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Adrian's 355 musings

A348W

A348W

Well-known member
I really wasn't sure how I was going to broach the subject with the missus. Do I play a) the honesty card or b) the little white lie that gets overtaken by events?! :hmmm:

Option a) seemed the safest so the conversation went along the lines off "Somebody wants to part ex. their 355 against the boat; what do you think?" How bad could the response be...well actually it was a resounding, yes, well maybe a reserved "ok"!:laugh:

Sy is fully to blame for this, having made me a moderator on one of the DU whatsapp things. A chance discussion about cars, planes and boats and I'd posted up a picture of my boat for sale and so it began....! I wasn't after a 355, nor a LHD nor a yellow one (Mark you are fully to blame for making me believe I can look cool in a yellow car :dude:) Fast forward a month and the deal has been done, and toys exchanged.

Roger at the Ferrari Centre sorted me out with a PPI, after a couple of false starts with what are suppose to be well respected companies that were trying some sharp practices to say the least! (You don't agree to do a PPI and then say "oh pay this other company to do it that you have never heard off, but who do the PPIs I cant be bothered with and if it goes well I'll take the credit and if it goes south it wasn't me as your contract was with this other company")

The 355 needs a little work, but not much, some leather feed, small tear in the roof fixing, little shrinkage on the dash, A/C and MAF sorting and a rear fog light wired up.

I've only done 170 miles in it, but it is certainly quicker, steadier and louder (Cap level 2) than the 348.

Its getting booked in to DL for MOT and annual in the next couple of weeks, not that it needs a service as its only done a few hundred since the major was done, and has 15.5k miles total!

Should be great for the European trips we have planned next year :thumbsup:

355 & 348.jpg
 
What a pair, Adrian, congrats on the new toy :thumbsup:

So is this an 'upgrade' or the LHD 355 for the long continental trips and RHD 348 for hooning about on back country lanes here in the UK?
 
Just run that story again to let us know how you managed to get that deal sanctioned by the finance department. Well done looks good:thumbsup:
 
If I had a boat to sell I'd suggest to her indoors that I swap it for a 550. Unfortunately I don't have a boat :cry3:
 
francisn said:
Agreed. I love my GT4 so much I would need something very different, such as a 550.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean but having driven a 355 I think I’d prefer it to a 348 for long journeys. Maybe I’m just getting lazy/old before my time but a 355 is far more relaxing to cruise in. When I’m out for a blast I don’t want relaxing but for long trips I would.

Then there’s the LHD/RHD thing. Near me with lots of big slow moving farm traffic on long straight roads LHD would drive me nuts, you wouldn’t see round a combine harvester until the right side of your car was into the oncoming traffic. But for continental trips I’d very much like LHD. If you don’t actually want a GT and prefer a sports car I think they would complement each other quite well.

I’d be interested to hear about the ownership experience a couple of years from now. The impression given is that the 355 is more prone to mechanical problems. Be interested in a direct comparison given time.
 
Nosevi said:
What a pair, Adrian, congrats on the new toy :thumbsup:

So is this an 'upgrade' or the LHD 355 for the long continental trips and RHD 348 for hooning about on back country lanes here in the UK?
Click to expand...

The "official" response is we will be selling one in a year or so; the "unofficial" response may well resemble your comment:grin:

francisn said:
If I had a boat to sell I'd suggest to her indoors that I swap it for a 550. Unfortunately I don't have a boat :cry3:
Click to expand...

Trust me, you don't want a boat. They make running a Ferrari look like spare change. And yes I would have happily taken a 550 in part ex; a V12 will have to be in the garage at some stage :thumbsup: Just got to figure out another cunning plan to get approval from the boss :laugh:
 
A348W said:
Trust me, you don't want a boat. They make running a Ferrari look like spare change. And yes I would have happily taken a 550 in part ex; a V12 will have to be in the garage at some stage :thumbsup: Just got to figure out another cunning plan to get approval from the boss :laugh:
Click to expand...

You could try the one about it being an 'investment'. Sometimes works, just depends if they notice you grinning as you say it.........
 
Looks great, but I have to say that angle of the 348 still makes it a great looking car, especially in blue (biased of course)
 
Thanks everybody. Really looking forward to playing with the 355.

My first musing that I hope somebody can help with is the need for a rear fog light. Its a US spec car so doesnt have the light fittings or wiring for a rear fog light. (Last owner had a "friendly" MOT tester!!)

Reading the Gov MOT Inspepection Manual, it states "Rear fog lamps may be combined with the rear position lamps." Does this mean I can use the rear position lights as my fog light?; ie just insert an additional switch to turn them on when the lights arent on, or does it imply something else?

Any thoughts clever ideas appreciated.
 
Fog light fix

I had the same problem with my 355 when I put in a new loom from a US car. I got an autotrician to add a new cable to the loom to activate the fog lights, this was a simple fix and then the fog light operate on the normal switch as you would expect. It is a simple fix. I can't remember the cost but I think it was about £80.00.
 
So fog light sorted, small led light on the rear grill, a cheat splice of the radio power supply and an extra toggle switch under the dash! I might over the winter wire it to the front fog lights, but that means pulling the front boot apart....ugh!

With MOT time next week I thought I’d have a look at the CATs. Spot the issue?
56C43AA7-207F-423F-A4EB-13DC4BCE73AB.jpeg

Yup, somebody had removed the cores!!! Decided on the Superformance cats in the end, mostly due to price point, being 1/3 less than all the rest! Not as pretty, but the welding is good and as they are buried in the engine compartment out of sight they will do just fine.

94759E1F-2564-440F-B1A1-A3A7C9554345.jpeg

Just now wondering what else the previous MOT station “didn’t” find!!!!:hmmm:
 
A348W said:
So fog light sorted, small led light on the rear grill, a cheat splice of the radio power supply and an extra toggle switch under the dash! I might over the winter wire it to the front fog lights, but that means pulling the front boot apart....ugh!
Click to expand...

Good that you spotted the straight pipes :thumbsup:

You did say in a previous post that the 355 was definitely louder. Hopefully the cats won't make too much difference (unless you want them to).

Re the rear fog light, have you got a 'tell-tail' ie indication on the dash or switch that it's switched on? Last time my car was in for a service it's about the only thing the dealer picked up as a fault, my rear fog switch wasn't illuminating. Apparently not having an indication is an MOT fail even if the light itself works. Must be a way of doing it if the switch is now there.

Edit: 4.9.1 here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-ins...ectors-and-electrical-equipment#section-4-9-1
 
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