Ferrari Mailing List: Brake upgrade and reducing unsprung weight.

[Grahame Reinthal (grahame]

OK, here is another question about my 308gt4 that is occasionally tracked.
Have any of you pursued reducing unsprung weight? I would imagine there is
not a huge amount of weight reduction possible, but it may still be quite
worthwhile - I don't know.  I am considering a brake upgrade soon anyway, so
it is the ideal time to look into this. Any experiences and advice with
upgrades to brakes and/ or unsprung weight reduction?

Many thanks,
Grahame

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Handa [mailto:dave [at] davehanda.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, 20 September 2006 2:53 PM
> To: Grahame
> Cc: 'The FerrariList'
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] 355 exhaust manifolds or thoughts on buying one...
> 
> Nope, Tubi still lists the exhaust manifolds.  www.tubistyleusa.com  but
> there was problems with delivery...rumor was they were stopped from
> selling
> them for a time, as the air injection rails required them to be EPA and
> California CARB certified.  This kept them from selling them for quite
> some
> time...maybe still?
> 
> Dave
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jonathan Haines [mailto:oblioh [at] adelphia.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 8:47 PM
> To: dave [at] davehanda.com
> Cc: 'The FerrariList'
> Subject: Re: [Ferrari] 355 exhaust manifolds or thoughts on buying one...
> 
> Dennis, you are correct.  I have Tubi exhaust manifolds and exhaust
> on my '95 355, but the last time I was on the Tubi website, I didn't
> see them listed.  Perhaps they've discontinued the product.
> 
> Jonathan Haines.
> 
> 
> 
> On Sep 19, 2006, at 6:53 PM, Dennis Liu wrote:
> 
> > Technically, exhaust manifolds are UPSTREAM of the muffler, as
> > exhaust gases
> > come out of the cylinders, into the manifold, then downstream into the
> > muffler and out.  :-)  More importantly, there is no such thing as a
> > "factory installed Tubi".  Tubi stuff is made by, well, Tubi, and is
> > aftermarket.  If the guy who sold you the car didn't tell you that
> > he had
> > Tubi exhaust manifolds, then you almost certainly don't.  Lots of
> > folks have
> > tubi mufflers on their cars, many fewer have the completely
> > manifold/exhaust
> > system.
> >
> > Vty,
> >
> > --Dennis
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Azam, Naweed S [mailto:Naweed.Azam [at] sonyericsson.com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 6:11 PM
> > To: Dennis Liu
> > Cc: The FerrariList
> > Subject: Re: [Ferrari] 355 exhaust manifolds or thoughts on buying
> > one...
> >
> > Is there an easy way to visually tell if the exhaust manifolds are
> > Tubi?
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Dave Handa [mailto:dave [at] davehanda.com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 6:06 PM
> > To: Azam, Naweed S
> > Cc: 'The FerrariList'
> > Subject: RE: [Ferrari] 355 exhaust manifolds or thoughts on buying
> > one...
> >
> > NO the exhaust manifolds is downstream of the Tubi muffler.  Now if
> > it had
> > Tubi exhaust manifolds, then yes, solved.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Azam, Naweed S [mailto:Naweed.Azam [at] sonyericsson.com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 2:01 PM
> > To: dave [at] davehanda.com
> > Cc: The FerrariList
> > Subject: Re: [Ferrari] 355 exhaust manifolds or thoughts on buying
> > one...
> >
> > If the car comes with a factory installed Tubi, does that solve the
> > problem
> > of the exhaust manifold being too thin?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Naweed.
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Dennis Liu [mailto:BigHeadDennis [at] earthlink.net]
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 2:05 PM
> > To: Azam, Naweed S
> > Cc: 'The FerrariList'
> > Subject: Re: [Ferrari] 355 exhaust manifolds or thoughts on buying
> > one...
> >
> > IMHO:
> >
> > 1.  Yes, several owners have replaced the manifold more than once.
> > Yes,
> > they can be repaired - one company in the UK does that.  Others opt
> > for Tubi
> > manifolds.  PITA?  Yes, but at least they can be replaced while the
> > engine
> > is still in place.  Others never experience this problem.  Ferrari
> > has never
> > addressed this problem.
> >
> > 2.  A much bigger concern is the exhaust valve guide issue.  The valve
> > problem lays in excessive wear of the exhaust valve guides. Lots of
> > theories
> > and info on this topic, suffice it to say that it exists on '95, '96,
> > '97
> > and even some '98 cars. Can be very expensive to fix, but sometimes
> > people
> > spend a lot of time on a full engine out major service with a valve
> > job when
> > a carbon-build up is actually the root cause of the problem
> > (resulting in
> > poor leakdown/compression test results).
> >
> > 3.  Yes, the 355 *is* a significantly better car than the 348.
> > It's more
> > comfortable for taller people, the seats are a LOT more
> > comfortable, you
> > have more power, and the 6-speed is nicer.  The 348 has better feel
> > through
> > the steering (manual, not power), and arguably, the exhaust note
> > sounds
> > better.  Both have their share of electrical gremlins, much of it
> > stemming
> > from alternators getting too hot and dying from charging almost-dead
> > batteries.  The 348 climate control is a nightmare.  The 355
> > interior is
> > notorious for the rubberized plastic stuff turning to goop.  Both
> > suffer
> > from leather shrinkage issues.  Bottom line, the 348 has an
> > undeservedly
> > rough reputation, from a reliability standpoint.  I don't know that
> > it's any
> > more unreliable than the 355, which is no paragon of virtue.  But the
> > 355 is
> > a heckuva lot faster!  :-)
> >
> > Vty,
> >
> > --Dennis
> >
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