348: strange: roadholding improving at >150

Hello people

I have done about 1000 miles now with my recently bough '93 348gtb.
I made some posts here about the very bad roadholding starting from 110mph.

I was really upset about that. I mean, I bought a FERRARI, a true speed car. I recently owned a Boxster S, a TT quattro, and a few years ago a 911 964, a 911 carrera 3,2 and a 944 S2 and never felt something dangerous like this.

The roadholding is weak, my wife's 2.0 Beetle felt even better at 120mph.
So I bought spacers from Hill, 15mm front and 25mm rear.
This was already a lot better but still far from good.
The car feels twisty around 120mph / 130mph and when you brake hard the rear shakes violently...

But now something strange today. When I go to my mom I have to take 2,5 mls highway. It was not crowded so I fired th' ole italian a bit up.
I did it 2 times accelerating up to 165 mph before I had to brake before the exit both times.
You know what? The car feels really much better at those speeds !!! No more seeking at the front etc.. while the speed is much higher...??
Probably a streamline matter ? Or shall I stop using the crackpipe when I take the car ? Any more experiences ?

 

i know what you mean... when i first got mine , it felt jumpy , every nuance of the road gave me a response at the wheel .
i was used to a cushy audi, my daily driver.
but now that ive got some time with 348 , it feels like part of me, like we know what each other is tihnking...you know what i mean?
150 is my max speed, and it felt very comfortable ! unlike my audi which gets a little lofty at 130 ...

 

About the shaking under breaking, you could have worn out break rotors. If the surface isn't even it will cause what you are describing. The next time to do the breaks have them check the condition of the rotors. If your rotors aren't worn out too bad you can have them resurfaced on a lathe.

When was the last time you had the wheel alignment checked? You should also have the tires rebalanced while your at it.

 

I think your impressions have a lot to do with what you're used to driving. If it's TTs Boxsters and the like, a 348 is going to feel very raw. Some people will never like a 348 - people who have grown up on moderns for example, and have never driven a car without p.a.s and other driving aids, let alone a very high performance car like that.

 

I guess you guys didn't read this post "Tragedy at California Speedway ".

 

diffinately bad rotators for the breaking.....

 

actually, most of the "moderns" are higher performance than the 348, and the last generation boxster s has very similar performance numbers to the 348 and the new boxster s is faster and better handling than the 348...the improvements in tech. in the last 15 years have been vast....

 

At least on Germans highways a speed of 150 mph and more isn´t dangerous at all. When working at the University I have to drive a distance of 50 mls via the Autobahn and as long as there is no rain I always have the car at top speed for some of the distance.

 

Henkie - i think you've got to stop analyzing every drive. Get to know the car more, you'll end up giving the 348 a bad name! (there's enough other drivers who do that without a 348 driver adding to the crowd)

I also own a Boxster S. They are completely different cars. The Porsche doesn't need to be worked - it does it for you, but the Ferrari wants to be driven hard, so get used to it and its quirks.

Secondly, where were you driving at 165? - do you do that in Germany?cause I don't think the Dutch roads are unrestricted - as one post stated - go carefully

 

I wouldn't agree with the 'most' part and the, err, top speed of the Boxster is? Ooh, only about 20mph shy of the 348s. And how many "moderns" can you name that beat the 348s mid 5 sec 0-60?

But I would agree that there have been vast improvements in handling etc over the last 15 years. I'm sure this will continue.

However, I wasn't saying otherwise.

My point is that if you have grown up driving moderns (or a playstation), then driving a 348 will come as a big shock, and you may not like it at all.

This is pretty typical and shows the difference between people who like driving (ie need to drive the car) and those that like to travel fast (where the car deals with all the tricky stuff).

 

The Boxter drives a like a refined Honda compared to the 348, not exciting at all. The 348 works all your senses, just like it's supposed to. No modern day car can compare to the older models for excitment.

 

The 348 is very gokart like in handleing. But you also must remember this is the first production car by Ferrari to use a unibody construction. They are a handful at speed no doubt about it, but really now, is there any reason to be traveling at 150mph? Is the place you are heading going to disappear before you get there? Are you really saving that much time?

Enjoy the 348 for the car that it is. It is a wonderful machine with exceptional road manners when driven correctly. Yes the gear box is a bit notchy, and the car likes to oversteer..but get the hang of it, and well that pesky Porsche Boxster will be a distant memory. You're in a Ferrari!! How many people can say that?

 

Hello people, thanks for the input.

First of all I want to say that it is not my intention to give the 348 a bad name. Man, I love this car. I could also have kept the 2000 Boxster S, but when I look at this piece of machinery in my garage I get an erection all the time.

But, this thing costs here about $ 60.000 and for that money I am allowed to expect a perfect roadholding to my opinion.
A have an appointment next saturday for balancing the wheels and an allignment job.

