328 Performance Modification Recommendations

That is really common. I have had a number of clients who chased the latest and greatest for several generations. Then around a 430 or so, maybe 458 or 575 they threw in the towel and had me help them find a 328 because they said it was the most fun.

Slow car fast rather than fast car slow was one of the most brilliant statements ever made of modern cars. I wonder who coined the phrase.

 

OP. Why not just drive twice the speed of what seems reasonable and prudent when entering shopping malls and apartment complexes etc. nothing screams performance like sparks from the back of a Ferrari as your oil pan kisses a speedbump. F1- Baby!

seriously, best to listen to the advice from the guys above. They know what they’re talking about.

 

I stole it from someone here, probably you lol. The light really came on for me when my son bought a 78 Fiat 124. We rebuilt the suspension, replaced the radiator and added a better fan. That car was a blast to flog and you pretty much had to in order to keep up with traffic lol.

 

Very interesting, I completely understand, I dont think I have ever heard it put that way , its a true statement, to the point of you selling your modern Ferrari, while keeping your classic, 308 in your case, it sure does say something about Ferrari, past and more present.I can also say for myself, I enjoy driving my slow car slow, it has such an awesome audio system, it is sometimes an excuse to drive my 328 lol !Just being behind the wheel of the 328 is such a great feel for me, you might say, it feels just like home. Im not sure about all you other 3x8 owners, but my 89s interior smells the same as it did 22 years ago, and it sure smells good. I wonder why that is ?

Thank you

 

It is widely attributed to Abner Perney. I have no idea who what was.

 

CIS to EFI done correctly will bump TQ by 30-35 ft/lbs and power a smidge more. That's the only relatively easy modification I can think of that nets a modest power increase aside from adding a supercharger.

EFI & Cams would get a very modest increase and most notably throttle response.

However all options above are expensive.

 

"Between ourselves we joked the cars had a hidden horsepower screw and we would just give it a few twists."

Good one!

I'll bet if you told a customer that they would come back at the next service talking about how they enjoyed the increased power! Same as the "louder must be faster" magic!

 

You kept the CIS fuel system? Kinda surprised... EFI really lets the QV scream.

 

I was in California and didn't want to deal with the smog problems.

 

Not very familiar with 328 with Tubi. Not many out there. I will say I am aware of a number of dyno tests of the flat 12 cars where HP was lost with an aftermarket system. I know BBs responded well with Ansa's. But Ansa's were mild steel and rust out. TR's with no cats often test best with factory muffler. The precats in those were a disastrous design so getting rid of those isn't a terrible idea. The main cats are a good design and the same part as 328 and late 308.

 

If you want a lot of horsepower and are not worried about staying pure then put a Honda engine with a big turbo and get 800hp. Too soon?

 

If I have the urge to go fast, 2 of my motorcycles are 200 Plus HP, one, 225 at the rear wheel, 575 lbs, the other , 208 at the crank, 450 Lbs. I know the 488 has more power than most can exploit on the street, but boy oh boy does it look fantastic, best design since the Enzo in my estimation , and same goes for the 812 , both of them along side the 328 would be my ultimate dream garage ! Oh, and throw in an F40 , just for good measure .

Thank you

 

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Something that seems to be overlooked when it comes to Ferrari engines, is their state of tune.

The 328 engine is a 3.2 litre V8, putting out 270bhp (in full fat, no smog Euro trim), from 1986~1989.

It's a flat-plane crank motor, so basically, it's two 1.6 litre, 16 valve, in-line 4 cylinder engines, sharing a crankshaft, each of which puts out 135bhp.

135bhp from a non-turbo 1.6 litre would be pretty impressive today - 35 years ago, it was phenomenal (As a reference, the 1984~1989 MK1 Toyota MR2 managed to make 122bhp from it's 1.6 litre 16 valve, in-line 4 cylinder engine)

So the Ferrari engine was in a pretty high state of tune.

What's even more remarkable is, Ferrari managed to extract a great deal of power out of the 3.2 V8, but also managed to make it completely docile and usable at the same time.

Trying to get an extra 50bhp out of the 3.2 V8, is basically trying to make each 1.6 litre bank produce 160bhp - If that were so easily achievable, Ferrari would have done it.

If you consider the Ferrari V8 engines as two in-line 4 cylinders sharing a crank, then their power outputs are very impressive - Especially when you realise that non of them are super highly strung, barely drive-able in everyday traffic engines :

308 GTB/GTS QV: Two 1.46 litre's producing 120bhp each (240bhp total)
328 GTB/GTS: Two 1,6 litre's producing 135bhp each (270bhp total)
348 TB/TS: Two 1.7 litre's producing 150bhp each (300bhp total)
348 GTB/GTS: Two 1.7 litre's producing 160bhp each (320bhp total)
F355 GTB/GTS: Two 1.75 litre's producing 190bhp each (380bhp total)
F360: Two 1.79 litre's producing 197bhp each (394bhp total)

 

In this old thread:

1980-82 Two Valve Injected - The "Rodney Dangerfield" of the 308 series? | FerrariChat

I posted this, concerning the 1980-82 308 2Vi models (copied and pasted):

Finally, to place this issue into some historical context, let's compare the 308 "i" engine power output as a function of engine displacement to some of its major 1980 competitors of that day:

Ferrari 308 GTSi ---- 205 Hp from 3.0 liter = 68 Hp / liter
Porsche 911 SC ---- 172 Hp from 3.0 liter = 57 Hp / liter
Porsche 928 ---- 219 Hp from 4.5 liter = 49 Hp / liter
Chevy Corvette ---- 220 Hp from 5.7 liter = 39 Hp / liter

So, it can clearly be seen that the engine performance per liter of the 308 "i" series was significantly higher in all cases than other similar sports cars of this era.

 

Indeed, and it was observed at the time : speaking about 328s, "Sport-Auto" (at the time, the french magazine of reference for Sportscars) when the 328 arrived on the market, under the pen of the late José Rosinski:

"Up to this day, the reference value for naturally aspirated engines was the BMW inline six 24 valve, with 83 bhp per litre; from now on, being close to 85 bhp/litre, Ferrari's 3,2 litre V8 32 valve has bested it".

Rgds

 

After I got the "test pipe" experience out of my system early on, I put a Hyperflow on. The smell is gone and it seems to be fine. Are there problems with this brand of cat I need to be aware of?

If there is something better out there, I'll swap it out.

 

I wonder how many this color combo came here. If your car was sold new in the South East US, I think I have some baby pics and video of your car out on the track back in 92. It's a really small world sometimes. Never know.

 

Was at the uk Ferrari owners meet up last saturday. On the trip home a mate blasted past me in his 360 and it was impressive.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

But you won't....

Honestly, the integration of the emissions-controlling devices on the "328s with cats" (US version, Japanese version, Australian version with 260hp, and Swiss version with 255 hp) has been done thoroughly; remember also that they do not have the same transmission (gearbox + final drive ratios) than the euro cars, so their acceleration is not that much slower; the difference is actually barely noticeable.

Actually, the difference in performance between the 328 variants is much less than what it was on the late-carbed cars and early 2 valve injected 308s, which were also much heavier than their "euro" bretheren.

Trying to get your engine to "euro" specs (camshafts, compression ratio, etc...) surely will cost you a lot of money; and then remains the question: what about the transmission - put in "euro" gearbox ratios too, "final drive", etc...?
I won't even start to discuss all the "ancilliaries": exhaust manifolds (different) exhaust silencer (different); oil cooler set-up (different) etc...,

Sorry to be blunt, but I fail to see the economic sense of this; surely it would have made more sense to buy an "euro" version?

Rgds