How about some impressions from some of you who have driven or owned one. Thanks. :flag

 

Back in September I had the opportunity to spend 2 weeks driving a rented 360 Modena 6speed on the German Autobahn, and through the Alps of Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. It was probably the single most incredible experience of my life.

As the owner of Corvettes (Z06, ZR-1, LT-1), I can truly attest to the quality of the 360 Modena. I drove the car HARD, and never once did it miss a beat. The build quality is rock solid. The handling is razor sharp, but never harsh or uncomfortable. And unlike the Porsche 996 that I drove LAST year on the Autobahn, the front end of the 360 does never feels light at speeds over 150 mph. The faster I drove it, the better it clung to the road. This car generates tons of downforce, and without unsightly spoilers or aesthetically invasive means.

The 360 has more sensitive inputs than a Z06. The steering, brakes, and accelerator all react more sharply than that in a Z06. The with less torque, and having the weight of the engine above the rear wheels, it STICKS in corners really well. I’m not gonna say it’s better than a Z06 in the twisties. It’s just DIFFERENT. Probably easier overall than a Z06, because oversteer never became a problem.

I’d say running 0-60 or 0-100, the 360 feels similar to the Z06. It’s easier to get a 360 off the line because absence of big torque. But pulling, say, 100 to 150, the 360 feels a little stronger. That’s probably due to the multi-cam engine and FIVE valves per cylinder.

BTW, turning off the traction control and doing a burnout in a 360 is pointless. I found that any rpm under 4,500 it just hooks. Any rpm over 5,000, it just screams and pulls to redline, bouncing off the rev limiter. It’s a very fine line.

The car I rented had less than 2,000 miles on it. So I guess it was not “broken in” yet. However, I can assure everyone that once I was done with it, the “break-in” surely was complete! I put about 1,500 miles on it, very often running at or above 5,000 rpm for HOURS at a time, hitting the 8,500 redline frequently. Unlike our oil-sucking Z06’s, the Ferrari burned not a SINGLE drop of oil the whole time! Not a drop! You gotta love that! I’m so accustomed to checking the oil frequently due to my oil-a-holic Z06. Every time I checked the 360, it was full. So needless to say, oil consumption with this car is a NON-ISSUE. Ferrari’s got it figured out.

My Z06 has some annoying little things about it. Here's a good example: When I get on it hard, the airpressure generated under the hood causes windshield washer fluid to spray out. I found the 360 to be a truly "quirk-free" car.

I was running on the German Autobahn, on sparsely populated country highways in Bavaria, and through the Alps. For those of you not familiar with the German Autobahn, there is not speed limit in rural areas, so you can LEGALLLY drive as fast as you like. The quality of the road is incredible, with no bumps, cracks, potholes, patches, or vibrations. And unlike some highways here in the US, there's no annoying whirring or buzzing sound as you pass over textured pavement at high speed.

And German drivers know how to drive. The left lane is always open, with the occasional exception of other drivers going REALLY fast, or making a pass and then immediately getting out of your way. In Germany, you can't even get your driver's license until age 18. You must take an expensive driving course costing thousands of dollars, then pass comprehensive written and driving examinations. So needless to say, German drivers are well-trained, and accustomed to high speed driving.

There were numerous times when I hit a LEGAL 175 mph in the car, and it was still pulling. A couple of times I even bumped the rev limited when pulling to the top of 5th gear. Not sure what my speed was, but it must have been in excess of 150 mph. When you combine the tightness of the car, the confidence-inspiring brakes, the stability at high speed, the quickness at which you can ATTAIN the speed, the predictability of the German drivers, and the quality pavement on the Autobahn, believe me when I tell you that 175 mph is not at all scary. Very controlled, and very enjoyable. Wow.

You gotta love the gasoline over there too. I was buying 98 octane super unleaded over there at every pump. Another wow.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I got into the Alps. Now THAT was truly a delight for the senses. Hearing the 40 valve V8 echo through the Alpine canyons as I revved up to over 8,000 rpm during upshifts, as well as the exhaust pop and cackle as I blipped the throttle during high-speed downshifts. Twisty after twisty, going through the gated gears. Unbelievable.

The air intake is on the rear quarter panel on the driver's side. So when you get on it, and the window is down, you hear that beautiful Ferrari scream.

The Swiss definitely do the best job of maintaining their Alpine roads. They are impeccably smooth, clean, and maintained. But if you REALLY want the best Alpine driving experience in the world, you gotta hit the Austrian Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse. This is a TOLL road that winds through the Austrian Alps. The views are incredible, the roads are built for high speed turns, with lots of hairpins, and best of all, there's NO other traffic to get in your way.

