I have placed my silver 308 GTBi up for sale recently. Here is a link to the ad: https://www.atsracing.net/Parts/Details/Ferrari308GTBi I know most of you already have 308's, I just wanted to say I'm open to any questions about the EFI or turbocharger upgrades that I did. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great looking car - the mods look well-done. What is the rim size - 17"? How is the ride with it being that lowered?
Yes, 17x8 and 17x9 Speedline Mistrals. They are adapted from a Japanese application as 17" ones in Ferrari bolt pattern are impossbile to find. Custom QA1 coilovers. I went stiffer than I thought I would like. 300lb/in front and 350lb/in rear and holy cow I LOVE IT. The ride perfect. It feels like a modern sports car. Now I want to try those springs on my 308GTS.
I prefer the 17" wheels becasue there are better tire options. It has Nitto NT05's on it now. They run a little narrow so I was able to put a 275/40R17 out back. The fronts are 225/45R17
With respect to your turbo charger, that looks very impressive. Is this an available kit or something you designed and installed? I drove an 86 208 GTS Turbo recently, and was super impressed with the throttle response. It was peppier than my 88 328 once it passed 4k RPM, and the power smoothly rolled on, it wasn't like a punch in the back when the turbo kicked in.
I also went with a QA1 setup in my 328. I went with 300lb springs in front and 250 in the back, lowered it an inch and corner balanced it, and couldn't be happier. The 208 GTS Turbo driver and I swapped cars for a spirited drive, and we both had the same reaction - he wished the turbo had my suspension and I wished I'd had that turbo!
We design and install. A "kit" might be possible but it's going to cost the same becasue I basically need to mock it up on a car to make sure it fits. This one is on the milder side. We have done 3.2 motors up to 700 horsepower. Aaron
I wouldn't be looking for 700hp, but another 100 would be really nice. So you'd need the car to install it which is fine. Have you done any 328's? I'm in CA so would the car still be smoggable? And finally, what is a ballpark price for this modification? Thanks, V.
I always love "another 100 would be nice". I haven't owned many cars as I tend to hang on but it is always what I think about all of them! I had links on some previous posting that for classic cars, California doesn't care if you have your OEM equipment or are running the Bosch fuel injection. They only care about the car passing the test, and if you have updated exhaust parts, they must be CARB certified (Magnaflow makes them). This documented in the CA BAR rules: https://www.bar.ca.gov/pdf/smog-check-manual.pdf Not to speak for Aaron, but I would imagine going to a turbo setup requires some sort of computer (piggyback or stand alone) and alteration of the exhaust manifolds. Thus it would be best to either fab a custom exhaust or modify an existing aftermarket to use the OEM hangers. In which case, you would need to convert to a more modern EFI and add a CARB certified cat to your system. Between the ecu, tuning and a modern cat, you could probably build one of the cleanest burning 308's out there. It all really depends on the tune, which you could then change maps in most modern ECU's. If you are going low boost, you likely don't have to change the motor internals, unless you have some hi compression pistons in there - turbo cars like low compression - so stock is good. Aaron would be the judge on if an inter-cooler would be needed for the 100hp but I'd imagine its nearing the limit. It would be 100% reversible with maybe a few quirks.... If you're going to go 100, why not 200? HAHA its a slippery slope... Oh, and guessing not inexpensive either - Parts, fab work, tuning / testing, etc. BUT, you would avoid all the mechanic "got to smog, make it run worse, pass the test, bring it back to make it run better" series of expensive services.
Well said. Unfortunately I don't know the Californa laws. Texas was way more practical giving us things like low mileage exemptions and no testing for anything older than 25 years. Back when pre-OBD2 stuff was still in the 25 year limit all we had to do was pass a 2 stage low speed dyno test. Funny story, one time my business partner, Scott took his NINE HUNDRED horsepower Toyota MR2 to be smogged at the local "Sticker Station." The owner of the station was sure it was a plant by the government. He gave Scott a stern warning and was in the process of throwing Scott out when the young tech yelled across the shop "BOSS, this thing just PASSED!" I could build a "swappable" turbo kit that could be swapped out with the stock cat and muffler for you to pass emissions. We would need to keep the original mechanical injection in place, and there probably would not be room for an intercooler, but an additional 100hp wouldn't be too hard. I would swap out the original igntion comuputer for one that I can program to handle the boost. But that is pretty easily hidden. If we ran out of fuel on the CIS system we could use an additioanl injector placed inside an aftermarket version of the accordian pipe. It would take about an hour to swap the exhaust and turbo package, say 1.5 hours with the accordian pipe too and could be done at home with a jack and jackstands. If you are serious there is a 328 near me that might let me borrow his car, although I'll probably have to replace his overdue timing belts to earn that favor, haha.
CA does not allow for the update from CIS to EFI without a massive headache and CARB inspection and approval.. In other words, big money and likely never approved. It's why I don't offer the EFI for legal use in CA. Are there smog places that'll turn a blind eye? Sure, but the star testing that these older vehicles get flagged for tend to not do that. Not worth the risk of fines and imprisonment. The only thing allowed is what it left the factory with.
All I have, copied from the usual online sources, is a production date of 6/29/78 originally Nero 20-B-619/Pelle Nera VM8500 and imported by Auto Becker but I pulled Urban's book and interestingly he has 24977 listed as an injected automatic 1978 400 metallic silver/black. Was Ferrari even building injected 400's in 1978??
