Countach Driving Tips

Does anyone on this forum drive their Countach? Or do you just rub it with a diaper? HAHAHA kidding.

Post your driving tips in this thread. It's not an easy car to drive, and when you first get one these tips can help avoid damage.

Here's mine-

1- you don't need to push the clutch down all the way when shifting like in American cars. If you push it down only about halfway, shifting will be a lot easier. You'll find a sweet spot on your clutch when you pay attention to where it shifts best. People talk about "bad syncros" and "hard shifting" in the countach, but that's sometimes just because they are pushing the clutch down all the way like a normal car.

2-to save your front spoiler, go up driveways and parking lot entrances on an angle. Never go straight in. Make the angle as extreme as you can if the hill looks steep.

You have about 46 inches from center-wheel to the front edge of the bumper. You have about 5-6 inches between the bottom of the spoiler and the ground (on hi body cars). That means if the incline goes up more than 6 inches in less than 4 feet of travel, you're gonna scrape it. That's if you go in on a 90 degree angle (straight on).

If you go on a 45 degree angle, your bumper is now 23 inches from the center of the wheel. You're doubling the amount of incline you can handle without scraping the spoiler. Even if the street rises up 6 inches in 30 inches of travel, you will not scrape.

The only reason I bring up all these numbers is that if you think it out mathematically a few times, even draw yourself some diagrams, you will understand it a lot better. Then when you are confronted with a situation, you will know right away what to do. Sometimes there's not much time to think when there's some steep gas station entrance coming at you, and traffic coming up behind you fast and furious.

When in doubt, stop the car and think it over for a few seconds. If no one is coming, drive around and find a better entrance. Better yet, park on the street if you really don't think you will make it.

3- know your car's dimensions. Your feet are right about where the front wheels begin. The back end (behind the driver) flares out. It's wider than the front. So if you think you're squeezing into a tight spot, you could be wrong. Just because the front end fits, doesn't mean the middle and the back will fit. Better yet, don't try to squeeze into tight spots. Park far and walk more.

4- The area at the bottom on the car between the front wheel and the back is pretty low. It's possible that if a steep incline is followed by a quick decline (as in parking lot exits), or maybe even on a tall speed bump, you can scrape the bottom of the side sill or side skirt (for 88.5). Does anyone remember the burgundy 5000S sold by Tony R in FL? Remember how those bottom edges were all chewed up? That's what can happen.

5- When pulling into your garage or parking spots, you might have to keep the clutch partially engaged to do precision movements at slow speeds. Keep the RPMs as low as you can without the car stalling. This keeps the pressure low on all your clutch pieces. The wear on the clutch comes from HEAT, which causes the outer layer to crystallize, and then it flakes off. Then you have a little bit less clutch. Keep it cool and your clutch will last longer. The longer it's engaged, and the higher the RPMs, the hotter it will get. If you start to smell the burning smell from your clutch, take a little break to let the heat dissipate.

6- Merging right on the highway is not easy. I'd be interested in hearing everyone's methods on this. For me, I first check the rear view mirror inside the car, then the side view on the right side of the car, then I look through the small window behind the right door (cause sometimes a car will be right there in the blind spot). Then I speed up a bit and make my move. I look back at the road in front of me in between each mirror/window glance. Traffic can slow down in front of you at any time, so don't get too distracted with your merge to notice what's going on in front of you. I have merged right hundreds of times in dense Los Angeles freeway traffic with no problems using this method. But if anyone has simpler ideas, please post them.

7- Now, the most important tip! When women want a ride, want to sit in it, want to flirt with you, etc, always tell them "no i don't let women ride in it. It's a man thing. No girls allowed." This will make them 10 times more interested in you, because they have to earn it.

If anyone has any corrections or suggestions, please post them. The better you drive, the less dings you will have. More time on the road and less time in the shop.

 

When cold shift from 1st to 3rd and double clutch when downshifting with a small blip of gas until the trasmission fluid warms up.

 

I like to rev match the rpms while braking to save the clutch. The gas and brake pedals are fairly close together. With practice, it is possible to brake with the left part of your foot while blipping the throttle with the right side. When you get it right, you feel like a pro.

When stopped at a light or stop sign for any length of time, put the car in neutral and take your foot off of the clutch. It helps save clutch components.

Gawkers in you blind spots are a constant threat. I purchased a small rectangular convex stick-on mirror and attached it to a corner of
the side mirror. It pretty much eliminates the right side blind spot. It is also easily removable, if you want the car to bring the car back to original again.

 

Have not had one in years, but from what i remeber.

You cant reall see the back quaters, so to change lanes acclerate up and across into a spot.

Over 160ish the front gets light ans strats to weave, countersteer as you would a chine walking boat.

Over 170ish the temps start to rise pretty quick so use higher speeds as boost speeds then drop back.

