Finally The Perfect 308 In This Month's Forza

Magazines not here yet ( In SA that is ) please tell us what it is ? Carubo 3,5L 355 derivative ?

 

I just got mine... but the 308 story is one of the online Freebies this month.

http://www.forza-mag.com/

Rick

 

Yes, Carobu was the one inroducing this upgrade of 3.5L for the 308"s
I remember meeting with him at the Concorso Italiano last year. But
the question is, Is it worth the money? Sorry for the bad pic.
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Sounds like a fun car to me!!!


PDG

 

Agreed - this would be my dream 308 too (except it would be a GTS)

Personally I'd rather have a 308 and modify it like this for the some money as a 355.

Does anyone know what it cost to do this project?

 

Can't wait to read about it... I hate the mail around here... I bet I don't get mine until late next week.

 

I would say close to perfect..............throw a set of Webers on there and then we are talking. I know that emissions are a huge overriding concern for many dependent on where they reside, but with a project of this scope and price it seems like you are reaching around your ass to scratch your elbow by going back with the CIS and the digiplex ignition.

If some of the carbed QV cars that we have seen on here are making somewhere around 275-285hp, this car could potentially be making 330hp....perhaps even more with the cams, high comp pistons......with some Webers. Throw in the looks of true classic Ferrari under the boot to boot, and you might have the best convergence of old F-car and new F-car attributes of any car on the planet.

 

Just read the article.....G O R G E O U S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd love to do that to my GT4 motor.

JIM

 

I'd like to know as well...much rather keep my current well-sorted QV GTS than jump into the unknown with a 355 or 360.

Seems like a longer first gear would be a necessity with these type of mods...mine hits the redline so fast now that I can hardly keep up. Second and third are longer and really kick ass.

 

Thanks Ramosel ! Great car , in one of the performance threads this conversion was discussed and price quoted . It was not cheap , but it has been done by one of the best !!

 

This is just such a great option !!! If you are considering a complete rebuild on a QV this has to be right at the top of your list .
It has so much potential . While I fully appreciate the reason of using the std CIS , think what it's leaving on the table ! Now for us mere mortals who have to do everthing ourselves . A burnt 360 motor can be had for $1500 ( possibly less if you get them to remove the heads ). It gives you crank , pistons and liners ( possibly ) The Ti rods you could sell on Fchat in a flash ( think Newman is looking for 12 ?) You would still need to source rods ( shorter ones ) The liners would need spacers at the bottom to make them work with an extra o ring .
There is obviously all the machine work required . PLEASE NOTE I haven't done this or know if it works .
I have all the bits to see if it can be made to work and once my stock motor is built . Possibly I'll have a look at this . I have a badly corroded block ( around the o rings at the bottom of the liners ) so a perfect candidate .

 

Very cool article!! I don't have my copy yet either...but really looking forward to it now!

 

Here is their site: http://www.carobu.com/
Ask Tate for more info about the convertion.

 

I'm not denying the excellent work/quality that is apparent but it strikes me more as a "fun" exercise for someone with a lot of money to toss at such a project rather than a useful HP increase option for "the rest of us." At 63 HP, the price (whatever it is - has to be north of 20k USD) would put it way down on the bad side of a HP per dollar graph compared to super/turbo charging.

Certainly impressive, though.

 

A straight rebuilt is going to cost $10k plus ?? maybe worth spending the extra $2500 ( a guess ) and doing the conversion yourself . Sourcing the bits from a donor , burnt motor !! Rather than buying new !
If I had relised this earlier I would have done it for sure . As my motor needed a complete rebuild !! new crank, block , pistons , rods . I would have had to find 4V heads , but I'm sure that's possible .

 

Good point - if you were into a complete rebuild anyway...what the heck!

I was viewing it as a "I want to add some HP" thing to a car that is in good shape.

 

I am very anxious to see my copy on the newsstand, but the bookstore here that carries it is VERY behind the times. So, I probably wont get it for a few weeks.


PDG

 

Mike you are right . If it's just to add some HP then it's on the expensive end of the scale

 

I've spoken with Carobu; it's around 25K to do this. Uh...no thanks. I'd rather just retro the Webers and take the approx 30 HP gain along with the sound ;-)

 

Makes me wanna buy another 3x8 and do the same thing!! That is hot!!!!

 

So how hard is it to retrofit Webers to a QV?

 

A more lively motor really makes the 308 what it was supposed to be.
You do need to pair the above with better brakes and suspension for obvious safety purposes.
However you do not need to go to such lengths and remove the soul of the car.

Camshafts is the way to go for carbed cars along with removal of US nonsense that nowadays seems obsolete anyway. You can get a very usable 260-270 by only changing the camshafts and deleting the "environmental" and "security" add-ons that are out of place on US cars.
This engine is meant to be revved and a wise camshaft choice will provide extraordinary results without ruining you or denaturating the car.

Although the huge work done on the engine in question is commendable it does take away the very nature of the engine.

Mine (Swiss car) has just that and is amazing to drive.
- camshafts
- all new suspension bushing
- 348 brakes in front
- larger rear anti-roll bar
- deleted AC
- free-flow exhaust (Tubi)
- short ratio cascade gears (220km/h top speed)
- Metal pad clutch

The above with 1/4 of Carobu money and I'm sure the Forza car is slower both on track an on twisty roads. On top all the above are reversible to OEM easily.

 

How much is the kit? Do you have a website for Carobou Engineering? Looks like one more cool thing to put on the maybe someday list. Do you know what crank that is?

 

Here you go: http://www.carobu.com/