How Long will a Ferrari engine last ?

100K miles or more is not uncommon...in a 'good' one...

Yet failures are usually catostrophic, one of my 1977s "blew up' at 6K miles......no idea why.

Then the 360s when new suffered multiple problems with the cam variators and there have been a few explode even AFTER the updated parts (in Australia)...

So the answer is "a long time, unless something breaks".....the rubber timing belts being everyones main focus, but cams, header failures, ( I have had two of those) can greatly effect a happy long term experience.....

Happily, crate motors are standing by! Call now!
Have your VISA or Master Card ready!!!!!

HTH.

 

I just bought a 2006 Ducati with 72 miles on it.......

I guess some people are too busy the get to all their toys.....Ferraris tend to fall into that catagory.

Yet some owners DO relish piling on the miles, that Enzo that flipped in Utah had 30K on it......

 

My 06' 430 had a complete engine replacement at 6K miles.....A few 430's had total engine failures.

In a modern Ferrari the chances are that the engine is bullet proof, but don't own one out of warranty : )

 

What was the cause, Ape???

 

Some of the Enzos started "making metal" from the oil analyses and they pulled and replaced those under warranty.....FoH has one out on a stand...

 

I think the biggest barrier to engine longevity with Ferraris is the manner in which they are used and maintained.

I really disagree that Ferraris are better cared for than most cars. I think people THINK they are taking good care of their cars by keeping them in a cocoon. Letting them sit for months, then starting them for 20 minutes or taking a 10 mile drive is HORRIBLE. All of that leads to moisture and inevitably rust contaminating all of the internal bits.

Then when you consider that many owners take the cars out and drive em like they stole them, before putting them back in their cocoon...well let's just say Ferraris live an unusually hard life. I think the market equates Ferrari use with abuse, which reflects the premium on low mileage, while simultaneously disregarding the damage caused by letting them sit.

I have not heard of a Ferrari engine yet that is incapable of doing 100K to 150K miles when driven regularly. Some may need more care along the way, but these are exotic handbuilt cars.

 

Well said.


I will add, most Ferraris do not wear out, they get destroyed by their owners.

 

"The Ferrari doesn't KNOW that it's expensive to fix....."
JRV

 

Bob Z. has 185K miles on his 330GTC, he's finally coming up on a valve job. If the cars are maintained and not abused, they can go for a long time.

Regards,

Art S.

 

True. The engine in my TR went 155K miles. It wasn't the problem. The chassis gave up first.

 

If you park it in the garage and never ever start it it will last indefinitly, if you start it up put it in neutral and stand on the gas it might last 4 or 5 seconds.

Maintain it properly, don't abuse it, DRIVE IT, and again maintain it properly it should last a long long time.

My 308 has 150K on it.

 

To address the first part of the opening post, though: So many 'high miles' cars sit so long because for modern era cars it's so easy to find one that is a low miles car. I simply don't understand why guys (mostly) buy these cars and then don't drive them. It is inane. My car is a '93. I bought it last March--it had had 3 owners and was 5 years old and had 4300 miles on the clock. I'll break 10,000 in a few weeks and I do tend to avoid driving her during really wet weather. Right now I plan to keep this car for a long time. Long enough, say 5-6 years, until I can find a 2010 599GTO (with 3000 miles) for $150k or so... ;'{>

 

My F355B (95) has 60K miles on the clock, 5K of which took place of race tracks, and 2K of which took place on race tracks running within 2 seconds of the lap record.

This car still starts on the first turn of the key, runs perfectly, consumes no oil,....

The only difference in the regimine I use and abuse is that I let the oil get fully up to temperature (140dF) before driving the snot out of the car. The only other difference is that when my car leaves my garage, it typically gets at least 100 miles under its belts before it arrives back in my garage. THis gets all moving devices fully up to temperature and drives off moisture.

 

This is excellent Joe.

 

Because, having a Ferrari with low miles has more status than having an old car with a ton of miles. It somehow makes a common Ferrari "exclusive".

There is a lot of odometer pride that has nothing to do with the health of the engine.

The irony is that the guys with the seriously valuable cars -- vintage -- seem to care little about odometer readings, because the engines have usually been through a rebuild cycle due to age. It's only the modern stuff where we seem to delude ourselves that keeping the miles off will make it last forever.

As an aside:

I've told this before, but I was at Symbolic Motors' spring event last year, where they invite us to drive our exotic cars over, have an open house at their restoration facility, etc. A gentleman joined a couple of us who were talking about 308/328s, and mentioned that he had one. I asked where it was, and he said he hadn't driven it. He was pretty specific in telling us that it had 7K or 8K miles or something and was in his garage.

I was polite about it at the time, but per the posts above I thought it was pretty sad.

 

I have my 308 engine apart right now. The engine had 83k miles on it, and I know the previous owner (and only owner) took reasonably good care of the car. As I review the invoices from new, I saw the oil was not changed as much as I would like according to time and mileage but the engine survived really well regardless. So I could have a 'before' figure to compart with once the rebuild was concluded, I put the car on a dyno and yielded 199.7bhp at the wheels. This is pretty much 'like new' bhp. I tore the engine down and found valve guides with .008-.010 wear, .028 ring gaps, and lightly worn main and rod bearings and about .001 cylinder liner wear. Bear in mind the engine still made 'new' power with these kinds of loose clearances. The engine probably could have gone a ton more miles, but I figured it was time to go through it with the amount of oil it was burning.

If I had to guess, I suspect if the oil technology we have now was around when the engine was new the engine could go as far as any other modern engine. I am by no means a Ferrari expert so take it for what it's worth. Just my 2 sheckles

 

Wouldn't this be the equivalent of having a Victoria Secrets model for a wife/girlfriend and never having sex with her?

 

Quoted for truth

 

Well spoken Joe!!! Thanks for putting that perspective on it.

Nicely done Tazz!!!

Now we just need Tillman to chime in.


PDG
'85 308 GTS QV - 66k miles and building rapidly

 

My friend's Daytona had well over 100K miles on it when he sold it a couple of years ago. Never had the heads off of it.

He'd had it for 28 years or so, and for many years it was his daily driver.

My Daytona had about 30K miles on it when I bought it. Two years later, with about 36K miles on it, an exhaust valve broke, leading to a complete rebuild of the motor. It had not had more than 500 miles on it in the 10 years before I bought it.

 

If maintained it is probably a sound car. I have a friend with a Euro 328 with 145k+ miles. Platinum award winner, well maintained over the years, heads never off. Strongest running 328 I have ever seen!

 

I think that is the most important thing that is most commonly ignored, or the owner is just uneducated about.

I see so many people get in their ice cold car, start it up and immediately rev it to redline. I just shake my head and cringe.