Searches turned up nothing like this, so starting what I hope will become a new tradition we can all enjoy: Happy New Year! Since Last year, I clocked 2,497 miles on the odometer on my black 328 GTS, which took 136 gallons of gas (yes, that's an amazing 18 mpg! - almost all highway driving) Those 2500 miles of enjoyment included a fabulous two-day tour of the Texas Hill Country with the Hill Country Chapter of the FCA... (top speed my car achieved this year was 140 mph - very briefly, but exhilarating!) ... we also took day trips to various cities around Texas, and of course, our weekend breakfast meetups with the club and on our own. We also rode our Cavallino Rampante for nights on the town just a few times this year... As always, this year also included hours of enjoyable wrench work on the beast, mostly of a restoration kind: rebuilt Koni shocks and rubber parts in suspension; replaced all the fuel lines to get rid of that raw fuel smell after each drive (and to avoid a fire!); removed the passenger's side fuel tank and had my former welding instructor weld in two new aluminum nipples to replace the two that were JBWelded on by the previous owner; while I was at it, I also restored that fuel tank, replacing the missing rubber pad with a new adhesive-backed rubber pad cut from material I sourced from McMaster-Carr, and media blasting and painting with aluminum paint; a roadside fix for a blown heater hose; repacked front wheel bearings; replaced two tires and +1 tire sizes; four-wheel alignment; serviced the shift shaft bushings and seals; replaced oil pan and gearbox gaskets and installed copper washers and acorn nuts on both; rebuilt and repainted front spoiler; restored rear lower grille; installed an NOS Bosch electric antenna; re-aligned both doors so they close properly again; and created a modern tool roll for the car, which actually has enough tools to do common roadside repairs like fixing a blown heater hose! This year I STILL didn't install the luggage cover I've had on the shelf for two years, and I didn't replace the speedometer head with the new board Adrian is creating (although now, my speedo is starting to fail, so I hope Adrian can finish before it fails completely). I still didn't replace the door/roof weatherstripping I've had for a year, or run the microphone wire for my GoPro camera. I did source the original striped Ermenegildo Zegna fabric to restore my interior, but didn't yet install it; I also sourced an authentic driver's side floor mat with correct heel pad, but it doesn't quite fit correctly, so I need to get it 'revised' a bit before I can install it... I also continued to stockpile parts I don't yet need, but which are surely going to be needed at some point - this year, it was a clutch assembly and an oil pressure sending unit, as well as silicone heater hose and brake booster vacuum hose, so I can replace those ones that run through the driver's side rocker panel (this winter's project). Finally, my resolution this year is to channel my nerdy tendencies to take what I've always done in documenting the maintenance and repair work I've done to the car and its fuel usage, and create what I've called an Enjoyment Log. Here I will keep a sort of diary of my actual drives and other car events, the real reasons I even own a Ferrari. I hope others here find this another nice way to enjoy our Ferrari stewardship, and that many of you will make your own annual entry in this thread. Maybe Rob Lay will decide this should be bumped outside the 308/328 Model Specific Discussions, to make it more available to caretakers of other varieties of our beloved Prancing Horses? I'll be back annually to chronicle my years of enjoyment of the Ferrari lifestyle, too!
(Potentially) Cool thread. 2016 was an unusual year for my Ferrari. The year was dominated by my building a garage expansion and I intentionally ignored the car much more than I had in my first 3 years of ownership. So, for me, a big event was finally giving notice the nice old lady who rented me a garage spot across town to park my 308. My car is finally home. (I expanded my 2 car wide garage to 2 cars wide and 2 cars deep.) I still did do a few major things with the 308 in 2016 though. Foremost was participating in the Ferrari Club of America's "Virginia City Hill Climb" (https://youtu.be/qif7h6TOXrc). Hill Climbs are historically such famous events and they are so rare in North America. Although I intentionally drove very conservatively, I managed to place second in 3x8 class. (It is too bad that there were only two cars in 3x8 class.) It was amazing to drive as fast as you dare on a closed public road. A hill climb needs horsepower and a 308 ain't got none, but subjectively it felt very fast. Second, I entered the car in "Judged" category at Concorso Italiano which is part of Monterey Car Week and one of the major concours in the USA. I have never thought of myself as a "concours guy" but the car looked tired when I bought it and wanted to restore it to as close to original as I could. I spent the first years with the car addressing a lot of cosmetic issues. I like Jay Leno's attitude where he says he, "drives them down to 90 points then restores them back up to 99 points." Well, I knew I was getting pretty fanatical about getting the details right about my car (I knew I was off the deep end when I started researching how the factory positioned the wire ties holding the fuel injection tubes), but I never expected to be the last 308 ("First place") to cross the awards stage. My car got 98 points, but the judges kept returning to it to use as the reference car to compare other cars. And, there were a few great drives. The FCA's "Delta Dash" and the combined group drive to the Napa Valley with the Jaguar club were both really memorable. My wife actually agreed to come along with the latter. Also too is the monthly Cars and Coffee at the Blackhawk Car Museum. I love that event. I made several new 3x8 friends there last year.