Of course I read yesterday the topic of california speedway, a tragic matter. But don't forget that the way that people drive here is not comparable at all with the US. I see people taking their superbike out for a sunday ride and I wouldn't invite all for a dinner who pass me with 150mph.
Of course it's not everywhere in Holland this situation, but it's not so crowdy here. I drive a lot with my Audi A4 3.0 quattro in Germany for my work and every minute someone passes with 140+ on the Autobahn. It's allowed and normal.

I just wanted some opinions, nothing more. I mean, as I understood a lot of US guys go to the track once a while so there might have been a tip to try this or that.

Mr "tbakowski" : that's right, I'm in a Ferrari. A dream came true.
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well said that man! Boxsters are everywhere. You might see one Ferrari in a fortnight.

 

Henkie , been on the autoban a couple of dozen times and the drivers are a little better in the left lane then in the US . But I also know that most accidents there result in death so the gating factor is speed. So as you're rollin down the left lane and flashing your lights to the slow polk doin 180 kph or less make sure you don't take him out with you. Of course there is always the guy in the center lane doing 150kph and the guy behind him pulles in the left lane while you're criusein at 200+. So Kiss the wife before you leave in the morning.

 

I would not worry about giving the 348 a bad name. I think the original bad press is wearing off and agree that the roadholding at high speeds needs fine tuning. I understand that is what you are after. Advise on the fine tuning of the suspension. You have had your 348 for about half the time I have had mine, yet you have put twice the miles on it. I think you will get the bugs worked out and will have a long happy relationship driving the car. It looks great, if the rain would stop in florida for a few days, maybe I could log more miles. By the way, how difficult is it to install the spacers? I am thinking of doing the same.
I have read that a slightly lower front spoiler will help stability at high speed. The 348SS had an extra lip that accomplishes this. You can order the 'horse shoes' on Ebay that are advertised as spoiler protection and they may get rid of some of the air under the car at speed. I think they have a buy it now price of around $150.
Good luck and keep us posted on the progress.
BT

 

Hello BT
Please don't think that I race my 348 the whole day.
I'd like to keep it in one piece and I am always very careful with my cars.
In the neighbourhood they call me already for years the washer / polisher.
And the cops are not sleeping here neither..

Actually my car has that black extra front lip.
It looks ok and should help, but it really touches the ground with every small bump. There was a little piece missing (4x2cm) at the corner and I was looking to replace it. It costs here more like $ 300 !! So a pal of made made it invisible with some car repairment plastic stuff. Don't know the exact words, remember I'm dutch..

The spacers is already quite an improvement, roadholding wise.
Fitting is a childs job. Take off the wheel (front) put them on and use the longer bolts to fit the wheel again.
For the rear you screw the spacer on with your original (older) bolts as it is a plate. Then screw the wheel on the new plate. Just the looks are already worth the money. Much better than original and no Fast & the Furious look.
When you need high resplution pics from several angles tell me.

So next week wheel balancing and allignment.

 

Henkie - you will probably find that it is purely down to the 348 following every contour of the road, so that what feels like light and unstable steering, is in fact the car being a whole lot more responsive that you have been accustomed to.

I have done several high speed runs up to 175mph (285kph) and the car has felt pretty stable. Obviously it feels a lot lighter than at 75mph, but not enough to worry about, and it holds its line straight and true.

 

That's a good looking 348. I do not see many GTB's

 

Hoe gaat het met u?
Hello fellow Dutchmen! are the spacers really worth the extra handling? I have been thinking about getting the set for all 4 wheels, it does get a little loose around 100mph or when I am driving in the mountains. where did you get them from ? Thanks for all your help.
Tot ziens
Arie

 

(Het gaat prima hier, het weer is klote maar het zal best wel een keer zomer worden hoop ik)

Hello Arie..
Yes, I can recommend you the spacers. They are really an improvement over the stock setup. I have 15 and 25 mm and the wheels stay nice under the bodywork, like they came OE with it. As you can see on the pic above.
I bought them with Hill Engineering in the UK, they are one of the site supporters. But I believe Jack Russel / Ricambi (a poster here) also advertises with the Hill products. Quality and weight is way better than the set I bought for my Porsche last year in Germany. They are not a complete bargain though. But, in fact, every 348 owner should have them as it really gives the car more credit, looks and performancewise.

 

I Coudn't agree more .... spacers transform the stance of the car

 

I thought that the GTS and GTB had the wider track as standard, or was it just the Spider that they widened?

 

I did some digging on this before and came to the conclusion it was just the Spider that had the extra 25mm offset in the wheels. Maybe something to do with the GTB's being entered in Challenge.

 

Henkie,
I also, like a lot of others i suspect, owned a Porsche 911 (993). I am having a few problems with my 348 at the minute and it got me so frustrated i took it to the local specialist showroom to trade it in for a new boxster i had seen the day before thinking I would be happier now with some sensible german reliability, but, as mentioned already here,after 3 years the car has become a part of me as a porsche never could.So, i got to the show room spoke to the sales guy gave him an excuse and drove home ferrari happy! Forget the straight line speed, get it round a track you'll see a different animal.Oh and by the way, stop putting pictures of your car on your posts!! It's sooo bloody beautiful it makes me green with envy, thats some terrific paint work !