I'll try to attach a pic taken in the Alps of southern Switzerland, at St. Gotthard's Pass. This road was orginally constructed in order to facilitate trade between the Northern and Southern regions of the Holy Roman Empire. There's a 12 mile tunnel that burrows UNDER this pass, which most domestic traffic uses for convenience. That's good because there's not much traffic driving the pass, where of course all of the fun is to be had!

Wondering what the extra $100g’s get you with the Ferrari? You get:

quality interior components made exclusively of leather or aluminum (i.e. no plastic or rubber)

quality paint finish without orange peel (i.e. unlike the Z06)

fantastic fit and finish (i.e. the 360 is airtight just like the Z06, except when you close the door, the windows go down quarter-inch to allow air to rush out, then close quickly thereafter, so no door slamming necessary)

ZERO oil consumption

rock solid brake pedal with braided stainless lines from the factory, that you can stand on at 150 all day long without fade, shake, etc

no concerns of running the oil sump dry in high lateral g-force turns because the 360 has dry sump

instant celebrity status everywhere you drive

Formula One heritage

a view of your beautiful engine every time you look in the rear view mirror (i.e. the back glass views through to the engine compartment)

incredible sounding engine that screams past 8,500 rpm

incredible downforce at high speeds due to the undertray that routes air through down-force creating venturi.

The Z06 is a world class car, no doubt about it. It’ll run with a 360 too, I can tell you that without question. But there ARE some neat things you get with a 360 that you don’t get with a Z06.

Hope you enjoyed reading this. I can tell you, it’s now 3 months later and I STILL get a chill up my back every time I think of the experience!

-EILIG
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That was some seriously enjoyable reading. Thanks for an amazing response.

 

All I can say is WOW. May I be so crass as to ask what a car like that cost over there just for one day?

 

What he said :eek: :D :cool: I beg you to give me the info on where you rented the car and the route. Then I'll try and convince one of my old school friends in London to bring his Porsche GT3 on a mountain run!

I completely second the notion that those roads are built for great high speed driving, not just in terms of road quality, but the competent and aware drivers as well. Left lane is passing ONLY and other high speed traffic.

I also had to go through the ridiculously complex British motoring school system, and while annoying and tedious, it shaped my driving habits in a very positive manner.

 

Hold on, what ridicuously complex British motoring school? Sure, you don't get your license in your wheatties, but it's not that complex.

All I recall was that I had to take a few lessons (eight I think, mostly in the snow :confused: ), and then took a driving test that involved: 3 point turn :eek: :eek: , emergency stop :smash: :smash: , parallel parking :eek: :eek: and generally avoiding hitting anyone. Oh, and all with a stick shift ONLY.

Did you do anything else? I realise that parallel parking has never made into the US driving skills vocabulary :reddevil (in OR/WA at least! - terrible parking, always).

Graham (the brit)

 

360 Modena - sex on wheels. Period.

The spider is even better.

I still like my Z06 though!!!

Graham

 

The Modena 360 is an utterly magnificent car. Art, really. I attended a Ferrari event recently in Virginia (as an interloper/guest) and was stunned with the competence and quality of the Modena. Now if the NASDAQ would just crawl back to just 2500 (heck, I'm not greedy) just 2500 . . . .

 

Excellent read. It left me jealous of your opportunity to drive such a car, on such roads.

Some day, maybe! :cheers:

 

I found a southern German company called "Scuderia von Ruschenberg" for the rental. They have something like 15 different Ferrari models available (including the F40 and F50! wow!). They deliver the car direct to you anywhere in Europe via enclosed carrier. I flew into Munich, and told them when my plane arrived, and they were waiting for me at the airport parking lot, ready to roll. Worked out great!

The rental included full insurance coverage, with a $4,000 damage deposit that is refunded upon safe return. The deposit is forfeited if you total the car, but the nice thing is that insurance would cover the rest. So if you totaled a $200,000 Ferrari, you'd only be out the $4,000 deposit.

Their rates vary depending on which model you rent, what days you rent it, and the number of days for your rental period. I rented a brand new 360 Modena 6-speed (it only had 3,800km on the odometer when I picked it up!!) for 2 weeks total. Including the small delivery fee, and all insurance, I think it cost me something like $750 per day. For two weeks, I had something like 3,000 free kilometers. If I had exceeded that amount (which I did not) it would have costed extra. They do have other, lesser expensive Ferraris available for rental too, including the 328, 348, and 355. I think the 512 Testarossa costs same as 360.

