308 GTsi: is there enough power to have fun?

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I've got an euro '82 GTBi and find it fantastic. As everyone has said, not fast off the line but very enjoyable to drive. It's an experiance that you can only buy second hand, they stopped making cars like these 30 years ago...
If your a fan of swinging your own spanners then you'll love the car even more! I know I do!

-Dave,

 

This same topic comes up periodically.

For example: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/5748-1980-82-two-valve-injected-rodney-dangerfield-308-series.html

 

Always had a smile on my face when I took out the 77 308. Loved the sounds and the fun of the Ferrari tune up. Problem was I only drove it about 2K miles a year and would not take it out in the rain. So I went for a new smile and got a 2012 XKR convertible and with that top down and 510HP under my foot the smile becomes a grin. Oh I had it for a month and already have 1500 miles on it and even took it out in the rain.

 

don`t wory too much !
when I got mine 2Vi 11 years ago (with a blown head gasket) and no knowledge of the car at all, my then old engine builder replaced all valves ... with what ? you guessed it ... with new sodium filled ones ...he has been doing that for 30+ years on old Porsches, Ferraris, Jaguars and Maseratis - there are millions of cars still running fine with those valves

now fast forward and 60.000 km later, no problems so far !
(o.k., if I had to do it all over again, with today`knowledge and stories I would also opt for ss valves, though)

no matter how you put it ... in stock configuration and everything in well adjusted working order there are not more than 25-35 hp difference between 2Vi, Carb and 4Vi (not too much, but yes, you can feel it by the seat of your pants ... what you feel is the little but feelable difference in throttle response and torque) -

but all of them 308s are great fun to drive !
in a good sorted 308 you might not be fast by today`s standards, but man ... you FEEL fast

get it if you can ... you will not be dissapointed - the 308 is made for exactly that !

imagine leaving Cape Town, going up the twisties to Constancia, passing table mountain, going down to Hout Bay, driving Chapman`s Peak to the Cape of Good Hope...going up again to Muizenberg and Gordon`s Bay, visiting the vine yards of Stellenbosch, crossing Sir Loweries going to Hermanus ...
AND ALL THAT in a FERRARI 308

.

 

Speaking of Constancia, did they shut down the restaurant at Constancia Uitsig?

 

I have a 328 and a CS, and i love driving the 328 as much as the CS, sometimes even more!

 

It's also a Super easy engine to pull and beef the heck out of it of you want. Modding a 2vi engine to EFI injection and building it up hot is on my list.

 

I would recommend highly a four valve engine to do your mods on. It breaths better to start with.

 

As far as I know it is still open, an excellent eating establishment.

 

Right there is pretty much the type of driving I would be using the car for!

 

you can take me along next time (european winter) I´m in Cape Town

 

To my surprise I keep up with all the big boys in the twisties ... could be the guys I roll with are really slow but don't tell them that ... I luv these cars!

cheers

 

I think the i number you have is more like the 208 turbo power. The i series is actually 205HP stock in US trim. 235HP on QV, 240HP on early carb through 77, 210HP on 78-79 Carb US trim. They are all a lot of fun to drive. Just get a good one unless you are into the restoration for fun.

 

I honestly don't mean to bash these cars, but I've got an 83 308gts and a Toyota Tercel would give it a very good run... I'm not sure if they are all this slow but I was expecting a lot more.

 

How much you getting for that Tercel these days?

 

Maybe my 80 vintage 2v 308's are out of the norm. But mine are fast. Granted no cats, modified with cams. As for sodium valves.........i use to pay a premium to buy them for my mopars when i was drag racing. I never had a valve related failure racing with sodium valves. When i was racing a xjs(s), everyone was changing the inboard disks, the dual pass radiators, pontoon tanks.............seems people want to work backwards......same with the 308

 

Somethings definitely wrong with your 308, or maybe take some professional driving lessons. Not trying to bash you........just saying.

 

Its defenetly not my driving..

I looked up, the 308 will do low 15s in quarter mile, not too bad... I honestly feel like this one would have a hard time getting into 19s..

 

Unfortunately, Big Tex is correct. The 2Vi's are in the 180 neighborhood. Ferrari claimed 205 was "optimistic".

I have always wondered about the 4V because of that.

 

I've timed my '83 QV 0-60 with a stopwatch - low 7+ seconds. With that, not hard to see low 15s for the 1/4. Entirely respectable performance for a '60s American street car, good enough for me.

 

One of the original road tests for a euro spec QV (Motor magazine I think), reported a 5.7 sec 0-60 time, which is the fastest I have heard of for any 308.

 

..

That is a great qouote and very true..... but:

in its day the 308 was at the top of the performance class.. not much else would touch it... so all that has happend is cars are faster and have more ELECTRONIC DRIVER AIDS... so while the 308 series may be down on power - it takes skill to go fast ... and they can bite so be careful. there is plenty of power and performance to hurt your self big time.

 

Yep, much fun to be had with these 308s!!!




PDG

 

Never seen that number anywhere for a 2Vi. Where is that coming from/source?

 

with my "slow moving" 308 2Vi, I recently lead a bunch of Ferraris on an open road drive
(o.k., because it was me who knew the route through the twisties )

behind me where a 430, a Suderia, a 458, a couple of 360s and 355s, one 550 and one 328

admittedly I was driving a little faster, a little more spirited than I`m normally used to ...
but after reaching our goal and a nice 100miles drive, those drivers came up to me and were really surprised ...

they probably thought this would only be an easy saturday`s coffee tour where they would have to hold back because of an old 308 leading the tour ...
but no ... surprise, surprise ... they told me, that they really would not have gone faster even if they had the chance to
even a former motorcycle racer, who was driving his 430 directly behind me was pretty impressed of me driving my little "slow mover"

so ... yes, you can drive your slow 308 pretty fast if you want !