488 GTB Winter Storage

What I have been doing (for two winters already) is:

- gas tank not full, but far from empty (1/3 to 1/2) - I do not think full would cause any harm though
- battery tender connected
- no start for a few months does not cause any issue
- tyres could be "overinflated" a little bit but being low profile they are quite stiff
- all doors / windows regularly closed, no problem in controlled environment
- leather could be cleaned / nourished with a milk or cream before leaving the car.

 

Our manual says to fill the tires to 3 Bar for winter storage to prevent flat spots.

 

Hooking up the battery tender and car cover is the extent of my cold weather prep!

 

What's this cold weather you guys speak of? It'll get down to a bone chilling 50 degrees here which really sucks... almost unbearable

 

Jeff, park the car, connect a tender, put a cover on and give it a kiss until spring. Yep, that's it. I've had summer fun cars for near 18 years. I keep them in my heated garage and that's all. No issues with gas, or tires. In DC you are probably talking 4 month. Don't over think this.

 

You guys are making me cold.

May the Horse be with you....

 

Make screen caps for your exhaust pipe outlets. If there is no screen barrier, rodents can access exhaust pipes and cache food or make nests in your mufflers. Place dryer fabric softening scented sheets in the engine bay. Rodents don't like the perfume scent and will then avoid your engine area. Be sure to have a startup check list that includes removal of the caps and sheets in the springtime. Count the sheets and note the number, so you remove all of them in spring.

 

Keep garage doors closed so no mice get in ... rest seems to be O.K. (on tender and under panty) ...

 

Tender connected (most important)
Gas tank full
A couple of swatches of thick carpet under each tire to reduce flat spots (feel free to a add a few extra PSI of air, but really not necessary)
Start the car only if you can actually drive it enough to warm up all of the fluids (I try to get the car out once or twice during the winter when the roads are dry and reasonably salt-free; you can't get the tires warmed up but the engine/turbos love the extra oxygen)
All doors closed but no alarm
Car cover is optional

 

very well said, exactly what I would do.

 

I agree with all of the above, with one addition: buy a car bag to protect against moisture and rodents. I used to use a car cover, dryer sheets and mouse poison around the outside, but a mouse got in there anyway. Luckily the only damage was to the cabin air filter, and this is evidently common because when I went to but a new filter, my dealer knew immediately what had happened.
You can go for what your budget will allow; they make inflatable mini-garages. I used this and it worked so well I bought another for the other car I store:
https://www.carbag.com/

 

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I love these car coccons indeed (carcoons) ... anyone here who stores a car in it ? Pics ?

 

The only other thing I would suggest is have a look at the included tender. The past models included a tender that was fine at keeping the charge but not doing much else for the battery. I swap the factory one for the CTek 7002 and have never had a problem, that is going back 10 years. Its possible the newer included tenders are better and also I'm not sure on the connector they are using for the 488.

 

Thats good to know!

 

great advice! thanks!

 

My only complaint about the tender connection on the rear is the Ferrari cover doesn’t have a slit to accommodate it and often disconnects the magnetic connector. A small slit with a knife (you can over sew the edges for a cleaner look) solves the issue but the cover should come with an opening for it


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I pumped up to around 45lbs for all my cars in storage plus put a piece of carpet under pall 4 tires. Full tank of gas to avoid moisture accumulated , I also add gas stablizer in the gas tank running it for 5 min. I have been doing these for over 10 years , it works well. Tires of one of my fcars were still original from 1995 .... I covered the seats n steering wheel plus car cover which came with the car .Running the car or not is not important but the older the car the better to start , if possible to run it for couple of times. My cars are going into hibernation soon. Snow is coming with the worst at -20C

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Exactly, why do the factory boys not know such easy solutions

 

Having the wire running parallel to the rear of the car instead of perpendicular would also solve the issue because the connection would be "protected" from the cover by the bumper (actually the connector is protected, but the perpendicular wire goes out of the shape of the bumper and the cover always wants to make the connection lose).
With the current setting it's rather difficult to get the cover in place with the connection still working.

 

Where do u live? In California i intend to do a few Miles every week to get running.


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