Group77racing has (IMO) probably one of the best "bang for the buck" HP upgrades to his 348. Here is a link to one of his posts - but read the entire thread. He claims about 400 bhp with the upgrades he performed, although I don't recall seeing a dyno sheet. Jon hit the head of the nail about the brakes. They are adequate for street use, but if I was looking to improve performance they would be the first thing I would upgrade before looking for much more HP. Once you get above about 350/360 bhp you are exceeding the design parameters of many components (fuel injectors for example). Whatever you decide, good luck with the search - that is half the fun!
Brakes? Actually the later years had 4 piston Brembo's on 4 corners. They are pretty darn good. Good enough to run in the challenge series! Maybe upgrade brake pads and challenge brake ducts if you are going to track your car, but for the street the stock brakes are way more than adequate. I can't see why more hp would require different brakes for street driving.
Agreed, but with my 92 I would still be thinking about improving brake performance if I was contemplating a significant HP increase. I like it just fine as it is - stock HP and all.
Yes but 315-35 is about as far as I have been able to go, still wanting a bit more. ""everyone who owns one loves it"" Well.... drafty, noisey as heck, rough riding... yeh, I guess I have grown fond of it. Remember once you start down this road......"excess is barely adequate" from that point on. Dave Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Good for you! Based on the tire marks in the bottom picture, it looks like you powerslide your car into your garage, Great Work!
Didnt even notice it....would have made a good story but they are the tire marks from the ATV parked in front of it that did come in sliding sideways.
Yup. Going to put the enduro engine in and try to street it a little. Sprint engine is way too much maintaince! I need a set of wiper blades like your car has in your profile.
FWIW my '95 348 has R134a (think thats the right number) instead of Freon in the A/C. There was also one other small diff that Nodoubt and I found but I can't remeber this second.
Talk about maintenance. Yeah, Dave Scott sold me the wipers. Thinking about getting new ones because they only work 2-3 days out of the month and require (and get) a lot of attention. If I could only get someone to steal them..... Anyway, where do you track/race your car, Commerce city?
"""only work 2-3 days out of the month and require (and get) a lot of attention.""" Well, if the paint job isn't enough to turn heads..... those would round out the package!! Haven't run the car for quite some time (PPIR was the last), all of our local tracks closed before I got the car all sorted out. Incredible no budget workmanship by those that originally build it, horrible workmanship by some that worked on it in the past and I am still working to get the bugs out, years spent already and have a ways to go there! Joint effort between the Factory and Hollywood Sports Cars being built for Didier Theys for the IMSA Super Car Series. Didier's 333SP came in early and the car was only run in anger a few times on a pro level and a number of light duty club events.... a pro effort virgin that never got bent. The Sprint engine we built is a 10K RPM hoot that never left me wanting for more power but is a maintaince headache as it is only good for about 4 hrs between belt changes, Indy Car cam profiles do not like the long cam belt and has virtually zero power below 5600RPM. The Endurance engine I am building up has some torque and is good for a full season at minimum so I am looking to build some sort of muffler, fabricate some covered headlights and mount a set of your wipers and use it as a combination Race / club tour car (so far Kris has declined to be a co-driver in this one) so someone has a chance to stick with Llenroc and his Challenge car on the Rally's through the mountains. Virtually nothing street car about this one but it should be a blast on the spirited canyon runs with the right setup yet still perfectly useful for an all out track effort with the slicks on. That will be a fine line to find but an interesting experiment getting there. I am still trying to figure out how to talk my way through the DMV for plates for this one but you solved my windshield wiper problem. Wonder what happens when one trips the "Wiper High" switch? Image Unavailable, Please Login
To answer your question about wider wheels and tires, yes wider wheels accomplish the wider track you seek. And stock 360 wheels are plentiful on e-bay and on this site, because many 360 owners don't like them. I actually don't think they look that great on a 360, but they look perfect on the straked 348. You should get a one size narrower tire for the front, however, or you will have to trim the sheet metal on the front wheel arch. Other non-F wheels will of course accomplsh the same thing if the 360 wheels are not to your taste.
Best year for a 348? Any single can muffler year - 92-93 SS and Challenge cars. '94-95 Spiders. Easiest power gains - convert muffler and cat system to larger diameter and more flow (there are many options, but ask gothspeed for his custom unit). High flow air filter; remove MAF screens, have TB's bored. Next most expensive item is bore and polish plenum and runners. Next possible items: replacement air box and filters and replacement uper plenum with larger MAFs and TBs from something like a Volvo. Wonder who's working on this one...
I have 95 spider and would chime in that the best year is the car that was maintained the best first. I guess I think of it this way, what is better a 95 that needs belts and a bunch of work, and spends most of it's time at your new best friends shop, the F car service center or a 91 that has a great service record and is ready to go day one.... The best car is a car with a good clean bill of health.... After that the later years are better. It is a balance to get the latest model year with the best service history. I learned early with my first F car a 80 308, thought that I bought it right, pretty cheap. I learned that the savings were really like a future payment it was almost always in the shop the first year and each time it was 4 digits to bring her back home. The next car I seached for the later model year with the best history so I could drive it right away not deliver it to the service center if I couldn't have found it I would have looked at an earlier year with a better record.
Ok share the wealth I haven't heard of some of these tricks can you drill into them more, like the year of the Volvo parts. I would like to try some of the tricks on my 95 spider.
