the 355 is amazing looking.... if i can, i'd buy one too..... but these days, a 360 makes more sense....

 

I'm pretty sure it will kill a 996 non GT3, those 355s sure sound nice tho

 

355 looks a heck of lot better than a 996
performance is better
maintenance $$$ is a lot higher

 

i dont know if a 996 will run with a 355. my 996 has never seemed particularly fast to me, but maybe i'm a bit spoiled.


always loved the 355 though. it's probably one of the best sounding v8 ferrari's. the maintenance is scary though. i was going to get one til i learned more about the maintenance, and i ended up with a 360.


i will say for a fact, my 996 (only mods are headers and an exhaust) will not run with my 360 (stock).

 

I may be alone, but I strongly disagree with this..
Drive better? Probably yes
Sound better? hell yes
Look better? no way, 355 is way too dated looking for my liking. 360 on the other hand is gorgeous.

 

You sure? I was just at the local drag strip tonite. 96 F-355 Showed up (Friends Friend), We ran twice... F355 1/4mile 14.439 & My 996 C4S 1/4mile 13.421... My best run was 13.190... I have Time Slip and Video with the F-355...


+1... Good From Far, Far From Good

 

driven extensively in two f355's, and owned a 996 here...

f355 is a unique driving experience. engine sounds amazing up to the 8500rpm redline, shifting through the squeaky gates of the exposed shifter is awesome, the looks are beyond gorgeous. but did you know these other selling points of a 355:
that a/c is super powerful
interior is dare i say it more comfortable for a tall guy like me than a 996,
high speed stability shames a 996
it will powerslide gracefully and controllably, with enough power to pull out of the slide with little counter-steering
acceleration is much better than in the 996, both from a dig and also at higher speeds
steering is fantastic
trunk space is really good
switchgear and much of the trim is as bad as a 996 and will give any owner fits in the long run.
if allowed to sit in the rain, the engine will steam up the sitting water in a gut-wrenching display

the 996 has nothing superior to the ferrari dynamically. absolutely nothing.
but the 996 is much much cheaper to maintain. much.

a 355 in real-world performance, can keep up with a 996tt after the first 60mph, and pull away as speed rises. only from a dig can the tt pass the f355. this is from experience. not internet or magazine racing.

 

and to criticize the reliability of a 355 is misleading since those cars are treated like garage queens and don't get the proper exercise.

much like a well-used 996 (or any other modern car, really), a f355 should prove reliable if used often and maintained properly.

 

lets see here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALKOiHsQpA4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0OusN1y1Yc

 

that why i said "i don't know". i got no idea how fast a 355 is. but i will state again, my 360 will smoke my c2, like there is no tomorrow.


my 360 runs really close (but a tiny bit behind) my c5 z06. yesterday i ran my z06 vs my c2. a 2nd gear roll, through 3rd gear right up to about 90 mph.

no joke, i had at least 6 car lengths on the c2. it got destroyed.

 

wow, i dont know if i believe this at all.

as coming from actual ownership experience (i owned both a 360 and 996TT, simultaneously for over a yr and still have a 360 and a 996 c2), there is no way my 360 could pull away from my 996TT, both stock. it wouldn't pull it from a dig, from a roll, and not at high speeds. they would be close, but it wouldnt pull on it.


i assume a 355 is slower than a 360, so i cant believe it would pull away from a 996TT. of course, some cars are healthier than others, but assuming everything is stock and both are good examples, i dont buy it.


maybe you have seen some really strong 355's run with weak 996TT's.

 

in my experience, the 996tt has much more torque than the f355. and with the awd, it's a easy car to generate consistent fast times. so i'm never shocked when people see it kicking all sorts of ***. in my experience, which is much more than in the f355/f360 cars, the 996tt gearing is more spaced out somehow and thus pulls slower at the higher speeds.

the two f355's i've had extensive experience with was without a doubt the better 100mph + puller. the gearing seems better suited to high speeds, and the car is just more adept at higher speeds. a f355 doesn't like to launch very hard, it just doesn't have enough displacement for that kind of thing. but at high speeds it just "works" better.

either way, the original question about a 996c2 vs. a f355 is that the f355 kills it. a 996tt otoh, has the capacity for infinite tuning and the reliability of the 996c2 (perhaps even more reliable than the non-turbo car! ) and is the best candidate of the 3.

 

i don't think the f360 is any faster than a f355. similar power/weight/gearing. i have only driven a f360 once, and it was brief. but it didn't feel faster than the f355. but wow is the f360 a better car all around!

congrats on the stable

 

I am comparing a bone stock 996 w/o any aero kit to a 355. IMHO the 355 is much better looking.....and the 360 is a 355 on steroids. Now a Dino or 308 may be a reach unless it is the GTO then you can keep your modded 996 all day long the GTO is one of the sexiest badass cars out there.

I come from a family that collects Ferrari's......they cost a fortune to maintain especially the 12 cylinder models

I luv my Porsche though and it is much more affordable

 

didnt know the 355 was so fast. makes me like it even more.


i think the 355 looks better than the 360. i would have gotten one, if the maintenance wasn't so ridiculous.