Ferrari 360 Modena – A close look at this classic sports car’s performance, technical data, features, comparing rivals, history, used prices
from Classic to Modern
The Ferrari 360 Modena Sports Car
THE CAR
The 360 Modena sports car was introduced by Ferrari in 1999, and named the car after the town in which the company’s founder was born.
With a launch price of $140,000, the 360 replaced the successful 355 Series, and consisted of the two seater Modena Berlinetta coupe, the Spider convertible, and the Challenge variant.
Unlike the 355 which was fitted with a steel chassis, the 360 featured a new, slightly larger, aluminium space frame chassis, which benefited from the fact that it was up to 40% stronger, and yet was still some 100 kg, or 25%, lighter.
With styling once again in the hands of Pininfarina, there was a move towards softer lines, and included the removal of the pop-up headlights, whose demise was signalled in the 355.
The cabin of the 360 was much more spacious than that in the 355 Series owing to the increased dimensions of the aluminium chassis, and the interior was fitted with leather trim.
Amongst the optional extras were carbon fibre seats, and a racing exhaust system.
In terms of fuel consumption, it registered 13 mpg in the city and 19 mph on the highway.
The body panels were made from aluminium, and it used vacuum assisted 13 inch vented disc brakes all round and linked to ABS, plus coil spring four wheel independent suspension.
Air from the front ducts flowed below the under-tray to the two diffusers at the rear, and this produced a down force which gradually increased as the car accelerated. In this way, road holding was radically improved.
Dry sump lubrication was retained, as was a five bearing crankshaft, ASR traction control, and limited slip differential.
The dampers had their own electronic control unit to manage vertical or horizontal movement in the car.
By the time production ended in 2005, a total of 8,800 units of the Ferrari Modena sports car had been built.
THE ENGINE
Each of the 360 Series sports cars shared the same larger 3.6 litre, DOHC, mid-engined, rear wheel drive, V8 unit, with five valves per cylinder which, like the 355, utilised lightweight internal components, such as titanium con rods.
It was fitted with a flat-plane crankshaft to prevent uneven firing and timing issues experienced when using a cross-plane unit.
It developed 395 bhp at the redline of 8500 rpm, and 275 ft/lbs of torque at 4750 rpm, the majority of which was available around 3000 rpm.
The compression ratio remained at 11:1, it continued to use electronic fuel ignition, and was fitted with the latest Bosch ME 7.3 engine management system.
Linked to a six speed, all synchromesh, manual gearbox, or the optional F1-style paddle gear shift unit, it produced a top speed of 189 mph, and a 0-60 mph time of 4.2 secs.
The optional system had two paddles behind the steering wheel such that the right paddle changed up a gear, whist the left one changed down, with each gear change taking a mere 150 milliseconds.
With no clutch pedal, the electronic control unit in the gearbox managed the gear changes when matched to the engine revs.
COMPETITION
Typical competition for the Ferrari 360 Modena sports car included the following: Porsche 996 GT2, Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, and TVR Tuscan S. Ferrari performance:
SPORTS CARS FOR SALE
On the second hand market, a Ferrari 360 Modena, in good condition, would sell for around $60,000, whilst an immaculate example would command around around $100,000.
One of the classic cars from Ferrari.
This marks the end of my Review of the Ferrari 360 Modena sports car