 

#1) Absolutely correct

#2) The much-maligned wing eliminates this problem (from sampling with wing on and off). Many people discount this, but the front-end wandering is from back-end lift (i.e. the rear end is getting light, not the front end - but you feel it through the steering as you are making corrections from the front) - which the wing counteracts. Many will disagree, but go try it both ways and see what you think.

#3) A properly set up downdraft will run all day long at those speeds.... but their cooling is better than the US cars. I was actually impressed with this exact thing.... the temps and pressures were rock solid and right in the middle of the range at those speed. I have video and photos of mine at those speeds (sustained for quite a while) that bear this out.

Another bit of interesting trivia about running at that speed- you have many times heard people talk of fuel consumption in certain cars with the joking reference " I could watch the fuel gauge dropping"..... I actually did see this. In a single 100 mile stretch I nearly completely drained the 30 gallons of fuel my countach had in the tanks and though I never looked closely enough to see the movement every time I glanced back at the fuel gauge it was noticeably lower than it was from the last scan !!

 

Hi Elvis, thank you for posting a very useful post: here you are my suggestions to improve your Countach driving tips.

I have new syncros and a multigrade full synth 75W-90 gear oil: gearbox works like a swiss watch so no tricks are required, even with cold gearbox oil.

100% correct

That's 100% correct

That's 100% correct

That's 101% correct

That's 100% correct: at low speed i sometimes open the driver door too.

This is 0% correct if the woman is a gorgeous one, wears high heels and a very short skirt... Countach is a very exciting car!

ciao

 

i would add this, for a carburated car only (that you of course know it's the only good Countach: a FI one is just an old scrap and has to be pressed.. ):

1) when the engine is hot, try to learn how to start the car without the RPM gauge going over 1200, or you will quickly destroy the cranckshaft bearings and the camshafts.

2) when the engine is cold, keep the engine at idle (even if the battery light does not turn off) until the oil pressure gauge reaches it's maximum level, or you will quickly destroy the cranckshaft bearings and the camshafts.

3) if you travel at low speed or in in traffic (1500-2500 RPM), spark plugs loose their efficiency quickly and then when you open the throttle in a low gear from low rpm, the engine response is more a "cough-cough" than a big thrust. That's not good but helps you a lot as the car will not have a power oversteer, never. But if you clean the spark plugs with the engine at at least 3000-3500 rpm for two or three seconds (as it happens in a long turn) then when you push down the gas pedal, the engine will react with a sudden big power and the car will have a big power oversteer if you are in second or even third gear. This is not a big ploblem at all when the road is dry, but can be a very big ploblem when the road is wet.


And then, also with those FI scraps:

4) better have a passenger and ask him to help you with the visibility at crossroads and when changing lane.

ciao

 

Albert, your comment leads me to believe your idle jets are too rich and are causing this issue. A quick way to test for this is to count the number of turns it takes to turn in your idle mixture screw on one of the barrels. If it is less than 1 turn your idle jets are to rich. If that happens I would try the next size smaller jet. With the correct size idle jets your best idle should require about 1.5 turns out on the idle mixture screws. These jets are the ones you are using when you drive around town at the speeds you indicated. They are commonly overlooked.

Cheers Jim

 

This is rather a LP5000s behaviour, Eric's Tahiti Blue does the same, whereas my QV is turning like a turbine from 1500-7500rpm.

 

Very true, my experience mirrors yours.

 

I like #7, I'll have to keep that in mind for the next time my wife or mistress wants to go for a ride. lmao

 

my engine turns at 1500 rpm in 5th gear with no problems, but you have to open gas gently at those RPM if you come from a low speed moving for some time. I mean you do not hear any "cough-cough" if you gently move down the gas pedal from 1800-2000 RPM and then you flat out at 3500 rpm: you will reach 6500-7000 RPM without any problem even if you come from a low speed driving for some time. Maybe Jim is right and the idle jet is too big. Or just the car is that. I will do some experiment, but my opinion is that the mixture is too rich at very low rpm and correct at mid and high RPMs, but maybe that old supercar is not designed to travel at 1500-1800 rpm in 5th gear for a long time and Weber carbs are not Mikuni nor Keihin.


I hate the rear wing: until 130 mph the car is very stable and does not need any wing. I would recomend not going too fast with an old car that has almost no brakes, no airbags, is full of gasoline with six big carbs and has not any inertial fuel pump cutoff, has no room between your head and the roof and cannot open the doors if the car rolls over.
Take it easy: if you want to drive at high speed in a Lambo, maybe you have better to buy a Gallardo...

ciao

 

Can't buy this one right now. The clutch pedal releases pressure between the clutch "pieces". At some point in the process, the gearbox (gears) are 100% isolated from the engine. How does depressing the clutch pedal further have any effect on the gears and/or synchros resulting in hard shifting? I would suggest that using half pedal action would risk just the opposite - half engine to gearbox engagement resulting in all sort of issues including extra synchro ring wear when it was not needed.

Very curious as to what's behind this suggestion.

-mick

 

Me too. Bit probably it's not a suggestion and that is just some mechanical or wearing problem in that clutch.

