advice needed concerning parking problems due to height clearance

Hi all,

I'm in the process of trading my 79 Euro 308 GTB for a 98 355 GTB.
Here's my concern,in the flat I live in Paris,the parking ramp has a pretty strong slope.My 308 has a 6,69 inch height clearance between ground and front bumper.Most of the time, when I reach the bottom of the ramp,I touch the ground even though I go very slowly.The 355 has a 4,72 inch clearance from the ground to the front bumper.I'm obviously going to hit the ground even more so with the 355 when reaching the bottom of the ramp.
I'm thinking of having two pieces of wood built in order to diminish the angle that causes bumper to touch the ground.I was wondering if entering the parking backwards could fix this.Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated since this problem is really bad news for my project.
Thanks in advance,
cheers from Paris,
olivier

 

Can you re-pour the concrete there to get rid of the dip that's causing the problem? If it's group housing, you may be out of luck. Driving over boards every time is courting disaster at some point.

Honestly I'd keep the 308. I don't know of any 355 front valances that have more clearance.

Wish I had a better idea... can you rent a garage nearby?

 

The 348 has a similar grond clearance and it's even more critical with an SS lip addition. I find that taking a slope at the maximum angle is the best chance to avoid a crunch. Have a friend watch as you drive up at 45 degrees or so - whatever you can attempt. Do not try it backwards, it will be worse.

 

Bonjour Olivier (... from Toulouse !)

you have pointed out one scary point of the 355, even sometimes on the road : its long and low nose. IMO skid plates are absolutely mandatory. They will not prevent contacts but will reduce damages to the bumper. Have a look to Hill Engineering site ... I have installed the polyethylene ones and I am happy with them. For your parking problem, I see no other solution than modifying the ground geometry either by concrete modification or by adding wood or metal ramps. I agree that entering backward will not solve the point and may even be worse.
Anyway .... solve this issue and buy a 355
Eric

 

Hi Jon,

thanks for your answer,unfortunately it is group housing and there's no garage in the area.I guess my options are limited.

 

Salut Eric,

Forgive me guys but I'll do this one in French since crossing the path of a fellow frenchman on the site is quite unusual.
Dis donc,ton Anglais est vraiment parfait,félicitations!
Merci pour tes conseils,je connais déjà "Hill" pour leur avoir acheté une grille de boîte et des pédales en alu pour ma 308.
Je suis vert pour cette histoire de parking.S'agissant d'une co-propriété,je ne peux malheureusement pas modifier l'angle de la pente de la rampe d'accès.Je ne vois que deux solution:renoncer ou me résoudre à la corvée des rampes amovibles pour casser l'angle de la pente.Renoncer, surtout pour un motif aussi absurde est trop déprimant.Ce sera donc probablement les rampes amovibles,à moins que par miracle,ça ne passe.
Tu es content de la tienne?De quelle couleur est-elle? GTB,GTS,Spider?
Quid des maladies bien connues des 355: collecteurs d'échappement fissurés et guides de soupapes défectueux?
Merci d'avance pour les infos.Si tu veux communiquer en Français et directement,n'hésites pas à me laisser un message privé.
Amitiés,

olivier

 

The boards will work. It takes some experimentation though. In my case with a similar angle it was three 2"X10" boards, beveled on the leading and trailing edges. I still had to hit it on the extreme angle, but if done properly there were no scrapes. If done wrong, the pressure treated lumber is much easier on the paint than the concrete.