From The Archives: 348 at Fiorano!, Cavallino Feb/Mar 1990

Great article Matt. Thanks for sharing...

 

And yet somehow detractors forget all of the positive press and keep returning to the negative C&D articles. Speaking of which, I used to wonder how people who tested as many cars as C&D did back in those days didn't immediately realize there was something amiss with their early test car. But when you consider that C&D pitted the 348 against a Typhoon truck in a drag race you have to wonder if there was more to the story. One thing is for certain-- there was a ton of GM advertising in C&D back then, and we all know just how many ad dollars they were getting from Maranello.

Thanks for posting this, Matt!! I did not have this one in my collection so I'm really happy to see it. If you have higher res images available please let me know.

 

Thank you for posting.

 

Great article!

It is becoming more and more obvious that the good press faaaaar outweighed the negative back then. Yet the myths persist. I guess that just makes us smarter and less concerned with fitting in than the rest

 

You say: "yet the myths persist"- Assuming you're referring to the 348's reputation for wanting to swap ends if driven in a clumsy manner (braking/lifting off mid-corner) : Ferrari didn't widen the rear track, and alter the rear suspension geometry simply because the engineers were bored - It was done to correct an issue with the car.

It's an issue that exists beyond the level at which most owners will ever drive the car, right at the very limits of adhesion when pushing the car hard on twisty roads/tracks, and it's an issue not unique to Ferrari or the 348 (the early series 2 Toyota MR2's had the exact same reputation for wanting to swap ends under certain circumstances, and as with Ferrari, Toyota had to make some suspension modifications to help correct the issue).

The funny thing is, many owners on here respond by saying that there was nothing wrong with the 348's handling, and then add that you simply need to make some modifications to rear set up to make the cars on the limit handling more predictable. Well if you're having to modify the factory set up, that tells me that the factory set up wasn't quite right in the first place (as do the factory modifications to the rear suspension set up).

To say that the whole handling thing is a myth, as though it is simply not true and has been made up is, is not correct - Like I say, Ferrari didn't modify the 348's rear suspension set up because they were just sitting around bored!

(Cue loads of upset and outraged 348 owners to start hammering on their keyboards in defence of the 348, claiming that it has no issues whatsoever, and that it's the most perfect handling car ever made! )

 

While you're right, you're also wrong.

You can't forget the fact that many of these period articles are comparing the handling of previous Ferraris to that of the early 348 and, even as it was at the time, it is still comparing favorably and usually besting the others. Too often, people look back fondly on the other models and slander the 348 when in fact the latter was found to be a far easier thing to work with even then. I'm all for improvements, of course, and my car has them all. I cannot, however, truly say that I think Ferrari was not in full reaction mode when they chose to upgrade settings for the 348. I think it was due to the bad name the car was getting from what was obviously a light handful of reviews, but those reviews clearly grew legs rather rapidly. You have to consider the economy of the time and where Ferrari was to really understand why they would react the way they did. Survival! That's business.

 

Phil:

1) How many laps do you have in 348s, and on which tracks?
2) Which model(s) of 348(s) were you driving?
3) Generally speaking, how was/were its/their suspension(s) set up?
4) What objectionable handling characteristics did you experience? Please be specific.
5) What is your level of driving experience?