Hi all I believe this subject has been discussed before as well here. I have a dry sump carb GTB with the original 390mm wheels. But those TRX tires are too old and recently I had a flat. Buying new ones cost a fortune so I was thinking of changing the wheels and take the 16" ones. The ones I've found are 16"x8" rears and 16"x7" fronts. What size tires should I put on them? Best suggestions??? thank you all George
Standard was 205/55 F & 225/50 R - typical modern tire = Bridgestone RE050A Lots of other suggestions as you note in previous threads
I am using the Michelin Pilot Sport and I think they are just the bomb. Of course I have no idea how long they last. I also have the 16" ers. If you get the aftermarket be sure to use the hubcentric rings on the front. You will regret it if not used.
I'm thinking of the ferrari style ones from superformance UK. They are supposed to be made exactly for the 308. Do I still have to use those rings? Greyboxer I saw this size written before as well and I'll probably use this but there is a small downside. My car now has 220/55 VR390 on all 4 wheels. Isn't bit narrow looking the 205 at the front? Thank you guys for helping. George
Yes, those are the ones that I am speaking about. It is very easy but an ABSOLUTE MUST! I think this wheel/tire combo not only improved performance but are just sexy as hell looking. There is a difference between these and factory. The rears do not appear as deep on the rim as the factory. If I didn't tell you this you most likely wouldn't notice this. I sure didn't until I read about it here. There are pictures in other threads on this issue. Try a search on the topic.
Cannot be original in the first place as the dry sumped cars never came with TRX wheels. swop them for 16"
Mine is one of the latest euro carb 308 GTB produced in Nov 1979. I live in turin and got from maranello a verification about the car's originality. The first ones had 14" wheels and 390mm rims where put from the factory as an optional. From 79 and on where standard until 84' when they changed to 16". I'll move on to those 16s. Thank you guys George
greyboxer this is not the matter of my question about the tires cause I have to change them anyway. As most of the people here I love this car and trying to find the best possible solutions to keep it in a good original shape. I am a car designer as a profession here in italy. I'm not en expert in 308 but as far as I know ferrari was always a custom made car and there are many versions of this model depending on the regulations and automotive laws of each country. I dont know about US cars a lot. But most euro examples I've seen in ferrari's restoration department were having metric wheels. here's maybe the most original example. Its Leonardo Fioravanti's 308 which is for sale. http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/showDetails.html?id=143606669&__lp=1&scopeId=C&sortOption.sortBy=price.consumerGrossEuro&makeModelVariant1.makeId=8600&makeModelVariant1.modelId=9&makeModelVariant1.modelDescription=GTB&maxFirstRegistrationDate=1980-12-31&negativeFeatures=EXPORT&lang=en&pageNumber=1 He had this very car when he was chief designer in pininfarina. I had the honor to meet this man and work at the same place with him and he is one of my mentors. But as I mentioned this is not the subject of this thread. Thank you all guys for your help George
George 390 TRX wheels first appeared on the 1977 Pinninfarina 308 "Show " car displayed at the Turin show. However..... I have all the USA and European market factory brochures from the Vetroresina cars to the quattrovalvole models.... The 390 TRX wheels first appeared on the 2v injected cars in 1980....brochures indicate 14' wheels as standard and then trx wheels as an option.... in late 1980 the TRX wheels became standard for all world markets... Never heard/seen of a carby 308 with TRX wheels as standard..........would love to see the letter of authenticity from Maranello!!! 16' wheels were an option on 1979 model cars however,but were so damn expensive few owners bothered! By the way the ex Leonardo Fiorovante's 308 is a vetroresina and never came with TRX wheels from new either....they were added after he sold the car! P
Just to make clear one more thing. Every car in Italy that needs to be subscribed to a classic car club and take a golden plate (targa oro) has to be in original condition and therefore the verification is required. Its is called 'scheda technica' and comes only from maranello. Here's mine. For privacy reasons I had to hide some numbers. thank you again Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi myfazzman1 I respect all opinions but it seems that not everything is transparent in ferrari's database as all cars made have the name of the owner before manufacturing. I bought this car 29 years after its production and kept it as it was. I have no idea of the customization on it. All of them were different and an old mechanic told me that even the horsepower depended on the 'collaudatore'. I dont mean to make a mess here as I said before. I just need to change my tires. Personally I prefer to keep the original wheels because the car looks longer and lower but those TRX's will always be a problem. Once I called ferrari in order to ask more information about my own car (how many examples or what was custom) and they answered that they will not give such information. Another guy told me that they wouldn't know. I have stopped thinking about what my car is in respect to others and just trying to do my best to keep it in good condition and of course enjoy it as much as I can. So do I have to use spacers for those superformance 16"s?
George - thank you for posting your letter - you must understand that you have evidence of something completely unknown in the history of the 308 (ie carb TRX) and therefore it is of great interest to many
Bravo George I've always thought the pedantry of the "correct" brigade to be built on sand. We both know what Italian car manufacture is really like (especially when it's small volume and before the robots appeared). My point of view on these things is always "would the original designer be happy about this". The answer is a personal judgement and the more visually trained you are, the better your answer will be. I'm also switching my tyres soon and I need a sensible option so I'm following your thread with interest.
One more info that could give a bit of light in this..My car was produced in november 1979. But it was sold on the 26th of january 1980. I dont know if this is what makes the strange blend between the carb cars and the GTB i. As long as I know Fioravanti got the first car from production line and it was done especially for him. Back then many designers had the right to keep the first car from the production line. Bertone did the same with ferrari. Unfortunately nowadays this is not even close to possible. This thread started from a practical issue but became a very interesting discussion. Therefore I'd like to share with you a small piece of my work..always inspired from the 308 (maybe the best looking ferrari) Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well, not completely unknown.... @ Steven, at Assen (yes, funny name but famous TT-circuit/track) you were parked very close to a red 308GTB with #34019 (which is a very, very late dry-sump carbed car) and it had the TRX wheels/tyres, as well as the TRX tyre-pressure window sticker Gr. Mick
Despite my grey hear even I am never to old to learn I always thought that trx-en were only oem on the qv's thanks Mick
Hi George I was not " having a go at you",just stating that Whilst it is possible that your car came down the assembly line with the TRX wheels on it,it certainly wasn't "standard" equipment for 308 Carby cars or even a factory "option" for them. As such as a Concours judge would most certainly penalise the car on points for originality when judging it if it was entered in Concours! That Ferrari may have done this at assembly does not surprise me at all....I have seen very late production 2v injected cars with QV model front grills,Cibie fog lights and side indicators,but without the front bonnet grille....and these cars are original! The 16' wheels are a bolt on fit,however the suspension settings(wheel alignment etc)are different. To get the maximum benefit you will need to "set up" the car as such. My 308 QV GTS came with the TRX wheels and I changed them to 16' wheels(aftermarket)and the handling/ride is greatly improved! Good luck and please post some pics. P
We had noted that famous owner's car in the Marketplace. Welcome, and glad that we could help with your decision......it's an honor to meet you. Pininfarina is a very interesting firm.. Even with the 308 series, I was cautioned be a leading expert on vintage Ferraris to "Never say 'never' "....in regards to the way the factory might have done things on any given example. Hand made, every one.
That's a very interesting document and thanks for posting it. How long ago was this offered to you? Maybe you have better success being in Italy on the results?? I would love to have that letter on my 308GTBs. (1976 -1977) Edit: That's a recent response....2010? Would you write them, on my behalf, for 20405, 22127, and 22641 ???
Fantastic!! Thanks for that, also....... They get mad at me these days, when a I reach for a pencil or tracing paper...they want it done "on the computer!"...