Will I get used to driving a 308 eventually?

I just purchased my 82 308GTSi today and took the kids and ex for rides. (my red head loved it the most, begged me for another ride) Pushed it as far as I could in my winding neighborhood (65mph) and I'm in love! I bottomed (slightly) out at the end of my driveway, so I just creeped the next time. I'm 5'8" as well and the rearview is sooo close to my face too!

Shifting has been cake... no problems there. My Reverse does not have to be pushed down to engage so I'm assuming that it's broken. My windows are horrible, I'm going to install Birdmans fuse box first. My parking brake light comes on and off intermittently, I tried unzipping the leather cover for the brake stick and it helped a little. I see at least 4 immediate projects to do (hopefully on my own) and I'm pretty excited!

I got one double take from a gardener, a peace sign from a teenager and very, very serious scowls from 2 woman neighbors taking a walk. (I was only going 25mph and I even waved) Yep, woman are going to hate me. Wonder about vandalism...

Peace out

 

Only four? Keep looking Congrats on getting the car. We need pictures!

 

I am not that much taller than you guys (5' 10") and the mirror doesn't seem too close to me. The trick for me to get comfortable in the car is to move the seat forward, but tilt the backrest back relatively far. Also, I am trying to get used to extending my fooot more than normal to work the clutch. There is a bigger space between the depressed clutch and depressed brake/gas than in most cars.

I wonder if all the cars had the reverse lockout? Does anyone know how it works? Thanks.

 

I think my shifter may be missing a spring or something as it does not come up to the lock out on the gate. This has made me almost throw it in reverse at the stop light.

Something that I noticed is that the 308 starts off slow until you get the revs high. Makes it hard to believe that anyone could spin the rear wheels on take off unless they drop the clutch at 5k RPM.

Also, your eye level is only as high as the wheels of an SUV's.

I love every minute of driving it

 

Alaska: Congratulations on the 308. Enjoy.

Try entering and exiting the drive at an angle to reduce scraping.

Reverse lockout is accomplished by a metal tab on the underside of the shift gate that interferes with the shift lever if it is not pushed down. The tab on yours may be worn or the gate may be installed backwards. See: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125847

If the windows are still too slow after you replace the fuseblocks you can clean the electrical contacts, clean and grease the cable and mechanism, and/or install Frazer’s magic relay boxes. Lots of info available with FerrariChat Search. Personally I’ve grown accustomed to slow windows and don’t much care anymore.

 

My 84 QV doesn't have the reverse lockout, I think only the carb models has the lock out, can someone quote me on this?

 

Nope, my 85 definitely has it.

 

Congrats alaskagirl where's the pics???

Vnadalism is out there, I 've had some, but just drive it....fix it ......f' em....

If your reverse detent ramp is highly worn or broken off the bottom of the shift plate the pressure downward required is reduced.....

On good cars, it takes a noticable shove 'in' to get it engaged....

The deal on the offset first Pippo is due to ratios,....really around town or on the track once you are rolling everythiong is second gear or higher.....

First is for stationary starts only, really IMO......

congrats again alaskagirl........

 

It's just a tang protruding from the bottom of the gate plate, turn it over and check it out.....

 

No reverse lock out on my car either . . .'81.

My stock motor lacked bottom end grunt like that . . . my new motor bakes 'em when I drop the clutch at 3k . . . I posted a data trace in my thread "pic of motor with latest goodies" . . . not something I reccomend though unless you are me (with spares and a shop) OR have deep pockets. On that data trace my 0-60 looks to be about 5.5 sec!


My car fits like a glove (had it 12 years now). I have an old P race car with a 915 tranny . . . the 308 in comparison shifts and feels like a dream even though it doesn't grip quite like the P car . . . for the street it really doesn't matter much since the 308 has plenty of grip with the right tires and I don't have my dry sump yet.

