Hi Dave, many thanks for the deeply patronising post. Let’s get something clear, if I wanted a lesson on what constitutes adult behaviour, you’d be the last person I’d ask for advice from. Primarily because when you post nonsensical, pathetic stuff like this : It not only shows you fail to see the irony of what you’ve just asked me with regards to the old Pot, Kettle, Black adage, but also that the very same adage applies to your comments on bigotry. Of the course the bottom line is this, you’re no different than the extreme woke individuals that go to live comedy shows, and subsequently complain they’ve been offended by the content they’ve witnessed. Now what we used to say to school kids in this scenario was : Ignore them/don’t get involved. And this forum is of course no different. If you don’t like the subject matter, no one’s forcing you to read this thread, nor indeed revisit it. So under the circumstances, the most sensible thing to do, would be to do what most mature adults do, and not keep returning to the thread for another poke of the bear ... See what I did there ? I’m fully supportive of what the OP is doing, and I intend to pop in here occasionally to get updates on his progress. As you clearly don’t concur with what the OP’s doing, or indeed my support of his project, and with you being a mature adult, you won’t be contributing to this thread again, will you ? Because unless you have another agenda, you’ve voiced your opinion and to keep returning to poke the bear further would be both pointless and I’d imagine somewhat frustrating for you ...
My two cents…I own and maintain, admittedly sovereign the skill necessary for perfection or proficiency, a ‘78 GTS. I also own a factory Maserati assembled with a factory F430 engine. My 308 is a Ferrari. I didn’t buy the 308 for speed. I bought her for the experience of that little V-8 with those Webers whistling and doing their thing. Any modern minivan could crush me off the line ma che me ne frega. The F430 engine in the Maserati does not mean it’s a Ferrari. It is still a Maserati. Do what you desire with anything you own. I respect that. Replace the Ferrari motor. Go electric. Fine. It’s your machine. Yet, it is no longer una Ferrari just as my Maserati è non una Ferrari despite the powerplant.
Yes, that is the way the company is trying to sell it. However, I think that adding these to a front or rear wheel drive car is a waste of money. The performance upgrade is not worth the cost. I think it's better as a stand-alone system.
“In the end, I will have 536 HP at the rear wheels with 1000 ft/lb of torque.”….but then goes on to say, “I'm not doing this to my F355, and I would never do it to my 355.” What’s that again? A 308 needs 536hp but the 355 is perfectly fine with just 375hp? Or is it that the 355’s leather is just that much more plush, or the stereo nicer, or that the OP just prefers sticky buttons? Dave, I should amend my original comment quoted above. My 355 feels very light and nimble with a lot of power. It's very well balanced. That's why I wouldn't do this conversion. However, if my 355 had a catastrophic engine failure, I would probably consider doing the conversion instead of replacing the $25,000 engine. BTW, the stereo in my 355 sucks, I'd rather put a radio delete panel in its place.
The axles are out and I am working on pulling the headers. The engine will be ready to come out very soon. When it does, I will post the engine for sale, along with the headers, axles, coil over shocks, and wheels.
Not a Ferrari but a similar project though with a Tesla motor... IMO a fun watch. Of course I'm a drag racer from way back...
I believe that all 3 of those videos are the same 308 located in England. That car was a Tesla swap. A huge increase of performance and drivability. I'm hoping to top that car's performance.
Cool! The range would be my big issue. If it can't manage 300 miles, it wouldn't work for me but of course that's dependent on how the car is used.
I just uploaded the 1st episode of the conversion on youtube. I'm ready for the abuse. Electric 308 Conversion Episode 1 - YouTube
You've mentioned that the focus of your project is improved performance... but aside from straight line acceleration, "performance" should also include ride and handling. I had a look at the web site, and it's very short on details and specifications. It makes very vague claims about "no unsprung weight increase" with comparisons to 20" OEM wheel/tire/brake combinations... The stock front tires on a 308 QV are 205/55-16, with a diameter of 24.9"... the closest possible 20" tire size might be 225/30-20 with a diameter of 26.2", a weight of 22 lbs vs 19 lbs for both tires in a Conti ECS. The Ferrari 16" magnesium alloy wheels weigh around 16 lbs, total wheel/tire 35 lb. Looking at the Orbis wheel/brake/electric motor assembly, aside from my guess is that there's no way in hell it can be as light as the stock wheel/tire/brake assembly (best guess would be you increase unsprung weight by minimum 10 lbs/corner), the other big concern is that the Ferrari wheels are very low offset, whereas the Orbis system requires very high offset wheels - and they will still increase the track of the vehicle by 3 or 4 " per side, even with high offset wheels - so they won't remotely fit under the stock 308 fenders. You'd be lucky if they'd fit under 288 GTO width fenders. The Orbis system also will likely not clear the stock suspension coilover units on the inner side, so new shock/spring setup will be required. Still - as far as handling and ride performance goes, low unsprung weight rules, there's no getting around the physics. How do you plan to make this Orbis 308 system ride and handle, ie perform, better than the stock lightweight 16" wheel/tire setup? Do you have any details on actual weights for the components you're going to use, versus the stock brakes/wheels/tires? Thanks, Gordon
Gordon, excellent questions. I agree that handling is monumental. I can't answer all of them because I just don't know. Some of those issues will have to be dealt with when the set-up is in place, and I'll need to make adjustments where needed. I'm sure this won't be a simple bolt in assembly and go. I am not using Stock coil over shocks. I am using an AirRex air ride suspension. It takes up less space than the stock. Also, Orbis will custom design their set-up to fit the stock wheel well. I don't know how they do that, but they are having me do a 3-D laser scan of each wheel well with the shocks and control arms installed. I suppose they make their adjustments with that data. As far as wheel size, we are going with 18" rims with a low-profile tire, most likely P.S. 3's. That gets the tire+wheel size pretty close to original. Your issues with the unsprung weight are valid, but keep in mind that the weight of the whole system minus the battery pack is Far less than stock or even a Tesla Motor set-up. Once everything minus the battery packs is installed, I'm going to weigh the 4 corners of the car and calculate the optimal battery pack weights and distributions. In any respect, you seem to be much knowledgeable than I am. If you are close by, you are more than welcome to come to my garage.
