nsxt2000
02-16-2009, 04:39 AM
I was reading "Ferrari Road & Race Cars" by Winston Goodfellow and noticed his comments concerning the Ferrari 348. The 348 was a follow-up to the 328 series and was a radical departure in the way Maranello constructed its cars. Rather than the traditional steel tubes was a much stiffer monocoque chassis with tubular rear subframe, along with other changes.
Power was supplied by a 3405cc mid-ship mounted V-8 and produced approx. 300 hp @ 7200 rpm's. Refinements were made during the production run from 1989 to 1995 when the 355 came into being. Its looks incorporated a somewhat Testarossa design with the side strakes. However, the 348 proved not so ideal in the real worls with many short commings, among them a harsh ride, wandering front end and stiff gearbox. The 348 also suffered from questionable build quality that became more and more apparent the more one was driven.
Then in 1991 when Acura released the Honda build NSX the equation changed. The NSX midengine V-6 equaled the 348's performance, had better handling characteristics, greater comfort and vastly superior engineering - and all for some $30,000 less. In the January 1991 issue of Road & Track the questin was asked "Has Honda Bettered Ferrari?".
Arguably the 348 was one of the worst cars to come from Ferrari and the NSX the best from Honda, but over the years the NSX has proven itself to be by far the better built and more durable of the two. I doubt that anyone can find a 348 approaching 200,000 miles with relatively few repairs (or even one with that many miles at all), while there are numerous NSX with this claim.
Now with all of the above in mind, I must admit there really is something about the "Ferrari Mystique". But for day-in-day-out use the only choice is the NSX.
-Mike S.
Power was supplied by a 3405cc mid-ship mounted V-8 and produced approx. 300 hp @ 7200 rpm's. Refinements were made during the production run from 1989 to 1995 when the 355 came into being. Its looks incorporated a somewhat Testarossa design with the side strakes. However, the 348 proved not so ideal in the real worls with many short commings, among them a harsh ride, wandering front end and stiff gearbox. The 348 also suffered from questionable build quality that became more and more apparent the more one was driven.
Then in 1991 when Acura released the Honda build NSX the equation changed. The NSX midengine V-6 equaled the 348's performance, had better handling characteristics, greater comfort and vastly superior engineering - and all for some $30,000 less. In the January 1991 issue of Road & Track the questin was asked "Has Honda Bettered Ferrari?".
Arguably the 348 was one of the worst cars to come from Ferrari and the NSX the best from Honda, but over the years the NSX has proven itself to be by far the better built and more durable of the two. I doubt that anyone can find a 348 approaching 200,000 miles with relatively few repairs (or even one with that many miles at all), while there are numerous NSX with this claim.
Now with all of the above in mind, I must admit there really is something about the "Ferrari Mystique". But for day-in-day-out use the only choice is the NSX.
-Mike S.