Enjoy your cars . . . I just got back from another 3 hours in the local mountains . . . love it more than the day I bought it. Some day hopefully I'd like to add a Testarossa to the stable and do all the same mod's I did to my 308. I briefly had a brand new P car and got my warranty voided by PNA for abusing it (they donwloaded some data out of the "black box") . . . I lost $20k when I unloaded it . . . that experience has made F car ownership all the more rational to me.


Sean

 

As Big Tex stated, the lock out isn't anything mechanical in the tranny. It's just a protrusion the drops below the plane on the shift gate. If you're not feeling it, then you have a problem.

Possible causes

1) the bump is worn down/off and isn't hitting the stick anymore

2) Your stick is in the permanent "down" position and thus doesn't engage the tab.

3) Your gate is flipped around and it's over at another position doing no good.

See http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125847 for detailed photos and how to fix it.

 

Yep . . . just checked and to boot the gate's backwards so the worn out stop is in the 5th gear position.

Sean

 

Ah, thanks! I will put checking that on my ever-growing Ferrari to do list...

 

Congratulations - it's a love affair you never have to be ashamed of

 

I love seeing the fender, though I'm kinda with Newman; at 6'7", I'm looking through the top strip of the windshield, right below the tinting.

And I'm not sure what you mean about the Corvettes, vvassalo. My daily driver is a 2007 'vette and it just feels a bit larger than the 328. However, I do see a lot more 'vette fender in a C3 style from the 70's than I do in my 328, or the new 'vette.

 

When I first got my QV, every drive was an "on edge" experience for me. Not bad, just exciting and new and raw and low. Sometimes after a drive my arms would be sore from the steering and shifting with tension in them. After about 800 or 1000 miles, the car just became an extension of my body (you get to become "one" with the seating position, raw feel and handling, gated shifter, and visuals). . Now I take it to the track where I can let it really run out and push the go-kart cornering abilities. There is no car in the world like a 308, not even another Ferrari IMHO. Maybe faster and smoother handling, but none with so much road feel and driver feedback, and then there is the sound of the motor 18" behind your back......I'll shut up now, you'll learn to crave it.

 

Hi Alaskagirl from another 308 girl! You'll love it I'm sure (I'm coming up to 5 years of the greatest love of my life - it just gets better all the time).
BTW, take the advice to check the gate plate position first - mine had also ended up back to front and although I always pushed down out of habit (have only ever driven Italian cars and most have this feature), I did once absentmindedly push it into R when thinking I was going to 1st (lucky I was in slow traffic and not doing a quick takeoff!). Enjoy!

 

pippo will never get used to it, unless he actually BUYS it! LOL!

Chris called me yesterday ....I could have run underneath you AGAIN on this deal if you don't hurry up!!!!! He doesn;t think you are coming back for it.....

I got 308s following me home, like little lost puppies!

"Shoooo! Go away! No more room!"


Well....maybe just ONE more.....

*looking both ways for a Banker*

 

Where's YOUR picture, Karen??

One Beach Bum to another......4' swell into Galveston Texas last weekend, but I was busy with the Architect's Sandcastle Competition....left all my boards at home......

We won "Most Lifelike" for our herd of dolphins....

 

Are you an architect? Snap!

 

Pic???

Alaskagirl....the other girls might be jealous, but the guys will definitely notice a babe in a Ferrari! My wife gets 20 times more attention in the Ferrari than I do.

Birdman

 

Hmmm, can you imagine how it is in the GT4?

To guys, it *can be* a cool car. To (99% of the) girls it is just an ugly, noisy, smelly, in-your-face piece of crap!

I believe Jay Leno once wrote in one of his columns that he found that when driving his Lamborghini Countach, he did not attrackt any females, just a whole bunch of 13-year-old boys. His Jaguar XK120 on the other hand....

The other day, my cute little (5'), blonde girlfriend drove my GT4, while I was chasing her in the BMW (futile, I could only keep up when she allowed me to). Now THAT was an attention-getter! I had to fight for my spot on the hiway to keep her in sight!