrari 348 ts which i found really fast made me wonder about what it feels to drive the new 458 Italia with its 562hp, so i'm looking forward to that.. I hope you liked the pictures and the article, talk to you soon..
comments please!
Nice blog! but no updates! c'mon!
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