[Boxer]

Took the 308 GTB out for an early morning drive today. Weather was perfect and I decided to take a long challenging route up through the hills. The road up to the mountain cut thru is paved in cobblestone which has a nasty habit of sinking in places after several heavy rains. On my way up I managed to hit a sunken dip rather hard that was hidden by a shadow. It took a bit of a bite out of the front underside of the spoiler (which I patched up with a bit of fiberglass as soon as I got back). This is road in particular brings out the best in the 308 as it is very twisty, and has plenty of elevation changes. To drive it right, you need a very response well balanced car which fits the 308 profile perfectly. It is rock on one side and trees on the other, hence zero room for mistakes. At about the half way point, I almost lost it. Not due to over cooking it, loosing the back end, or anything else on my part. The culprit was a stray black horse (looked exactly like the one staring back at me from the center of the steering wheel) which wandered out of the woods into the middle of the road. He stopped, I mashed the brakes and stopped after a bit of drama. We stared at each other, he shook his head a few times, and then trotted back into the woods. I have had plenty of humans stop me to ask about different Ferraris I have been driving but this was the 1st time a real Prancing Horse has stopped me.

Rest of the drive was uneventful.

 

[stile - alpine]

hehehehehe very cool!!! too bad the 308 got hurt, but still lots of fun

 

[Pete04222]

Sounds like a good road. Don't have to worry about horses too much where I'm at, you need to look out for the deer and moose.

 

[Boxer]

Normally you don't have to worry about horses around here (other than ones with riders attached cutting across roads).

 

[Pete04222]

I don't know about you Boxer, with an F40 and F50 in the garage I think I'd be hard pressed to want to take the ole' 308 out for a spin.

I know how the 308 handles and I can imagine driving on the road you described keeping the rev's up above 5k. Just working those gears and getting the most out of the car. Definately Ferrari territory. But wouldn't an F50 be better? I don't know. You know. Tell me why this 308 ride is better than the same ride in an F50. Is it purely because you don't mind scraping the spoiler on the 308? That I can understand.

 

[Boxer]

I don't know about you Boxer, with an F40 and F50 in the garage I think I'd be hard pressed to want to take the ole' 308 out for a spin.

I know how the 308 handles and I can imagine driving on the road you described keeping the rev's up above 5k. Just working those gears and getting the most out of the car. Definately Ferrari territory. But wouldn't an F50 be better? I don't know. You know. Tell me why this 308 ride is better than the same ride in an F50. Is it purely because you don't mind scraping the spoiler on the 308? That I can understand.

A few reasons, first off, I really enjoy driving the 308 GTB. The carbs, great handling and agility make it a great car to drive hard in the really twisty stuff. This road in particular is basically a no go for either of the F series cars. The access is a bit rough (as already demonstrated although I did not think I would have an issue given the higher clearance on the 308 front end), and once up and moving the flow is much more suited to the 308. (While I do hate scrapping the front spoilers, it is not something I lose sleep over and I have done it on every Ferrari I have ever owned, including the F50) 70% of the run is in 2nd gear. The road is very narrow in parts and the slimmer waistline on the 308 allows for better placement of the car. If you tried to drive it in the F50, you would basically be in 1st gear for most of the run. Width would also be an issue with cars coming the other way (especially in the corners as many have a habit of drifting over the line). Net net not a lot of fun. The F50 need a faster more flowing road to make for an enjoyable drive. The F40 would be even worse as their really are no stretches where you could spool up the turbos without ending up deep in the woods if you just happened to over cook a corner.

 

[Pete04222]

Ahhh, after all these years and advances in technology the humble little 308 still has it's little niche that no other car can touch. Even an F50.

 

[Boxer]

Ahhh, after all these years and advances in technology the humble little 308 still has it's little niche that no other car can touch. Even an F50.

Not sure I would call the 308 humble. It still has quite a presence on the road.

I guess the net in theis case is similar to picking the right tool for the job.

At the end of the day. I really enjoy driving the 308.

 

[viscount aero]

that's a very interesting event, encountering the black horse as you did. were that put on film as a story, it would be hard to believe it acutally happened as it comes off as mythical and fantasy-like, as in a dream. very cool even though it was very sudden and dangerous. neat imagery.