2016 - Rebuilt rear calipers. New fuel lines on top of tanks. Oil drip repair fail. Drove about 5000 miles. 2017 Plan - Euro bumber mod. WORKING AC. Window tint. Maybe belt change. Maybe repair oil drips??? One can only hope. Happy new year everyone!!
ZOOOOMZ - great idea for a thread! I am a new 308 owner but have lusted after one for decades. Been a Porsche owner for a very long time with 4 working vehicles at present. The Ferrari was an eye opener in many ways. I am very happy to have finally gotten mine, with the help of people on this site, in fine working condition. The beauty of the Pininfarina design is enough to bring a smile to my face every time I open the door of the garage.
6700 miles for 2016. Miles include a 3-day trip to Couer d'Alene, ID and a number of trips into the mountains around Seattle. Lots a pleasure driving, taking it out to do chores (groceries), and occasionally to work. Now it's in the shop getting it's 60,000 mile major, a new suspension, finishing up the hoses I haven't replaced yet, a new AC system, and a number of other small things a 30 year old car needs. Cosmetically, the car is still quite good, though as usual with use there are a few more nicks on the exterior. I'll deal with those all at once in the next couple years. Interior is still almost flawless, and I aim to keep it that way (thanks Bullfighter!!!).
1526 miles in my first two months of ownership, we're still in the honeymoon stage even though I've already suffered a breakdown resulting in returning home on a flatbed but that was my fault (sort of) I replaced the main fuel feed line and the new hose was defective causing it to kink about 1/3 of the way around the bend and cutting off my fuel. I had suspicions about it when I was installing it but figured it'd be okay. Lesson learned, I'm installing the SRI hose kit as I write this. Anyway, just prior to getting stranded on the side of the road I had a beautiful day driving up the coast and this video shows just how much fun it is to drive a 308 even if you're only going 40 mph. This was taken with my Ivue which has weak audio so you need to crank up the volume to hear the symphony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zRAHVk848w&t=19s
In the 2.5 years that I've owned my 328, I've put on a shamefully low 1,900 miles on it. My goal for 2017 is to drive it more.
Happy new year all ! With my 308 GT4 I took part on the Dino-Meeting of the Ferrari Club Deutschland (FCD) at the East-See-Coast of Germany. Three days of driving, meeting friends, talking gas and tyre-kicking. Only about 500 km at the odo this year. She has only about 12.500 km at the odo in total. With my 208 turbo GTB I took part on several meetings this year. The biggest one was the anual meeting of the FCD in italy in May 2016. In total about 4500 km at the odo this year. Many of them to and from the garage because of some restaurations to do, see my thread http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328-sponsored-yellow-compass-group/484060-another-208-turbo.html With my Mondial 3.2 there were several problems with the heating, the electrics and so on. See my thread http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/mondial/501126-mondial-3-2-coup%E9-59769-a.html But I was driving a big trip to south of Germany and east of France for about 1800 km at one weekend besides of other small trips. In total about 3000 km at the odo this year. Goal for 2017: less time at the garage service, more time for driving.
I'm still putting about 1k miles per year on my 308. Most of those miles this year have been to car shows and less of it please cruising... which is the trade-off I've been arguing with myself about lately. Taking the car to shows to share with others definitely has it's value... but I'm not sure I want to trade it off quite as much with driving as I did this past year. This next year I'll probably just do more of both and tally up how many more driving miles this creates. Hopefully it's an about that I don't quite care at all about.
Hey Tim, how about this year before it gets hot we both go over and have the cars dyno tested? I am curious what the motor work I did yielded at the tires. I'll pay. There is a place in town that will do it on Saturday. You can include that in next years list.
I probably drove mine the least of the last 7.5 years I have had it. I had some brake issues and no time to work on it until recently. I finally got the new rotors and pads on it but its not quite right yet. So, not a lot of driving yet. Then its back to "almost" DD duty again!! PDG
Hey Brian, Yes, by all means, let's see what we can learn about our cars from a dyno run... I probably want to do an annual maintenance before I run to the redline, but we should do it soon.
Before the weather gets hot. I know they have an air density correction factor but I am not a complete believer.
