Hello... This winter is the first for me with the 348 and I was thinking as long as the roads are dry and salt-free and the weather is nice and sunny, I was hoping to take the car for a a 30 minute drive once a week or so to keep things lubricated. From my aviation experience I am so paranoid about developing corrosion on parts inside the engine when the thing is sitting with no use - saw many an airplane piston engine with internal corrosion on planes that were not flown frequently. I know with cars it is not as critical but still... So my question is would there be any recommendations AGAINST this. Reason I ask: when the temps dipped into the 20s, upon start-up I could tell the ECU had trouble stabilizing the idle for the first 5-10 seconds (they were oscillating +/- 200 rpm or so as if the guys in Italy never considered that someone would be mad enough to drive the car in the winter time so they never mapped that setting ;-) After that the idle settled and I proceeded to drive it slowly until things warmed up. 2nd gear was tough to engage (no grinding) but had to be easy and methodical on shifts. Once things warmed up after 10 mins or so, everything was just great.
So long as there is no salt or snow on the roads, or looming, I say have at it. Be sure to let the car completely warm up. I would switch to a 0w-40 oil, and you can forget even trying to shift into 2nd. Make sure you have 50/50 coolant and distiller water mix in the cooling system. Be sure to watch the coolant temps very carefully, you don't want to run with the mixture too rich.
I drive my 95 348 Spider whenever possible here in the Pacific Northwest during the "winter". It is not very cold but they use small rocks on the roads for traction instead of sand or fine gravel. Very much like sandblasting your car right after they apply & a potential windshield repair is very likely. My daily driver has had 2 windshields in the last 3 years.
Congratulations on the 348. Most tire manufacturers recommend using a winter tire when the temperature drops below 7C or 44F. You will notice that the rubber compounds on high performance tires will be quite hard around those temps and there will be a noticeable decrease in traction. The colder it gets the worse the traction. In addition, humidity is typically lower in the winter months but that may be regional.
I drive my 348tb year round. Its my daily driver unless I need to transport stuff. Under normal driving conditions in the rain shes fine. Like the other posts, when its really cold out she needs to be completely warmed up. Shift from 1st to 3rd, keeps the grinding away and keeps the back end from getting loose. I love my Ferrari. I tell her that everyday.
