As I have posted in the diff thread, my 86 was in for the service and diff replacement. As a 15yr owner of this car and some 30,000 logged Kms I can add some value about driving a Testarossa to a certain degree from my pov. My car has always run and shifted fairly well, though I have come across the 2nd gear notchyness when the car was very cold from lack of use or a long hard winter sitting unused. This would be at best a few minutes of driving ... My shifting have been nothing like others have reported or described in the past who has had issue. Today I picked up my car after the diff install and full service. I can tell you , the bushings in the box were changed, and we used 75w90 agip rotra oil. The car shifts just as smooth as my 308 in every gear now. The car still needs a tiny warm up, but aside from the first few Kms, the slick shifting into gear is effortless. Also, before my diff change, about 2 yrs ago I was noticing 3rd gear has a slight vibration through the shifter. The other gears were locked and loaded without any movement, but 3rd gear has a constant vibration, and I mean during cruising. If gas was added for go faster the vibration disappeared. Let go of the gas and coast the vibration also not present, on,y when cruising. Not sure if the vibration was an indication of the possible hairline crack in my oem diff, but now it is no longer present. So, for others that have a Testarossa, I wanted to document my experience. Not sure if the new diff or the oil , or the new bushings resulted in the butter smooth shifting , but it has to be noted that I can with confidence now say there is no notchy gearbox shifting in the Testarossa. As I log some miles in the next few weeks I will report back of any changes.
88.5 TR and 77 308GTB here in Maryland. TR shifting has always been smooth - even in 2nd gear. Same with the 308. I suppose - based on all the reports of others - I am extremely lucky. Curtis
A diff that's starting come apart will vibrate at certain speeds. It's no longer balanced. Think of if like a load of jeans in the washing machine on the spin cycle. Your machine will bounce around more with jeans in it, they say..track pants. Most pass it off as a wheel balance issue, or what ever. But Haveing now done quite a few diff changes, and driven the before and after you get to know what a broken diff feels like. Glad you got it fixed!! Now drive the damn thing will you?
82 308GTSi 87 TR red 87 TR grigio 89 Tr red All shift great after a VERY minor warmup with synthetic gear oil
I also owned an '86 for about 6-7 years, and would add one thing: The shift linkage is critical - both the condition of the bushing going into the transaxle and the adjustment. Mine suddenly became impossible to shift into 2nd when the transmission nose bushing failed and after that replacement and a careful adjustment - it became just as you describe...maybe not the easiest shifter I have ever driven, but really nothing to complain about except for the first 1-2 miles on the coldest mornings. On those really cold days, it can be double-clutched into 2nd with no problem if everything is in working order.
Tod, How about a TR and 360 owner in MD? Both three-pedal cars, no issues ever with shifting gears. The notchy 2nd gear must be a myth.
I have five DD's all with manual transmissions (my 420 SEL is an auto), they all have different shifting characteristics (and clutches). The TR is different, but hardly difficult, I like "notchy" I an go with that, the gated shifter seems to differntiate it from the others as far as shifting "style". I often double clutch on upshifts, just a weird habit.
Hi! I had a 98,000 miles 79 308 GTS that I bought abandonned with the engine parts in various carrier bags! The owner had given up on it after cracking a head following a sodium exhaust valve snapping. When I got it running and tried it down the road you couldn`t select 2nd or 3rd at all going up or down the gearbox - well my Uncle could but he is better at rev matching than me! I replaced 2nd and 3rd synchros and 2nd and 3rd became just as easy to select as the other gears - it didn`t even need warming up to select 2nd - although I always did out of habit. My 86 Testarossa with 62,000 miles shifts easy - but unlike the 308 it does need a few mins to warm up before selecting 2nd easily. It will go in straight away if it has to but not as easily as the 308 did - but then I guess that`s comparing brand new synchros to 60,000 mile synchros - although I can`t remember what oil I used in the 308 box which may have made the difference when cold. The clutch was really heavy on the 308 but I think the later ones were better. Dom.
