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The Ferrari F355 is a sports car built by Ferrari from May 1994 to 1999. It is an evolution of the Ferrari 348 and was replaced by the Ferrari 360. It is a mid-engined, rear wheel drive V8-powered 2-seat coupé. One major difference between the V8 in the 348 and that in the F355, apart from the displacement increase from 3.4 to 3.5 L, is that the F355 features a 5-valve per-cylinder head that is considerably more powerful, producing . The longitudinal 90° V8 engine was bored 2mm over the 348 to achieve the modest increase in displacement, with a 85mm bore, 77mm stroke and a total displacement of 3495.50 cc, utilizing an 11:1 compression ratio. Ferrari employed the Bosch Motronic M5.2 electronic injection with a single spark plug per cylinder and a dry-sump oil lubrication system. The frame is a steel monocoque with tubular steel rear sub-frame with front and rear suspensions using independent, unequal-length wishbones, coil springs over gas-filled telescopic shock absorbers and anti-roll bars. Ferrari fitted all road-going F335 models with Pirelli tires, size 225/40ZR 18 in front and 265/40 ZR 18 in the rear. At launch, two models were available: the coupé Berlinetta, and the targa topped GTS. The Spider (convertible) version was introduced in 1995. In 1997 the Formula One style paddle gear shift electrohydraulic manual transmission was introduced with the Ferrari 355 F1 (note the dropping of the F before the 355) adding £6,000 to the dealer asking price. The nomenclature does not follow the formula from the previous decades, ie. engine capacity + cylinder number (eg. 246 = 2.4 litres + 6 cyl, 308 = 3.0 litres + 8 cyl, and same for the 328, 348, 512 etc). This time, Ferrari used engine capacity plus number of valves per cylinder, as they were proud to boast about this technological advancement, ie 355 = 3.5 litres engine capacity and 5 valves per cylinder. The F355 is more common than other Ferrari models with 11,273 total units produced. |
