Drove a Ferrari 355 GTS this weekend!
As you would expect, driving it is just awesome...
380 hp, manual gearbox, and a brilliant soundtrack, loved every minute of it!
It was a nice drive, with nice twisty bits and a highway section in between where I really opened up the taps.
Since I was driving "with instructor" I couldn't really do whatever I wanted but all he actually prevented me from doing was nailing it in first gear (since 380 hp means wheelspin, which in turn means drift, which in turn means very expensive accident) and I couldn't go over 7,500 rpm. Which was plenty for me!
You've all seen the pictures and the videos about this car (which was dubbed "greatest car ever" by Jeremy Clarkson)and think "It can't possibly be that good in real life". And you're right. It's better. A lot better
The sound is just amazing after 4000 rpm it really flies. 100 kph in 2nd? Not a problem at all!
Only thing I thought was pretty crap was the interior. Maybe that was because the car had already done 200,000 kms, but aside from weird indicating lights and a worn interior on the drivers' side, it was super awesome.
It's also really rewarding to have the "real" Ferrari gearbox instead of a flappy paddle one. Car goes vroaaaaaaaaa *clinc* vroaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa *clinck" which is really, really cool.
On the highway we got up to about 180 kph until the dude said "erm, if you get a ticket it's your licence". Point taken then.
Controls were very very heavy, clutch pedal was unbelievable tough , but thankfully I never stalled it.
All in all a fantastic drive. Could'nt live with the car on a daily basis though. It's springs are very hard, the brake pedal needs 2 feet to make it brake to the max (which I did, you would'nt believe how good they are), and more importantly, I would never tire of hearing that V8 sing behind me.
Also the fact that a new clutch costs 3,000? and needs to be replaced every 5000 kms is a bit much. That and the fact that a normal service costs 8,000?.
Video :
http://www.youtube.com/v/6J73sqOrMUE&hl=en