Euro vs US versions

Man use a 'search' on this...

Short version they can be HUGE trouble on a modern Ferrari, and even the older cars the Federal releases from EPA and DOT where they were originally Certified must stay with the car it's entire life, although verifiable and replacable if missing..

While euros are sometimes lighter (less crash safety) the advantage might be a bad thing if a Warranty is non transferrable for a car "out of it's market"


Do some heavy research and understand what it all means before buying, break the rules severely enough and they take it and crush it!

 

I bought a Euro 328 in March for which the owner had no papers before I did some poking around w.EPA and DOT. I got copies of the releases and bought the car. It's even registered and legal Do as you will but I would not reject Euros out of hand. Search for threads w.Euro and my handle, maybe that'll be helpful.

As Tex said in the absence of papers a car *could* become an albatross but it doesn't take more than a VIN and a couple phone calls to establish conformity.

 

In California, Euro cars can be a massive headache. Someone on here recently bought one and immediately had to sell it due to smog regs.

 

+1.

It is not cost effective and risky to convert an older Fcar to comply with CA regs - and even if you do, there's no guarantee that the CARB will pass it. It's not impossible, but odds are against you..........

 

In California there may be a problem, in Alabama, no problem. Different states, have different requirements. You might want to check with where you plan on registering the car. Now for some stats; Euro is 270+ lbs. lighter than US version, bumpers stick out on US version and no prancing horse on front grill, the Euro has a higher compression ratio, US version 0-60=7.4, Euro 0-60=5.9. The Euro is the way the car was originally designed in Italy, then changes were made for the US market.

 

Does naybody have input on showing/judging a Euro? As a completely unmodified Euro that would be easy but how is a federalized treated since it is not in the condition it was originally built? How about future Classiche application (setting asside for other discussions the Classiche program process/validity)?

Jeff

 

I tried to word my earlier response carefully, as to not color your perception.......MAYBE a Grey Market car is okay for you, MAYBE you'll have no troubles at all, it depends on too many variables...

There's Euros all over Texas as we don't care, after 25 years of age about a damned thing.....no smog no nothin'...as you have noted CA feels quite differently..

All Boxers are Non US Spec, for instance...I'm looking at one that was Fcatory installed and upon retunr in 1985 they seized it AGAIN and threathened to crush it...LOL!

Thinking of getting it as a "lucky car" obviously..

I'm surprised your search didn't find the thread on the guys in NY that brought in a 599GTBearly on before we had them legally, that was clearly an illegal car and was NEVER gonna be certified, it had to leave quietly..

A 308/328 is a whole lot less of a deal and you'll find scattered examples of 355's and 360s in the States also..

I have always just avoided the headache with North American spec machines, until this Boxer cam scratching at my door........

 

Actaully a good point...I'm sure there were variances in gear ratios ...I am not very knowledgable about it all but it's actually much more complicated than just "North American" specifications Vs. "Euro"..........Swiss cars and Germany also had specific criteria to be complied with, so Ferrari tailered the vehicles to each intended market..

The 208 Turbo being a very notable example...Italy only.

I forget you are not in the USA are you intending to use the car in Mexico only? You may not be effected by a European spec at all it may be the way to go.....

 

The 7.4 0-60 figure is wrong; I believe that pertain to a certain test done with a 308 QV, though 6.8 seconds has also been noted. The U.S. 328's are 6.0 0-60 cars, which is in line with the difference in power-to-weight ratios between U.S. spec and Euro versions.

Cordially,

Scott

 

I was talking about 308 QV's, not 328. 328's were 0-60= 5.9

 

i had a US 328 and just recently purchased a euro 328. there are noticeable differences:

1. steering feels lighter
2. more acceleration
3. way way way different exhaust sound
4. gear ratios somewhat taller
5. shorter bumpers make the car look wider (amazing how different the two cars appear)
6. doors feel more rinky dink when closing them
7. clutch is a little heavier
8. euro has rear fog lights and clear lenses up front
9. car runs a little cooler

 

I just have to correct a couple things listed above here just so we all know. The compression ratio on the US and Euro carb cars are identical. The '76-'77 US cars used the same intake cams as the Euro cars, but the US car used a exhaust cam with 10 degrees more duration for emissions purposes. The intake cam on the earliest US cars is timed 4 degrees different than the Euro cars. The stock EUro cam configuration is set up for high end bhp. 4 degrees for the US cars is easily changed. The '78-'79 cars used an intake cam timed differently and had .048 less lift.

The carb jetting is much leaner on the main jets for the US cars for emissions which is easily corrected via rejetting (tons of threads on this forum about rejetting). Earliest US cars had 135 mains with 220a/c jets while the Euro cars had 130 main with 190 a/c. The '78-'79 cars went even leaner with 125 mains. Many members of this forums have had success by using 140 mains with 200a/c jets due to the difference in fuel compared to many years ago. 140mains with 200a/c jets yields right about 180rwbhp+ as a modest estimate. I have heard of as high as 197rwbhp, but for our purposes 180rwbhp is a good number for a healthy engine jetted for performance. Euro cars jetted correctly are yielding performance numbers about the same.

Last but not least is the weight. The steel bodied Euro cars are NOT 270lbs lighter than early carb US cars. If the enormous original muffler is removed from the early US cars and replaced with an Ansa sport or the like than the weights of the two variants are not as far off as some might think. The original muffler weighed about 130lbs+. A business colleague of mine in Germany had his Euro spec '77 steel car weighed with 1/3 tank of fuel, all tools, and spare tire at 2913lbs. I weighed my '76 steel US 308 with 1/4 tank of fuel, spare, Ansa sport exhaust, and all tools at 3007lbs. That is a 94lb difference. Not bad at all. The US rubber bumpers are preferred by many members here for the piece of mind of having some sort of bumper for all the less-than 100% forthcoming people of this world.


Are the Euro steel carb cars faster? Yes, on paper they are a tiny bit faster. I would be surprised if there was a .3 seconds difference between the two though. I cannot tell the difference when both are tuned correctly.

And of course throw the weight stuff out the window if we are talking about a fiberglass Euro car. They are undoubtedly faster cars, but not by a earth-shattering amount. For my dollar, an early steel car is just as good as any.

hope this helps!