I believe the exterior grills were silver anodized, not black. Grills and dash were opposite of the 308gt4.
Frontscreen wipers were also black. The main difference between 208 vs. 308 GT4 models is the ratio kg/kW : if you drive both back-to-back will notice it in terms of acceleration and response to gas pedal ( it applies also to the 208GTB vs. 308GTB models ). The lack of torque forced Ferrari to introduce the turbocharged V8 2 liter engines
The 208 s have a shorter ratio final drive . Racers ( 308s ) used to swop out there higher ratio diffs for the lower 208s as on a circuit it more useful in the twisty bits . Having had a Testarosa, 360 F1 , and my current daily is Bentley GT , I do not feel the 170 Hp version detracts anything from the gated , carb , driving experience. Indeed I will go further on 195 rubber With only 170 Hp you can fool around and take greater liberties on wet roundabouts and bends in the 208 GT 4 over the others . The other F cars , the Testarossa would under steer initially then go into ( huge rear weight ) into freighting oversteer . The 360 , nanny’s would take over at the slightest hint of rear traction being lost ,dash board lights up like a Christmas tree in the process .You we’re just a passenger. It’s easy with the analogue 208 on skinny 195s to get it slide equally and recover it either on the steering wheel adjust or throttle or both .Very very predictable no scary moments on public roads .No track days needed to find its limits . Of course all at lower safer speeds .
As a GT4 208 owner, I really liked this. Very few mention the different gearbox ratio. I have more or less been expecting someone with a good 308 to suddenly pop up here having changed to a 208 gearbox. I have no idea of the effect of different ratios but it would be interesting to see what it makes. /Peter
Now thats a very interesting fact with the final drive. Tbh I may have to talk to my mechanic about pricing this out as im not realy a massive fan of my gt4s gearing (any roads where I could take advantage of the longer gearing are too busy to do so tbh).
Congratulations. I had a 208 GT4 and now have a 308 GT4. The 208 sounds much more tuneful with induction noise to die for.
That sounds outstanding! Any mods to that drivetrain? BTW what are mod or upgrades to consider on a 208? I know about the fusebox upgrade, distributorless ignition, adding negative wheel camber.
Gear ratios .208 GT 4 .Not sure how lower they are compared to the 308 s ? Hopefully someone will chime in . Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mine is Chassis #14992 from October 1979. It has 115.000kms on the meter I recently bought it in June 2021 and it is located in FRANCE. Not restored but clean history. New paint about 3 years ago. Image Unavailable, Please Login I bought new set of 16in wheels Image Unavailable, Please Login Nice to add my car in the registry, Emmanuel
This is mine… Chassis #10388 Build #274 Born March 14, 1975 1975 Dino 308gt4, currently red with tan interior: Image Unavailable, Please Login I do have plans to paint this car back to its original color of Verde Pino Metallizzato, so here's a photo of it from 1989 before it was painted red: Image Unavailable, Please Login
As far as the gearing goes, I can tell you this. The 208 accelerates just as fast as a 308 in 1st gear. However it runs out of revs sooner and has to change up at which point the 308 pulls away. In the video I posted earlier there was an old lady behind me in a Peugeot 306 TDi who kept with me all the way up. The 208 is not fast by any sort of modern standard, but it's extremely rewarding to drive for most of the time...which you can't say about most modern sports cars.
Yes stock exhaust with the single outlet! But it's all the induction noise that you can hear and it's in a more treble range so doesn't get drowned out by other engine and road noise,
Love the induction noise. So much so that I replaced the stock airbox with individual filters. If you are curious just take the top off your airbox and go for a short drive (keep it short because it is not the 1960’s and driving without an airbox is a fire hazard). If you like the sound you can order a set of individual filters from Pierce - the sound is like open trumpets. This is a cheap and very easily reversible mod that will make your 208/308 sound like a Ferrari when you put your foot down.
My Video was with the airbox I hasten to add. From memory the 208 has 34mm carb trumpets compared to 40mm for the 308. That's what makes the difference to the induction sound. The airbox is fed from one of the side air intakes making sure you get the coolest and densest air available. The other side intake feeds the engine oil cooler. So the stock setup is pretty well optimised I think...as you would hope for from a manufacturer who has won multiple F1 titles over many eras of engine technology.
For sure. It’s probably not the most fuel/power efficient setup, but I’m not into my 308 for efficiency. I can promise the car definitely feels faster and more raw with the induction growl. Long and wonderful discussion here on air boxes: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/308-carb-airbox-restriction-discovered.49407/ For what it’s worth the car definitely feels faster and more raw with the induction growl. . Image Unavailable, Please Login
