348 owners, help me out please !

Hello... found this site on the internet, exactly what I was looking for, great.
I am dutch and live in The Netherlands..

I want to make a dream come true and buy a Ferrari 348 TB.
I've owned the last 12 years several Porsches as second private car, my current is a 2001 Boxster S (3,2L 252hp).

I know a lot about cars but am not a real mechanic for the tougher matters.

I've been looking around the last 3 saturdays and visited 7 348's. Several of them I even don't want to buy. Paint bad and to much gaps between the bodywork, you know what I mean. I must say that all available here have the full service books complete with all the invoices of the Ferrari dealer. So people knew in advance what would happen in the future. Without it hard to sell.

The last one I visited (at a USA car importer !!) is an original dutch (no import from Germany as 80% of all Porsches are) one from june 1993.
It is a 348 Challenge. (so no 348 TB on the backhood but 348 Challenge).
It has done 36000 km (22.500 mile) and the maintenance book looks correct so no hesitation about that. I can tell you the price ($59.000) but that won't mean a thing to you as I live overseas.

I cant find so much about the 348 Challenge. It looks like a normal TB (as I saw more) but hp should be lik 312 instead of 300 due to another exhaust OE. It's not the 320 hp version, they came later I understood. Perhaps this is actually a 1992 model, I don't know.

The car looks like new, but here are my questions:
Guys, please, tell me for what matters I should be careful.
For what failure should I look ?
What are the normal troubles of a 348 after the years, regardless the milage ?

I noticed in the maintenance booklet that the belts have been replaced at 31.500 km (20.000 mile). I understood that this is a $$$$$ matter...

Another matter is the bad roadholding what I read in all the older magazines I collected by now. Some mags mention even "dangerous" above 150mph. Is it really that bad ? Am I really spoilt with all Porsche I had ? (964 /993/ Boxster S)
I read that mid 1991 (???) there has been a huge suspension / wishbones upgrade to improve the roadholding. Was it any better ? Is there a difference by using a certain brand of tires ?

Saturday I am having a test ride as the weather was to bad last week. It should be my first 348 ride and my first ride without power steering, haha.

Well, the story gets to long I suppose. Guide me a bit please if you can find time to write me a few lines. Thanks !

 

At first, I'm suprised you're interested in a 348 Challenge car if previous 348's seemed to have bad paint or poor body panel alignment. If the Challenge car was actually raced, you can be sure that it's been hit/smashed/nicked. The new paint might be terrific, and the bodywork could be excellent. However, if it was raced, do not fool yourself into thinking it's really "pristine".

The dangerous roadhandling at high speed comes from at least two different things -- (1) the rear track of the early cars was not wide enough. Late model Spiders were about 25mm wider in the back, and I would expect Challenge cars have been similarly modified. If not, just add some wheel spacers, and you'll be fine. (2) There are no modern diffusers or underbody aerodynamics. It's a flat bottom with little regard to aero. There was an interesting thread here about 348 aerodynamics with some good data. I think all of us 348 owners will acknowledge the handling is tricky somewhere around 130mph. I have never pushed mine beyond that, as I'm not skilled enough or have a safe track area to try it.

I think the upgrades came *later* than 1991. I actually thought it was around 1994.

The "engine out" major service can be expensive. In Europe it might be cheaper, but it's still a lot of labor. Plan on somewhere around 30 hours of labor, and you should be safe. Parts of the 30K service will run from $1200 - $2000 depending on how much work needs to be done.

Get a 348, and you'll be joining an elite, and fiesty group of brothers !!

Kind Regards,
Daniel


p.s. WELCOME TO FERRARICHAT !

 

I just joined the 348 fraternity last week - have to say, drive it first. For me, the rawness of the direct-steering and the go-cart handling was everything and more than I was looking for. awesome little cars.

Do you have an excellent Ferrari mechanic lined up first? PPI's are critical with these cars. I'd be more concerned with the mechanic and his advice first - maybe even before the drive, unless you'll do your own work.

 

Thanks for the 2 reactions so far.

Yes, I know that there was a 348 Challenge race cup in Europe, but I think this car has never been raced, or I must be a moron. It looks just like an ordinary TB.

The selling company offered me together with the deal a full-check at the dutch importer Kroymans. Just to be sure that there were no hidden defects or things like that. Guess it will cost him quite some $$, but it is part of the deal. Of course it's not like a small-service, just a check-over I guess.

Any news about the high speed behaviour ?
In Holland the laws are not so tight regarding speed limits and besides that Germany is close.

Thanks for any more input !!!

 

There are a load of threads on this (I know - I searched through them all before buying mine) - but here are a few points from memory..

I was told suspension mods came in from chassis no.92100 onwards (in 1992 sometime) to improve the on limit behaviour. Battery was moved to behind the left front wheel at around the same time (originally in the engine compartment) - to improve weight distribution.
I think only the Spiders had the rear track upgrade (actually just more wheel offset).
Tyres should ideally be the same (premium) brand and type on all 4 wheels.
Early cars (pre 92??) had an ACDelco alternator which was more prone to failure than the later Nippondenso part. Also a dual plate clutch, which is a little more expensive to replace (another $300?).
The 94' GTB/GTS models had the 320hp engines.
You say the belt was done 4.5kkm ago, but how long (in time) was this? It's probably due for a change after 3 years or so.


Like Daniel said, the Challenge cars were built to compete in a race series - check it hasn't been bent at some point. Contact the previous owners to try and find out if it was raced.

Good luck with the search and welcome!

 

henkie,

first off welcome to f-chat. I also came from a long line of Porsches.........Im certain that the non assist steering and go cart feel will be very appealing to you. Thats the exact reason I went for a 348.

Good luck with your test drive...........make sure the gearbox warms up before you try shifting into 2 nd gear. Go from 1st to 3 rd for a while.

 

welcome,being a new member of this forum myself, i can tell you first hand it is a great group of guys!

 

Henkie,
I used to own a U.S. factory 348 TB challenge model (1994). VIN# was 98XXX (can't remember precisely) from 11/98 to 8/01. I put about 14K miles on it. There are likely some differences from Euro cars, but I can tell you if it is one of these late model 348's, it is the best version of the 348 to buy. Here in the U.S., 32 TB's were sold along with 13 TS's. About half were actually raced, the rest just street cars. The challenge race kit which included a roll cage, seats, brake ducts, etc., was sold and installed separately. These late cars included all the suspension and other updates plus a more powerful motor due to ECU and exhaust improvements. The challenge cars were also lighter.
As for handling, 348's are not all that great. I tracked my car quite a bit and found it to be a handful compared to other Ferraris. The balance never seemed quite right, and it would alternate between oversteer and understeer somewhat unpredictably. I never had it over about 130MPH and it was rock solid at that, but 150+ is a whole other arena I can't attest to.
There were a number of problem areas in 348's, more so in early cars. The one area that was never really resolved is electrical and engine management. Maintenance is very costly. Overall, I am not a big fan of 348's and their 355 cousins. They both seem to suffer from some serious design flaws in contrast to 328's before and 360's after. I am sure I will be torched now by 348 enthusiasts about to chime in.

Dave