Thread: Waterboy's new ride

To be perfectly honest, I had never really "driven" anything exotic before. I've been in a few and got to test drive a couple but never pushed it. Below 4,000 rpm, all the cars felt the same!

But the most seat time (comparable) was between my new Grand Sport coupe vette and the 360.. The 360 lacks the instant torque that the vette had. From stop light to stop light, my money is on the vette, hands down. But that car chewed through rear tires and had that absolute WORST traction control ever. It was so violent that it created more problems than it solved. If you came into a corner (or out of a corner) too hot and slipped a little, the vette would practically shut down. You'd have to shift gears to get your speed back up. The 360 is wildly different with their ASR. I'm not that experienced of a driver so it saves my butt every weekend. If you slide in a corner, it allows you to stay on the gas and it manages everything on its own, it doesn't just slow you down, it just backs the car down a hair so it can reconnect with the road surface and continue on. I really like that, it makes me look like a better driver!

The 360 is better balanced too, it doesn't slide on the corners with throttle unless you're up in the 5500rpm+ range.

Fuel economy, blah, who cares.. I enjoy putting gas in it because I like talking about the car to all the hillbillys that come up and ask how fast it can go. Couldn't even tell you what MPG it gets..

Vette was more comfortable for longer trips, more forgiving suspsension, better ground clearance, better a/c, better stereo, more features.

But the lack of cruise control is made up for with the ability to be able to hit 150+ in a matter of seconds.. In a drag race, the vette wins.. In a roll on race, the 360 would win.

But no matter what, the Ferrari evokes an emotional drive, it makes you want to care for it and pat it on the back when you come to a stop. It gives me chills when you click 3rd at 8000rpm and she shifts like a sportbike on the rev limiter.. The vette was cool in its own right, and always will be (theres a lot to be said for smoky burnouts and fishtails) but the Ferrari driving experience is tenfold what the vette could ever offer.

Congrats on the new purchase! Beautiful car

how much are PPI's and what are you looking for when you get the results back? I figured, if its been repainted or wrecked or has leaks stay away from those. what else do they look for??

Thanks

They make sure that all of the recalls have been performed, that all the services are up to date, etc. The clutches don't last too long in these so they can do a clutch snapshot to tell you how much life is left in it. Mine was at 79% when I bought it and it was the second clutch its had. So I expect it to last quite a while. They can also check things to make sure it hasn't been fiddled with by an amateur. These cars can be really finicky and with the values being all over the place, you want to make sure you're not over paying for one. There are "good" deals out there on 360's right now, but there was only so many of them made and you hear of them being crashed almost everyday so there are fewer and fewer on the market. They wont go UP in value but hopefully the values will hold where they are for awhile..
And don't let paintwork scare you off.. Bodywork, yes, paint no. These are so low to the ground, almost everyone of them I looked at had the front resprayed at some point from rock chips. Soft plastic, hard paint, low clearance, its bound to happen. The 3m protection film wasn't as popular in 2003 as it is now.

And remember this when shopping for a used 360 (or any ferrari), the most expensive Ferrari you'll ever own is the one you bought for 25% under market value.. Always get a PPI.

Thanks for the help.. So how much do PPI's run??

Love the color, beautiful car

Enjoy the car, I will never sell mine even though many people think its old and slow haha. The 360 was the car I wanted growing up, its lived up to my dream in every aspect.

I have yet to have anyone call mine slow.. lol! On the way to the lakehouse last weekend, a new camaro SS came flying up behind me on the curvy backroads.. He did REALLY well in keeping up on the straights (they do have quite a bit of HP) but he was no where to be seen after that first curve...