How do we get a few more HP from a 348 ?

I understand where many of the posters are coming from. I get great enjoyment from making a really neat car the way I want it. The enjoyment from learning about header design and suspension and then applying it to my car is priceless.

 

See here, they have for the 348 and other models also

Ferrari Parts : SR355H : SR355H F355 Silicone Hose Kit

Would love to slap these on as well as the gold kit on my next major...

 

When I raced my 348 which was 2750lbs I had no issues with the brakes on race pads and 3" cooling ducts. So I had an advantage but honestly the 348 doesn't have enough power to need much for brakes.

Or to put it another way...the fastest laptimes are never gained by use of brakes.

 

High flow cats..........

Nouvalari super sport exhaust.........

D40(?) engine..........20 hp more than the older version.....

Lowered by an inch or two..........

OZ Racing wheels with spacers.......

.....and the only thing done by me is the Nouvalari......

....the Swiss guy who owned the car before me obviously wanted to maximize the performance of the car...

//B//

 

I have been talking with hytech about reproducing Ernies headers-they are incredible. If we can get enough people (4) they can be purchased for roughly 4k. Otherwise looking at $4800 a set.

 

The 348 engine is only 3.4 liters producing 300hp @ 5000rpm. I think what you guys are looking for is torque. You just won't get it out of a small displacement engine. Torque is what makes a car fun to drive. That little engine doesn't make any torque until 4500rpm and then its only 250 ftlbs or there abouts. Its pretty much maxed out as it sits.

To get any real gains out of it, you have to open it up, increase displacment, and everything else that goes along with it. EXPENSIVE!

 

355 is plenty fun to drive and barely has more torque than the 348. It's the high rpm horsepower that makes it fun. I don't think you need more torque to make a 348 more fun, but you'll need to spin it higher which I'm not sure it can do in stock form so you'd have to open it up anyway to beef up the bottom end...

 

The 355 also has one more gear in the transmission..better torque multiplication.

 

I'll tell you.

Cost = $190 for both

Disadvantages = none.
We tested my ported tb's on DeeGee's car and they are good for +4hp to the hubs.

Cannot be returned to stock. Once the material is removed it's gone for good. Besides why would you want to go back to an inferior performing size???

Cost = $500 per side/$1000 total

Disadvantages = none.
I haven't done a dyno pull with stock unported runners, yet, so I don't have a comparison. But they do make more power than stock.

No they cannot be returned to stock, and again, why would you want to go back to a restricted runner???

Cost = FREE (my favorite price)

Disadvantages = a bit more turbulent air before the MAF.

Benefits= less restriction. Not sure how much power this is good for? Maybe, and I mean MAYBE 0.5hp if anything at all. The biggest problem is the piping leading to the MAF.

Yes the screens can be put back in.

Cost = As ktr6 pointed out not cheap, you are looking $4k on a group buy, if you use the same place I did

Disadvantages = none.
I just redyno'd my car with stock system back on it. Stock header, stock cats, stock single can muffler. I lost no horse power in the bottom end. From 2200rpm-4200rpm the custom headers and stock headers where dead nuts even. But from 4200 rpm all the way to redline the Hytech headers out performed the stock headers. At top end the difference was +14hp to the hubs, and a bit more at 7700rpm.
The biggest difference was in the torque, especially the mid range torque. The Hytech headers beat the stock headers pretty good, by about +12lb/ft in the midrange. Right when the stock headers starter to drop torque in the mid range the Hytech headers started to shine. At around 6000 rpm the stock headers tried to make a come back, but the Hytech headers kept making more torque all the way to 7700rpm. And this was all on the stock spider ecu mapping. I'm sure some more power can be extracted with tuning.

It can be put back to stock. Just unbolt remove, and bolt back on the stock headers.

 

That right there is why Ferrari went to the six speed. That way they could use gearing at the bottom end to take care of the low torque.

I need to start shopping me a nice six speed to transplant.

 

I have the kit on my 348 2.7. I don't know about increased torque as a result but definitely better idle, throttle response and no random CELs. The key to this kit (in my opinion) is the tight fit of the new electrical connectors (pins/recepticles) as compared to the factory fit. The tight fight is what keeps the electrical connection strong and reliable and improves general engine performance. The gold plating is there to reduce oxidation/corrosion. I believe there is a true benefit and would recommend the kit.

 

she will bolt up, but the mounts, shifter rod, shifter housing, gate, etc would mean a few mods

 

Oh no, you did NOT just say that!!!!!!!!!

 

Yup, I've already talked with two people who have done it. But that is another project for later down the road. For now I'm all about getting the intake system to BREATH.

 

