Upside Down Oil Filters

Just speculating, but it is a compact design layout, and also, it doesn't have the negative of a hot exhaust manifold "wrapping around" it (like the conventional US V8 layout). Even though the filters/housings have changed, I note that they still use that same location on 458/488 so they must still like it

 

430/458/488 are all now mounted on the bottom of the engine in close to a horizontal position on the right hand rear side of the block, just behind the oil pump.

 

This 488 SPC figure shows it's in the usual place?:

https://www.ricambiamerica.com/car-diagrams/ferrari/v6-v8/488-group/488gtb/lubrication-tank-pump-filter.html

As does this instruction for a 458 Italia:

https://ricambiamerica.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/458oilchange.pdf

Wasn't claiming that every variation of every model had it there, just that it was a location that was still used.

 

It’s a throw back to the early 74/75 GT 4,s which like the successive 308 - did indeed have a side ways mounted engine .
Forward and rear banks etc .
As said some interesting exhaust packaging along with a lot of local heat shields .
The gearbox , transfer case and diff blocking normal mounting positions on the side lower down .

Technically after shut down it all drains back into the sump or tank ( if dry slumped ) .
360,s for example are derivatives ......Infact all the belted V8 s , from the GT 4 engine .

430 is basically a cam chain driven engine initially designed for the Maserati GT with a focus on lower down torque at lower rpm so the lightness in the gear drive mechanism is not as important than say the 360 engine .
They had turned them 90 degrees to longitudinal by then .Also cars like the 348 have got wider so the packaging restrictions have eased .
In theory top mounted are supposed to less messy in the sense of the drain down and you are supposed just turn it to let air in and wait a few mins for it to empty completely before finishing unscrewing it .Some filters have a one way valve as well .

But I don’t think “ less mess “ is the correct reason .

I suspect it’s packaging and it’s relative position with the oil pump pick up and coolant radiator and a throw back to separate oil tanks in dry sump variants ....wanting the tank to be the lowest component in those modals that went that way , some early 308 s.

 

I'm such a dipstick some times. Yes the 458 and 488 us cartrage filters up top..getting my stuff mixed up the v12's. My mistake..

 

No worries - unfortunately, I've found myself there on occasion, too.

I did find Portofino's comments about the 430 engine design origin coming from a much different configuration an interesting point -- so did have a look at the 430's different oil filter placement. Since F didn't repeat it on the 458/488, that's fairly strong evidence IMO they didn't think it best for an optimized mid-engine longitudinal layout.

 

It did surprise me when looking at my Ferrari/Maserati 4.7 Liter in my Quattroporte the oil filter is on the lower front right side of the engine vs. the rear center of the V of the 458 and they use a completely different filter. Being that the engines are basically the same there are a lot of differences between them(not just the oil filter) you would think that it would be costly to have so many changes for such low production engines. OTOH one is dry sump and the other is not. The 458 has an oil/water heat exchager in the V so probably for packaging reasons the oil filter needs to be close to the heat exchanger and the flow of oil.
When I look at the Lancia Thema engine, a version of the 308 engine, the oil filter appears to be down by oil pan not in the V as on the Ferrari 308. I am wondering if it has to with the engine being dry sump or wet sump and the packaging of each version.

 

Ferrari used inverted oil filters in the 60's

 

Was those on dry sump ?
They seemed to like DS as part of lowering of the weight of the engine in the chassis.
So maybe as both GT 4 and 308 were overlapping in development they wanted to keep a foot in the DS camp while pininfarina were finalising the body of the 308 ?
Having said that the 308 chassis is just basically a shortened GT4 .
They say Bertone got the GT 4 body ready quicker as it was a Lamborghini reject , the hard work was already done it was just tweaked .
The first few 308,s were indeed DS , as well as Vetroresina.

Gives more options if you feel you want to sink the engine as low as possible in a mid ( none Transverse ) V8 .

There’s something about the V8 being originally designed with F1 in mind , or by the same guys , so again packaging re enters the equation on a F1 or other track racing chassis .
So it could be a legacy of that 60 ,s racing thought process .

It’s not the first or last innovation from the track by Ferrari that’s ended up in the road cars .
Infact it’s this migration of innovation that still toady make Ferrari unique.

 

Dry sump in the GTB was to prevent oil starvation during hard cornering, a known issue with 308's. The the engine mounting height relative to the chassis is the same in dry sump / non dry sump 308's. There is no space to fit the dry sump tank in the engine bay of a 308 with dual distributors, which is why only non emissions 308's ( single distributor ) got the dry sump setup.
The correct 308 / V12 oil filters all have an internal standpipe which means they remain nearly full of oil when you shut off the engine. You want this because it ensures quick engine lubrication at startup. The wrong filters don't have a standpipe and drain back in to the sump when the engine is shut off - bad. The location is great for access, and when you think about, there are not many other places they could have put the oil filter on a 308.