[Ferrarix7]

Hello to everyone.

I should start by saying ferrari has always been my 1st love in life. Yes, I too had ferrari posters all over my walls as a child. I had always thought any Ferrari would be far out of my grasp. So I then (high school) got into muscle cars, because they were pretty good bang for buck wise. Then I discovered Rotary engines and Im still way into those.

I got hired by an excellent company recently, and was thinking "Alright, now I can build a serious RX7' But on day 3 Our boss said that if we worked all the overtime we could make $60,000 or more this year. I was skeptical, but after one paycheck fully beleive it. That means I should be able to clear $40,000. I had an ear to ear grin because the ONLY thing to do with $40,000 find a Ferrari 328.

Every 328 I have seen for sale is very close to if not in immaculate condition
and the most powerful Ferrari for the price.

So that brings me here to get some 1st hand background information, and learn as much as I can before I make the final purchase

A few questions:
I was talking to one 328GTS owner and he said that about $5,000 a year will be enough to maintain the car properly. Does everyone agree with that?

How much is a major service for a 328? I know it can be $15,000 on a Testarossa

Are there any concerns I should know of before buying? And does one year stand out from the rest Say between '85 and '89? I know that an '89 makes about 270 hp' And is pretty light. Suprisingly I have not found too many detailed year differences on the internet.

Is it possible to find a 328 turbo? Did Ferrari produce any? Or is that Aftermarket?

A concern:
Unfortunately, and sadly we live in a day and age where Subarus and Hondas(ect...) can be faster than some Ferrari's. This should not be possible, but somehow it is.

I cannot allow this to happen, so my first thought as soon as I buy it is to turbocharge it. That is a great way to make the car go even faster than it looks. However looking at the engine it seems it would be very hard to fit a turbo in there, let alone twin turbos. I discovered that the 288GTO's came with twin turbos, but as I understand they are $500,000 now, which is way out of the picture. Although if I ever did get beat by a honda Id think 'Well, at least Im still driving a ferrari' But Id much perfer to not have to

I know that there are a lot of people in this world that are all for keeping the car 100% stock, but Ill bet they dont drive hard, nor care to race.

So:
Is there anyone that has put a turbo or 2 on a 328? Do they make a kit for it? Or will I have to have custom manifolds, exhaust, and others made? How much Naturally asperated powercan you get from the Quattrovalvo? Im assuming that the suspension is good for at least a couple hundred more horsepower, because Ferraris are well known for their handling.

If I can get the 0-60 to about 4.0s and the 1/4mi in 11.7 or under, I should be fine

Thanks in advance for all your help/information!

 

[tmcstocker]

Welcome aboard, All i can say is forget all the turbo stuff if all you want is speed buy a Ducati or a hot rod because you will only ask for trouble and you will spend crazy money making the car afe and legal as well as fast. The way i look at is, its a ferrari everyone will know it's a ferrari from young to the elderly and everyone will love it. No matter how you soup it up there will be someone somewhere who will have faster end of story. I reckon if you are worried about power and speed, the money you would spend destroying your ferrari would buy you one of those everyday boy racer cars and you can have the best of both worlds. Forget 0-60 nonsense look for one of those rare italian beauties with soul and you will soon wonder how how enjoyed driving before you bought one.

 

[jmlinmn]

If you're going to drop $40k and worry about speed / perf against Honda's and Subaru's, save up a bit more and buy a Lotus Elise.

 

[Magnum6464]

First off, welcome to the forum. A 328 is a solid car and a great time piece for being noticed on the road that you’re driving a Ferrari. The engine is bullet proof but to a certain extent, adding a Turbo can lead to bad news and two is just asking for something to blow up. The reason I say this is because a Turbo can add 100-250 HP depending on how big you want it and accept where your lag will be.

The engine will seriously need to be rebuilt from top to bottom and prepped for “racing” because the engine was not designed for that much HP. Now don’t get me wrong, it can take some HP gain to a certain degree but you will still be smoked by modded Imports because those engines can take several 100’s of HP gains with incredible ease with little money because parts are available everywhere. Building a 328 racing engine will be very expensive and all custom made because there are no parts available out there. If you’re willing to drop 80-100K in mods this can be done. Remember, engine is not all that will need to be modified, clutch, shafts and yes suspension (because more power means more sway in the suspension) as well as new manifolds. Manifolds are extremely expensive to buy to fit a turbo, especially one for a Ferrari because it has to be custom made. And pray your gearbox doesn’t blow up.


The problem with a turbo is that it affects so much of the engine and so many add-on’s are needed to make it function properly. I did extensive research for over a year before deciding it wasn’t worth it, I wanted to upgrade my 93 MR2 Turbo with a bigger one and the manifold had to be replaced and it was almost as expensive as the turbo kit. The kit was 5k a bigger intercooler 2K and the manifold and rear pipe only (muffler not included) was $2500, new clutch $1500 and a new muffler to accommodate the excess pressure was another 2k, a wastegate and blow off valve 1K . So a Toyota engine that was built stock to take 500hp no problem with no engine rebuild was cool but needed these parts to make it work properly. So adding a stronger turbo, stage II was going to cost me $14,000 (US) for approximately 150-200hp gain and this was just the price of the parts. I am lucky enough to have access to free labor to do the job (our family owns a performance shop) so this in itself can be another 5-10K more, maybe less if you get it all done at one time by one shop and this is based on Import modifications. This was for a Toyota, your talking about a Ferrari…….

Anything bigger (stage III 250-400hp gain same price for the turbo kit) I needed bigger injector’s, fuel rail, stronger fuel pump, bigger wastegate, blow off valve those 5 about $2500, top and bottom parts upgrade rebuild 5K and a stand alone fuel management system 2K without the price of a laptop, new shafts $2500. So to go from stage II to III was an additional $11,000 (didn’t add the wastegate and blow off valve twice) for a total of $25,000 (US) and provided my own laptop and.....prayed to God the gearbox didn’t blow up

Your better off buying a 328 and drive it as is and modify your rotary engine to crazy HP for low bucks.

Hope this helps



~

 

[Boxer]

There is an article in the April 2006 issue of Forza on a modified Turbo 308. You can order back issues from the website:

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

and there is a second article that can be downloaded directly from the following site:

http://www.rainbolt.com/articles/

 

[Ferrarix7]

Thanks for your info/input everyone!

I didnt mean for it to sound like competing against rice was my only intent with a 328. It was just one concern, because I only imagine every car thats mildy fast will try to rev up next to me. Does this happen when you take yours out?

I will take your collective advise and not worry about it. Owning a 328 has always been a life long dream regardless. I never intend to sell once I get one. Perhaps no one ever does? I yearn for the driving experience like no other!

I am focosed on getting one in the first place, and I will cross those other bridges when I get there. Just trying to learn what to expect in advance.

How much should I expect to spend annually for regular maintnence? And when are the major service intervals? 45 60 and 90k?

Keeping in mind I am mechanically inclined. From pictures it looks like chainging oil / fluids should be easy enough. So I intend to do this myself, along with any other maintnence that does not require pulling the motor and tranny. If possible. For this Ill take it to the pros.