Last week I posted some pics up of my car http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71882. BigAl asked me if i had lowered the car and I said no. Today I parked my car next to Jas's 348 Spyder and we noticed that my car was significatly lower at the front by over an inch. Which probably expalins why I keep grinding my front spoiler so often I'm not sure if the ride height has been lowered by a previous owner or if it is just a difference between GTB's and Spyders. A 355 that was parked next to us, had the same height as the spyder. So why is mine lower? I've measured it as a height of 13cm from bottom of the spoiler to floor. Rear height is 30.6cm. Both were taken from centreline as shown by yellow mark below. Can someone else measure their ride height please. Does anyone know what the standard ride height is? Thanks Image Unavailable, Please Login
There's usually a fairly decent scale illustration of the coachwork dimensions in the OM. Probably won't have the dimension you seek shown directly, but you might be able to do some ruler scaling to get a guesstimate. What size front tire are you running? Is it a smaller size than the stock 348? In your photos the relationship between the front tire OD and the arch shape of the fender looks about right to me -- i.e., if you've got a smaller diameter front tire, you might not be able to use the stock 348 coachwork front height without the tire-to-fender relationship looking kind of odd -- just a thought...
Thanks Steve, I've just looked in the manual, but it's not there. I've got 18" 355 alloys on the car so I don't think that would be the cause. Front: 7.5" x 18" 225/40 ZR Rear: 10" x 18" 265/40 ZR
The shop manual says 130-134 measured from the bottom of the chassis on the centreline of the front wheel. With full fuel and two passengers. Not sure which year of car it relates to though. My car is 128mm from the floor to the bottom of the black (add-on) piece on the spoiler if that helps. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Actually, your 225/40-18 tire is a little smaller than the stock 215/50-17 tire, but not a huge amount. The coackwork illustration I mentioned is in Section A: Image Unavailable, Please Login
I know, that's why I said: "...you might be able to do some ruler scaling to get a guesstimate." Measure the dimension in red that you're interested in -- call this "X" Measure the 4230 mm overall dimension -- call this "Y" The dimension in red can then be calculated (guesstimated) as: "red dimension" = (4230 * X)/Y
Datapoint: I just measured the height from floor to the bottom of the front spoiler on my 1994 348 Spider: 14 CM.
Angelis, The front of your car was a LOT lower than mine, yet the rears looked equal. Quite odd. I'm not aware of 348 GTB and Spider's having different heights, although I think the Spiders have wider rear track than GTB's as standard (I know yours is modified wider). Jas
For the best in handeling and weight transfer the rear of a car has to be lower than the front of a car. This can be mesured on the middle sill(bellow the door) on a flat surface. If the front of the sill is lower thanthe rear, this is not good for performance/handeling/waight transfer. There is a good book that i have, its a old book (80s) and its called "how to make a car handel", its very detailed and at times complex, but it takes you through setting up our car for the best results. Recomended, one of the best books on the subject around and covers every thing from slip angles to weight transfering. Let me know Andgelis and i will bring it to see red so you may borrow it.
"After a hard run and lots of driving in hot weather, as I was driving home......I could'nt rev more than 3,000 rpm, no matter what gear i was in. Car could'nt go more than 50 mph. Lasted for about 2 miles. Then, the alternator light came on....and the car started running normally." Thinking it might be the cats getting too hot and shutting down the engine. If the Tubi's come in this week I'll get Verdi to check it.
This might help, but you will have to lay under the car (unless you have access to a hoist) to check this data. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Sy,16cm front and 27cm rear,both taken from ctr of car. Mines a 94 GTS so should be the same as yours.As far as I am aware the GTS/B and spider all had the same mods.
