Has anyone owned both these cars?
My brother is torn between the 2 cars both appear to be excellent condition. I'd be interested to hear your views.
Thanks.

Harry

 

I was going to get a 355 before I bought my 993TT. After talking with a bunch of people, they all said the Ferrari was a much higher maintenance animal.

I had a 1988 Lamborghini Jalpa for 3 years and drove it as a daily driver for the most part and while it was pretty reliable, the parts where expensive and it did show interior wear MUCH more than any Porsche. Ferraris are kinda the same way, at least from my experience.

The 355 puts you in a nice exclusive club, but so does the 993 TT

Here was my Jalpa...

 

I have them both. Email me at btsscott@aol.com with your phone # or your brother's and I will be glad to talk to him. There is much to say and many diff factors. I'm not a speed typist by any means. They are both great cars. You can go to dupont registry and see the 355 under 97 yr model. It is a BLK/TN featured car. It really depends on your Brother's appliction for the car. If he is going to put miles on the car go with the TT, if he wants a lot of attn and paranoya about parking go with the 355. When the two are parked side by side the 355 is just incredible.

 

F355993TT
Just sent you PM.

Harry

 

Just got an update from my brother F355 it is and it is yellow.

Cheers.

Harry

 

All it will take is one drive in each. If he's the kind of guy that a Ferrari does it for him, he will know it right away.

 

The 993TT was sold before he could get a test drive on it so he bought the F355. It will be serviced by a main agent before he takes delivery of a 6000 miler!

Harry

 

The 355 is of the most beautiful Ferraris ever and the 360 Modena didn´t change that. Between the 993 and 355 I have to say that jsut from from looking at both I would choose the Ferrari hands down, it looks just perfect and much more exoctic than the 993TT. After a test drive my mind could change as I give to much value to build quality, and the Ferrari is known to have some problems on this regard. But even so it would be a tuff choice.

Main down point to Ferrari is mantainace, is more expensive and maybe more prone to failures of all kind. Hope you brother can enjoy this forever beautiful Ferrari.

J.Seven

 

Ferrari was our childhood dream but like you J.Seven, build quality rates highly on my list so no Ferrari for me as I am not endowed with loose change to maintain a wayward Ferrari. Still, I can drive his car and he pays maintenance - not a bad deal (if I can be ar**d to get half way across the globe!). I would be interested in the price of my car and his in 10 years down the line as I strongly suspect my 993RS will hold its value better.

Harry

 

It is not even close. The 355 is far superior in every way. Even compared to the new TT. Once you drive them both at liesure.....if you had to pick one you wouldn't think twice. Don't get me wrong, I like the TT for it's practical nature. It has more torque and HP and can be easily modified. It is faster off the line with the all wheel drive and torque. Nothing on the 355 needs to be modified because the car is perfect. The Porsche rides like a brick compared to the 355. I have never driven anything more stable than the 355 right up to 175 mph on the highway and that includes the 03 TT. The car sticks to the road like glue the faster you go. It is longer, wider, lower and handles better. Not to mention the sweet comfort mode that puts the car at a soft ride at the flip of a switch in the **** pit. And the Tubi exhaust screaming behind you at 8500 rpm. It is heaven. As far as being a maintenance nightmare not true. It is just the SCHEDULED maintenance that will hit your pocket hard. When my 355 is in the driveway people stop and take pics. When the TT is in the driveway nobody looks twice. I drive my 355 for shear driving pleasure. I drive my TT anywhere I wouldn't park the 355. When it comes to light to light drag racing the TT will eat the 355. When I really want to go fast I jump on my 200hp custom Harley "sleeper" that eats Hyabusas for breakfast. You should see the look on their faces after we race. They can't believe they just got spanked by American Iron!

 

Well there´s nothing like real life experience, and the fact that you own both, really makes your report very credible. The WOW factor is on the Ferrari side , no doubt about it, the car is just stunning, and contrary to the 348, it has very sporty and at same time classical Ferrari lines. Barchetta is even more beautiful, maybe the most beautiful of all Ferraris. I´m on the market for a 993TT, but the 355 is almost at the same price range as the 993TT but the fact that I can put the 993 in a very good Porsche mechanic makes the 993TT a valuable option. I dont know anyone who could perform a good maintenance on the 355, and officcial dealer will kill your wallet whenever they can. If I knew a good Ferrari mechanic, the 355 could be my choice, although I would dream everyday with the easy upgradable 500Hp in the 993TT, there´s nothing like the kick of a high powered turbo engine, again very tuff choice

J.Seven

 

I can understand the concern of not having a Ferrari mechanic in your area. This makes a big difference in your decision. The dealer will take your head off you can count on that. Good luck with your search.

 

Boy, I find that hard to believe...

 

Harry,

I've never owned a Ferrari, but I've driven several models on various occasions (355gtb, 360 F1, 456GT). In fact, I had my heart set on a Ferrari until I drove a 993TT for the first time.

There's no doubt that the Ferrari's exterior lines, and the aural beauty of a Tubi exhaust, will set your heart racing (I'll never forget the incredible sound that my Ducati made with a Fast by Ferraci exhaust). However, I think the Ferrari falls short of a 993TT in several other areas - some practical, and some purely performance issues.

The TT has quite a bit more torque than a 355 or 360, which means a lot to me. Actually, I like the 456 much more than the 355 or 360, simply because it "feels" more powerful to me, even though I know it's significantly slower in terms of acceleration. There's nothing like a 12-cylinder Ferrari engine.

The 360's interior is beautiful, but the 355 interior looks very kit-car-ish to me (no offense intended). Admittedly, my 993TT has the full Turbo S leather and carbon fiber interior, which dresses things up quite a bit.

I've been on the track with several 355's and 360's, and they don't seem to handle track abuse nearly as well as a 993. Reliability at those extremes is a significant issue. The worst thing that's ever happened to my 993TT in 3 years of track use is a turbo hose that blew off and needed to be easily reattached. I've never seen a 355 or 360 with that sort of track reliability record, despite the fact that the non-turbocharged engines should theoretically be lessed stressed than mine. A 993TT really is an incredibly well-engineered machine.

I test drove a two-year-old 456GT at Miller Motorcars one time that had the following items in need of repair: delaminating rear windshield, leaking shock absorbers, faulty electrical system (sometimes car would start, sometimes not), peeling engine paint. A brand-new 360 at Ferrari of Atlanta had a driver's seat that would not lock in place, and kept flying rearwards on acceleration. The salesman commented that it kept breaking despite the mechanic's best attempts to repair it.

Of course, I still love Ferrari's and hope to buy one someday when practical issues simply don't matter to me as much. But, if your brother can only have one high-end performance sports car, I suspect he'll get much more real-world pleasure out of a 993TT. btsscott is correct in that the 993TT will need to be given a better, lowered suspension, but that's about it.

 

Anir,
I couldn't agree with you more. If money was no object I will buy the F-40.
He drove my RS but he wasn't really impressed with the 'lack of acceleration' in his opinion and was looking for a turbo but he was lucky enough to come across some money so he widened his search to include the F355, which he eventually bought. He didn't get to drive the turbo which turned up at the same time as the F355 because it got sold and I think he felt that the Ferrari was in such an impeccable condition he didn't want to risk missing out by looking around and being undecided. I guess fate made the choice for him. I hope he enjoys his car which should be delivered to him having had a service by the main dealer very shortly.

Harry