The real number is not how many horsepower you have, but the ratio of horsepower to weight, and how you put it to the ground. A fat chick has stronger legs than a skinny chick. But is she faster? Nope. My car (just as an example, and keep in mind that I'm probably lying) is 250 lbs lighter than stock. Originally 3200lbs with 300hp it had a power to weight of about 11:1. Now it's at under 10:1. Faster? You bet. More economical? You know it. Easier on clutches and brakes? Check.
A few simple rules, since you asked.
Rule 1. Don't add weight. Full tank of gas? Add 60+ lbs. for that half tank 10 gallons your bladder can't outlast. Big ol' thumpa-thumpa stereo? Add 20. Passenger? Tool kit? C'mon, who really can use those tools. Windshield wipers? Your car melts in the rain, and only wipers survive. Bowling balls in the trunk?
Rule 2. Subtract weight. Need to drop 40 lbs? (See fat chicks above) Lighter muffling system available? Lighter wheels? Lighter battery? (battery tech has come a long way since lead-acid) Ultra-thick and cushy floor mats? Do you drive barefooted or something? Stick-on fake carbon fiber?
Rule 3. Put it all to the ground. Tires, tires, tires! Anything with a treadwear of over 200 is nuts unless you drive over 6000 miles a year. The tread will outlast the rubber otherwise and the traction will suffer with hard rubber. Get something really sticky. Mine (again, remember I'm probably lying) have a treadwear of 80 (Pirelli Corsas). I don't care how much horsepower you have, I will leave your chicken butt like you're standing still in the twisties.
The point is, it doesn't cost hardly anything to make your car faster. Guys can brag all they want about their horsepower, but I'll get to Starbucks before any of them in my little chicken-poop lightweight hotrod with sticky tires!

 

I was just thinking most of this! Well said.

Of course, I wouldn't sneeze at a bit more grunt, but short of spending tons of money, I'm not sure there is much to be done. One day, I'll have the car fully restored and rebuilt for a bit more juice, but for now, SS seats, challenge wheels, shorter ratios, and my lack of body fat will do nicely

 

Yeah but you have those nice tuned ecu chips.

 

Maybe this would help a bit.
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Do you have a license for that? If not, send it directly to me and I will dispose of it properly.

 

I do, I do...whatever it is that they do

 

Having a look to this thread, I'm agree with plugzit. This is all about power to weight ratio, as Colin chapman said. We can see this example in one of the actual Lotus, The Elise 111R with toyota engine (192 hp) is really fast due to his light weight (860 Kg).

Lighten the car is also my philosophy because it's more effective; better handling in turns, better traction, no need of bigger brakes or wider tires or electronic aids for mantaining +500hp on the road. Simple things works better. And it's really cheaper and easier; just lighter wheels, lighter exhaust (high flow cats are a must), carbon fiber bucket seats, lighter battery, and no stereo, no a/c, no carpets... Even lexan windows and windsheals. IMO 300 hp are more than enough for going fast, our problem is the weight...

What are you willing to give up to go faster?

 

Wheels - check
Seats - check
Exhaust - check

Still have the stock battery and stock stereo.

I am going to lose 10 pounds myself...

Kai

 

Perhaps remove the front trunk carpeting. It comes out as one big moulded fiberglass piece, and the weight of the item is rather surprising.

 

Yes BUT...your weight loss has to be in the right place. You can loose weight in the wrong places and even corner weighting can't fix that and weight loss in the wrong places aggravate other weight you can't change like the driver location. There is a huge amount of weight you can remove from a 348 and make it a quicker car and you will see benefits in your brakes too. I never needed more brakes in this car and larger rotors and bigger calipers making for more unsprung weight is certainly not your friend...but they look cool. If the trade off is 50lb battery + 4 G wire rerouted to the front for better weight distribution vs. shorter 4G wire and small braille battery (expensive) or 12v lawn tractor battery (cheap) kept in the left rear as in early 348's I would take the early 348 left rear battery location. Better still would be to offset the small battery and 4G wire weight to the passenger compartment by the right ECU.

With almost no effort I was the first known 348 owner to make my own flywheel out of the OEM parts. I cut off the spider and deleted the plastic parts and grease and welded the unit together and had it zero balanced. This lost about 9lb of rotational mass on a twin clutch plate OEM system iirc. I had seat of the pants improvement at corner exit to get the power down and carry that power all the way down the straights. That is not a HP improvement but maximizes the HP you have. There is more weight to be lost there since the loss of 9lbs did not effect my off line driveability (you need flywheel mass for street driveability). So there is more weight to take out of the clutch and flywheel before you get to a street driveability issue. How much weight will be trial and error. If I was doing the experiments I would ask for an owner's old worn out flywheel pack and start drilling it and lightening in 1lb increments and keep testing until the car was un-driveable or there was an unpleasent increase in driveline vibration. By the way, while I was racing my 348 I did not notice the feared driveline vibration/harmonics the voight dampned FW is supposed to prevent. The 348 grease pack and 3x seals have caused lots of grief. I don't think we need them even in streetcars. I raced my 348 for several years and the engine lived at redline and used the rev limiter many times and I never experienced broken input shafts or any other gearbox issues but I did rebuild my own gearbox before I raced the car. So I think drive line vibration/harmonics are a red hearing we don't need and there is some extra felt horsepower right there and less rotational weight.

Plugzit mentioned tires and he is so right. Any of you who follow F1 and last year's tire graining issue will appreciate what I say next. Horsepower is only good if you can get it to the pavement and keep your momentum through a turn then get HP down on "exit" as early as you can. How many of you run too much negative camber? On over cambered streetcar ferraris we see the inside wear more than the outside often. On overcambered racecars we see "graining" on the inside and none on the outside plus the wear. Graining is accelerated wear plus marbling of the tire where over heating locally causes rubber balls to get ripped off the tire and stick to it making for a loose tire surface that reduces your grip. So now you got a nice 295 30 18 tire on the rear "acting" like a 245 30 18 and you can't get the power down or on a grained front tire you now aggravate and increase understeer that Ferrari put into your set-up to keep you safe and you got to drive even slower to get the car to steer around the corner. Both events are a fail. So set your camber for what you need. If you are seeing the insides of your street tires go away then reduce your negative camber and your car will handle better and you will be able to get power and grip to the road.