Not sure if you are really "ready for the abuse" or even up for critical feedback but if you have to rewatch Fran and Heidi's youtube to figure out if you have to disconnect the axles to get the engine out there's a good chance you are in way, way over your head on this. Unfortunately it's too late to advise you not to sell any of the stuff you've removed yet because that ship has apparently already left the port. The only advice I can give you now is to stop powder coating and dressing things up because you don't seem to have even figured out how you're going to mount the new stuff. Do you even have a napkin sketch of how this is supposed to work? Are you just planning to strap the components in with Harbor Freight tie downs? My apologies if I sound harsh but you've got some serious preliminary thinking that needs to be done here. You've definitely jumped off the cliff of commitment, I'll give you that. Maybe start by watching Hutch's thread here in it's entirety that spans a number of years and details his EV conversion. A lot of lessons to be learned from that.
It's fine. I'm able to take the criticism. I might have drawn something on a napkin, but then I wiped my face and threw it away. Although it seems like I have no idea of what I am doing (which is valid), I do have my Ferrari mechanic going over my work and making sure that things are done correctly. BTW, I flew a Super Decathlon for 5 years, then went up to a Pitts Model 12.
Well if you are familiar with the experimental/homebuilt aircraft world then you know that a large percentage of projects end up unfinished and abandoned but at the same time there are people who go in not knowing anything or having any of the skills but through perseverance and sheer will learn and develop those skills and end up succeeding. My caution to you is to not get the cart before the horse, maybe redraw that cocktail napkin sketch at the very least and paste it in you build log. You might want to buy a half decent MIG welder and start practicing, it's not that hard to learn. And here is a link to the Hutch thread, there is much to be learnt reading through that project that spans from 2014 to 2020. 1978 308 GTS EV Conversion I recently picked up a 1946 GC-1B Globe Swift project. It's a complete basket case, last flown in 1964, but it's not rotten and it's all there. Still I can't help but feel I may have stepped in over my head despite basically having gotten it for free. But just about every pilot has at one point or another dreamt of owning a Swift so if I can pull it off it will be my legacy. Best of luck to both of us.
Be careful with that Swift, I heard that they are a taildragger nightmare to land. Very easy to ground loop.
To each his own, but I need to know why you are cutting the soul out of your car for a different set of problems. My 308 engine long-block rebuild was costly but my car is fun to drive and I am still able to drive into a full-service station and tank up in 5-10 minutes. Plus I don't have to worry about where my next charge will be and it the charging has a bathroom. At the same time, I will be interested in how the swap goes. Good luck and I hope the change makes you happy. Please understand you are hearing the rants from an old traditionalist so no harm meant...
No harm taken. I just think that out of all the cars to choose from, the 308 is the best candidate. Here are my reasons for choosing the 308. It's one of the prettiest cars ever built and its beauty will never go out of style. I wanted a true classic car in that sense. Someone said "why not do this to a ford Pinto". The answer is that this swap isn't going to cheap, so I wanted a car that was worthy. My intention is not to destroy this car, but to elevate it. In my humble opinion, Ferrari didn't do that car right! The car feels very heavy to drive, and it is severely underpowered. Sure, after it gets going, it's a pleasure to drive. I actually prefer driving the 308 over my 355 (After it gets up and going). I believe that this swap will do wonders for the performance of this car. As far as charging and range, that's really not a concern of mine. I'm going to put enough batteries in to get around 100-125 miles of range. I don't plan on taking long trips in this car, and I'll just charge it at home. I can put in enough batteries to go 300 miles if I wanted, but like I said, long range isn't an issue for me. Also, if things change and I do need more range, I can always add more batteries.
You have done your homework and I totally understand, so I wish you well and hope you have a successful conversion. I know the 308-E (?) gets great reviews in a drag race (something rarely said about the fuelies). John
