Hello everyone, I'm new in the Ferrari world as I just bought a '93 348TS. I've browsed the board for a while and found out that switching gearbox oil to Redline GENERALLY makes a noticeable improvement, at least when cold. Sounds great. But no one seems to say if a real improvement can also be felt once the oil is warm... And even more important, there is a huge debate to say if 75W90NS is finally better than Shockproof or not. So far it seems everyone agrees that using SL shockproof makes the shifting even easier when cold but that the NS should be the one to go for considering it is supposed to be more suitable to our gearbox. Hence everyone is afraid of a million dollar gearbox failure when going for shockproof. Makes sense. So here comes people saying they use shockproof without any problem for ages and many many miles. Great. But are those shockproof users really thrashing their cars? If the car only see WOT in a straight line every 300 miles, I bet using any type of oil will not make the gearbox come to a failure... And I know that many Ferrari drivers enjoy their pride and joy at cruising speeds. I don't blame them. But it's not a proof of long term reliability if you see what I mean... So are there people here who have really tested long term effects of SL shockproof when driving their 348...err...hard?
First off, congratulations and welcome to both FChat and the 348 Brotherhood. I can only comment on your first question, about the Redline improving shifiting when hot - the answer is yes, definitely yes. I am not sure what crap was in my gearbox when I bought it, but it was difficult to shift into 2nd gear even when hot...the RL 75W90NS has taken care of that issue. As for the second part of your question - opinions will vary...you will soon find out
I don't thrash my 348 gearbox in ANY way. I love the butter smooth shifts of the Superlight Shockproof oil in my gearbox. Results speak for themselves. Read and enjoy. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101885&page=9
Nope, "supposed" to use Redline NS 75/90. But I will take the chance and stick with what works for me. A friend used what Redline recommended in his Porsche 911 the other month and was less than impressed with the notchy shifts afterwards. Shifts were smooth before hand. Redline recommends using the Lightweight Shockproof oil if you "race" his model 911. He is going to get some Lightweight Shockproof oil and try it. He went on my Redline oil recommendation because of the nice shifts I have had in my Ferrari since using it. Although I DID tell him to use the Shockproof oil from the start. We will see if his notchy shift improves. Worst case, he goes back to the Castrol gear oil he was using before the switch.
Hi, just curious... did you get the one from Euromasters? Just curious as I looked at it and drove it and loved it... just that shifting required more arm than I thought my wife would be happy with. Otherwise a fantastic car. Congrats.
Use the full strenght stuff (75/90NS) if you are going to the race track. You can use the shockproof if you don't visit race tracks but still enjoy enthusiastic driving.
Shifting is part of the irrational ferrari personality. The important thing here is not which oil but which oil works in your car. Yes RL is good but so is M1 royal purp and a host of other oils. The key is to actually try oils and see which your car likes best. Changing gear oil is as simple as changing engine oil so if you can do that you are on your way to a nice weekend DIY project. Also. note that the 348 shifter is particularly sensitive to cable adjustments. That should be optimized first and gear oils second so that you get the most out of gear oils. But that is a bit more advanced and it is certainly cheap enough to throw oils at it and see what happens. If I was paying a shop I would make sure the shifter was proper first then swap oils.
I think it is simple but some people dont like to change their own oil. It is more of a personal thing one's level of bravery....since you can try and adjust it and make it worst too.
I live in France so actually, when I switch to "enthusiastic" mode, even on open road, it can be compared to a track use. ;-) (see the Stelvio Pass episode of Top Gear? We have plenty of those roads in France! ) Basically what I mean is that if the oil I'll fill the gearbox with has an impact on the LSD behaviour (lowering the LIMITED SLIP action for example), I will feel it...and I don't want to feel such a thing. So my purpose here was to know if filling the gearbox with SL Shockproof could be the best of both world with just a more regular flush to plan.
Nope, I got a red one in UK!! LHD. Originally sold in France BTW, which will help a lot when the time to sell her will come.
Wouldn't you be able to do this adjustment while having the car in the air? you could easily verify the shifting action after each adjustment, even more so if you had a partner doing the adjustment in 1/8-1/16 increments while you were verifying gear engagement?