Elvis, do you have a 2 valve car? if so, that could be a signal of some problem to the collar of the T/O bearing.

ciao

 

Yea let's hear from more people on the clutch depression.

I have a new clutch and new syncros from Bobileff's shop about 1 year ago.

Clutch down all the way- car won't go into gear unless you want to pull like crazy on the shifter.

Clutch down half way- car goes right into gear, warm or cold, with no struggle or problem.

Everyone go try hour clutch halfway and tell me what you get.


And on #7- yes the Countach is exciting, but even more exciting to a woman is a man who is not interested in her or plays hard to get.

I've been dating these LA 10s and they have a word for the older rich guy who is too easy to get and gives her everything she wants right away. They call them "toads." Haha I've learned some interesting things from these girls.

 

This clutch thing has me thinking since I purposely have the seat forward one notch (from full back) in order to push the clutch all the way in even though it disengages way before then. My right foot prefers the full back position as do my long arms.

 

My best tip, would to use the car as intended when you drive it. I appreciate that is very difficult to do legally as 56mph 1st 90 2nd 125 3rd. However, if you keep extending the car under load to max revs, then like any car it keeps the engine on song. I would also say be brutal with the brakes to try and keep them working properly.
There is quite a variation in cars driven hard and not.
Main thing is go out and enjoy it!!!!

 

I'm with Mick on this one.

I hate bringing this up but its true so I will - I've personally owned at least 12 Countachs (probably more but stopped counting) of every variant over a 25-year span, and currently have 2 in the garage.

Tried them both.

Clutch all the way down - car goes in gear easily.

Clutch halfway down* - car goes in gear easily.

Ditto as I can recall for all the Countach I ever owned, plus some 20-odd others I have driven in the last decade during the course of my business.

* I prefer to fully depress the clutch pedal to its limit or close to it, perhaps that's just my personal driving preference.

IMO a well-fettled Countach should not ever cause you to have to "pull like crazy on the shifter" after the gearbox has warmed. Ever.

I think you have an issue.

 

When it comes to brakes I encourage everyone to test them to their limit, hard. Multiple times over from speed to zero. They’re not as good as they should be, and you should experience their limitations in a safe environment rather than when you really need them.

 

To start mine I have to pump throttle and once starts I have to feather the throttle up to get it to idle. Once it is warm not problems. Once it gets hot it does not like to idle and will die at stop light some times and is really difficult to re-start. Is this SOP for carb S2. I figured it was more than likely in jetting and setting of carbs?

 

I've learned that I'm not a toad

I only put it in halfway, and it works better, very smooth. Too far and she jumps

I rub her with a diaper

Oh, and someday I'll have a Countach

Best-

EM

 

Your cold and warm starts and running sound normal. Your hot running does not sound normal unless your engine is well above normal operating temperatures i.e. over 210 to 220 deg F. If is that hot, you need to fix the cooling system first. If by hot you mean normal operating temperature then no that is not right. Before doing anything with the carbs make sure the ignition system is working properly. I believe your car still has points. Check the ignition system to make sure you have a good spark, it should jump a half inch gap. Make sure you check it when the engine is up to normal temperatures preferably after a short drive (coils sometimes work fine when they are cold but do not work when they are hot). On these cars you have to check the spark on both banks and ideally on two sequential cylinders on each bank. The reason is there are two coils, one for each bank and there are two points for each distributor, each set of points does 3 cylinders. Once you are sure you have a good spark (~70% of carb issues are fixed by this check) then make sure the timing is correct. Only once you are satisfied the ignition is correct, then you should consider tuning the carbs. In this case I would suggest looking at the idle mixture screws, they sound like they may be a little rich. Try turning them in a little. The best setting is the point were the engine idles the fastest. Adjust each one of them, all the time trying to make it idle a little faster. On a V12 that is sometimes hard to determine. Using the lowest possible idle speed makes it a little easier. If you do turn the idle down, reset it to approx 900 RPM when you are done. Setting the idle mixture is best done when the engine is at normal operating temp, watch the temperature gauge while you are doing if it gets to hot idling your mixture setting will be off when you are driving it. Always take it for a test drive when you are done to verify the settings.

Cheers Jim

 

Thanks for the tips on the clutch. I'll have to check this out and see what's up with it.

 

Jim,

Thanks for your reply it was very helpful to know that this can be normal. I will take your advice and check the spark first. It does not run hot and runs really well but twice now when I have come to stop as rpm are dropping the car has died. Both times difficult to restart had to open throttle and it fired right up but I realize something is not as it should I just got car so first things first I believe a good tune up including new fluids and plugs are at top of list. The car has not been driven much in 10 years so also a good chance just driving the car will help. I also sent pm to you please send me your contact info if you do not mind.

Thanks Gerald

 

It often seems when a pleasure car comes down with an issue they get parked. You may be picking up where the last owner lost interest 10 years ago. Don't give up, ask plenty of questions. As you said, "Drive it."