Yeah it's lots of money, but shipping my ZR-1 back and forth would have cost almost as much, PLUS the risk of damaging the car in transit, and the headaches of shipment. Not to mention that I got to fulfill a lifelong dream of driving a Ferrari on the Autobahn.

The guys I rented from were great. They gave me a bunch of free maps and told me where to find the best roads. Unfortunately, they don't speak a word of English. But, last month when I talked to them, they told me they are opening an Enblish-speaking North American office in mid-January. It would be easiest to go through them, since they'll have some English speakers. They reply to email sent to: FerrariRental@hotmail.com. Also, faxed correspondence seems to go direct to their translators if sent to (402) 390-9262. I've always received timely reply by sending to this fax.

Hope this answers all your questions. Guys, if you've ever had a lifelong dream to drive a Ferrari on some of the best roads in the world, I highly recommend it!

-EILIG

 

Sounds like the experiance of a lifetime. :yesnod: If I had the opratunity to do that I would be there in a second. Way:cool:

 

Thanks for the write up. You just described one of my dreams. I was drooling just reading your write up.

 

This is all in relation to US standards. I did the written test, which in that year had the question selection increased to i think 40 out of a possible several(6?) hundred questions. That was fairly simple, except all the reversals from practice in the US. Then the practical test, with the three point, parallel, and emergency braking, but also backing around a curved corner while starting and ending no more than 12 and no less than 6 inches away from the curb. Plus the requisite 45 minutes of driving.

Had to prepare with around 10 two hour lessons from the BSM.

In the US I just showed up, parked a lincoln Continental in between two cones 25 feet apart and turned on the radio while driving. :lol:

You get about 20 mistakes in the US. 1 major or 3 tiny violations in the UK and you're done. My dad failed his British test the first time after driving in the US for 35 years... :eek: Easy to pick on us big dumb americans :rolleyes: :D

 

Modena's are sweet, but the 550 Maranello is what I want... :yesnod:

 

Ah, the reversing around the corner ... that's the difficult bit of the UK test.

The irony is that the level of day to day driving after passing the test isn't much better than in the US. In fact, the more people drive, the worse it gets.

It's not really better or worse, just different. :bb

 

When you consider the costs of owning a car like this yourself, the 2 week ultimate rental for $10k seems like a pretty cost effective way of enjoying such an exotic. By the time you factor in cost (+ opportunity costs of not investing this), depreciation and maintenance and then divide this by the number of times you REALLY get to enjoy the car, then $10k for two weeks doesn't seem too bad.

I know that in the UK there are now a couple of companies that have taken this to the next level of partial ownership - rather like owning a share in a jet. It makes sense when you start looking at $200 - $400k cars.

Your trip description has lit a fire in me for my next vacation now!!! I did a similar thing in Cannes this year, although only with a Z3. Next time I think I'll go for something more exotic.

Forza!

Graham

 

Graham -- That's exactly the way I looked at it.

Acutally, my original idea was to figure out how to get my ZR-1 over there. As you probably know, the ZR-1 has a 4-cam, 32 valve V8. It is the perfect high-speed cruiser for traveling hours at a time at 100 mph plus speeds.

The problem was that I was going to have to ship to England, then transport to mainland Europe via Ferry, then pickup at undesirable location. Also, I had heard nightmares about guys who had done the same, only to have customs agents ripping up carpets and interior panels searching for contraban, drugs, etc. And the last thing I want is to have the interior ripped in my pristine ZR-1, or get a new scratch, etc. And by the time I added up the cost of shipping, insurance, export permit, etc, it was just waaaaaaay to cost prohibitive to even consider. I could have gotten around much of this with an air shipment, but that REALLY costs lots.

The next problem became insuring a car for driving in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, even though it is registered in the US. Apparently it can be done, but tracking down the proper agency to help quickly became a nightmare. And then most agencies wouldn't cover Italy, since apparently that's a whole different ball game in the eyes of American insurance companies.

When the whole thing was said and done, I pretty much wanted to maximize fun and minimize cost. What I realized is that it is easier to have FUN when you don't have to worry about transporting your own car, then worry about it's safety, then suffer through the nightmare of paperwork.

So yes, I agree rental is the way to go. Not to mention that it adds to adventure to drive an exotic that you've never driven before.

-EILIG

 

Nice read.

 

Awesome reading :cheers:

 

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

That was awsome. If I was a smoker I would have one lit up right about now. :lol:

:cheers: