208 Turbo?

[Doofus]

Does anyone have any experience of a 208 Turbo, or GTB/GTS Turbo? Anecdotally, it's a bit of a dog, but I wondered if anyone has first-hand experience and might be able to elaborate or otherwise.

[will_]

I was very briefly a passenger in one some years ago.

"Gutless" was my abiding memory!

[TISPKJ]

Is a thread on here somewhere about the car / cars, think was an italian import from memory.
Again from memory think walkersport involved somewhere maybe worth a call.

sorry a bit vague ....

[Doofus]

will_ said:

"Gutless" was my abiding memory!

That's what I'd read, although horsepower isn't that far from a 'proper' 308. I know that power delivery is more important than outright power, which is really why I was asking. Is it a very different proposition?

[Doofus]

TISPKJ said:

Is a thread on here somewhere about the car / cars, think was an italian import from memory.
Again from memory think walkersport involved somewhere maybe worth a call.

sorry a bit vague ....

Thank you. Inexplicably, it never occurred to me to use PH search...

[Cerberaherts]

The later, intercooled cars go better. It’s only a small turbo but it spins up pretty quickly and the acceleration can be described as “urgent” rather than “face contorting” but they are fun. Rot issues are the same as regular cars, so rear lower frame, near the front lower suspension pickups etc. Some of the trim parts/mechanical items unique to that variant are tricky to get hold of. If you do find one you want to buy make sure everything is there!

[Doofus]

I like the idea of one, but given it's LHD only, if the performance is a bit of a let down, then I'll always think of it as an understandably cheap Ferrari, rather than an unusual and worthwhile b-road car

[fyfe]

I nearly bought one from Mike Wheeler at Rardley but got distracted by a 512 BB there and picked that up instead.

I must say, I liked the Turbo when I took it for a drive. It's not the biggest or meatiest of Ferraris by any stretch but didn't feel considerably underpowered compared to other V8s of the period. It is a bit different than your standard 308 though.

Walkersport did an interesting restoration thread at Club Scuderia ( http://clubscuderia.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?45...) that is worth a read. Also, I *believe* one of the senior design guys over at Ferrari has one of them as his personal car and I imagine he has his choice of vehicles. I can't remember where I saw that though.

No expert, but that's my 2 cents.

Edited by fyfe on Tuesday 28th November 23:05

Edited by fyfe on Tuesday 28th November 23:07

[MontyC]

I been looking at buying a 208 Dino, what do I need to look out for, the sodium exhaust valves sound worrying?

[Caruso]

MontyC said:

I been looking at buying a 208 Dino, what do I need to look out for, the sodium exhaust valves sound worrying?

I had one for several years. They are much more tuneful than the 308 I now have, but they are not a quick car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk4JWVLMvvM

There was an old lady in a 306 TD who kept up with me the whole way up the hill.