2004 Ferrari 360 Modena Spider from North America
Summary:
Beautiful, fun to drive, high maintenance
Faults:
Car battery goes dead every week it is not run, and has to be removed from the floorboard to be charged. A huge pain.
General Comments:
The car is beautiful, fast, responsive, and solicits a lot of positive feedback wherever you take it. On the downside, can't leave it in a parking lot since there are always kids looking at it or taking pictures when you come back. Normally cool with this (I used to do it too), but some people aren't careful and I had the paint scratched by someone's jean rivets while they were having their picture taken with the car.
The automatic top is very functional and the F1 paddle is easy to use after about 1/2 hour of practice. You can also put car in automatic mode when having it valet parked.
The radio/alarm is very quirky and difficult to use.
I also drove one of these on a racetrack (not mine, at an event sponsored by my FCB) and thought it handled much better than the other cars (Ford GT, 911, BMW, Lotus), although the Lotus Elise was fun.
The car is very light and has a carbon underbody. Feels like you are driving a go-cart more than a car, and the downforce and large tires make it feel so glued to the road that you'd think you could drive it upside down.
A friend bought a 430 and said it was much improved in shifting with more horses, so I'll be trading my 360 in soon (have had it for about a year/3K). Hopefully it won't have the same battery problems which was really the only negative for me.
For those who asked, it gets about 9MPG and insurance is only about $2500/year with a 10K deductible.
I've got front and back laser jammers as the police will keep the gun on you forever - no option here.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 28th January, 2006
23rd Jun 2006, 03:08
Mate, all you have to do is turn the battery off! If you're leaving it more than 2 days in the garage, just open up the front and turn off the battery switch. Well that's what I do with my F355. I'm presuming it's the same story for the 360...