I've been going through this forum looking to see some standard mods and info on them and have been having difficulty finding useful info. Maybe someone can enlighten me to who makes mods (that work) for the 355...headers, intake, ecu or whatever else you guys been using. Also, anyone putting a 355 on a diet?...anyone make CF or lightweight body parts? Anyone have a club sport style interior to lighten things up? Thanks...
OK, I'll bite. Here is my take. As far as performance upgrades go, you wasting your money. Even with headers, cats, exhaust and intake, you "may" only gain 20HP.And this is still debateable. Will you feel 20HP? I don't think I would. Now saying that, I KNOW it would make the car sound better, that in itself, is worth something. There are some Fchat members doing some VERY cool projects with 348's and 355's, but that is in no way bolt on. For the "adding liteness", as Colin Chapman would say, and handling and brakes go, there are plenty of options to go with. I personally would go the Challenge route, and set the car up with the same things in mind. This would maximise the handling and brakes over the HP. Darrell.
When I installed my Tubi and K&N, the car felt the same w/o noticeable gain in hp. But, the stock exhaust and Tubi is at least 20-30lb. However, when I installed the highflow cats, MY99 woke up in throttle response, and noticeable hp gain from seat of pants, not night and day, but it is worth it in my.02 cents.
There are "chip" manufacturers that will reprogram your Motronic, but I have yet to see anyone with conclusive back to back dyno tests that prove this stuff works.
100 cel cats can make a huge difference!...Thanks guys...interesting hearing your input. After suffering through a bunch of posts I do see that no chip has been confirmed as a big gainer and it seems the 2.7 is the only one people are making chips for?...y/n?....I'm big proponent on loosing weight....that seems to make the biggest difference...anyone making CF parts?... Thanks agin, I appreciate the information. If there are any other threads you think I should read, please pass them, on...but I did go through all the threads before I posted this, so hopefully there is something out there I missed. Thanks,
I think the challenge cars have CF bumpers, if it is OEM... it will be very expensive IMO. When I installed my Tubi, the rare bumper seem to be quite heavy, I am guessing 30lbs or more. Not sure about the front tho! Light weight battery, may be.... Racing seats....all in all, I think may be 80-100lbs. is doable with the aftermarket exhaust, cats, battery, and seats. Bumpers may be another 30-50lbs. Let us know how the diet goes!
You can install racing cats and remove the muffler. You can lighten the car up. I installed BMC filters. I like them. Maybe good for 5hp. I don't think there is anything really to gain with the chips. The standard computer is a good setup for all situations. Ferrari did a lot of research with the 355. It's an evolution of the 348. I think all the Fchatters you want to talk to with the 348/355's are racing this weekend guys like fathillbilly,etc..
I saved about 200#'s on my challenge car with Harmony's lightweight bumpers, and by gutting the car and throwing away anything that wasn't critical. Doorguts, glass, window regulators, wiring looms, passenger side windshield wiper, a/c, interior trim etc..... And by removing years of bondo and 5 layers of paint. There just aren't many people hotrodding these cars. For one thing, there aren't any easy gains, its not like Ferrari left much on the table with intakes, exhaust, ecu's, cams. The gains are minimal and very expensive, but that just makes it more of a Challenge. There are heavily modified 355's out there, just not many, a tiny fraction of what you could find with Porsche. Good luck. Please do post anything you come up with, as this is a good database. Mark
My '97 355CH weighs 3069 lbs. with fuel and no driver. No headlights, no A/C, no air pump, no muffler, no air bags, kevlar frt bumper and Euro rear bumper but the roll cage and rear wing have to add back to get that 3069 lb. figure. Not really all that light
I'm right at 2900 with no driver and no fuel, but that's after stripping everything I could, still not very light. Interestingly, I think the 355C minimum weight was 2970 or so, which seems like it would be hard to reach with a legal Challenge car? Mark
I think you are correct on the min weight #. Also would agree with you trying to get the weight down any farther. there isn't much more you could remove without spending huge amts of $ on carbon etc. I think a person would better off taking driving courses and trying to hone the driving skills to cut down lap times. Honing driving skills has to be worth a few hundred lbs. of weight.
You can replace the windshield with Lexan to save some weight: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=136944457&postcount=30 Rear window, too...for that matter. You can install fixed 348 Competizione LM headlights to save weight over the pop-up motors and housings, too. You could shave/grind down the floorpan thickness a bit. There are lighter seats out there than OEM, too. The horns are a bit heavy, as well. If you really wanted to get into it, you could remove all of the power steering weight by uninstalling that system, as well. And the flywheel can lose 5 pounds of critical rotating mass if you want to get rid of the dampening components and grease.
