360 handling feel

I wouldn't describe my car's handling that way at all. Have you had a wheel alignment done any time in the recent past? Maybe it's out of spec. I'm told that the 360 suspension is basically not that much different from the 430's and that you can get most of the 430's handling by aligning your 360 to 430 wheel alignment specs.

 

The 360 handles different from a 911. More raw and IMVHO more fun.

Alignment may need adjusting. Got mine adjusted last fall and what an improvement!

The 360 has the best turn-in of any car I have driven (and I have driven a 911 Turbo cab with 4wd and own a 2011 Boxster S).

My PZeros work fine. You may want to play with your tire pressure.

PS. I drive in sport mode 95% of the time.

I understand that 360s can get a little squirrely at high speeds, especially if you lose air flow to the underbody tunnels. TTO (trailing throttle oversteer) can bite you hard if you lift at speed. I have never had this problem but have witnessed the sad results of lifting on the track at speed.

 

I upgraded my rear anti roll bar recently to a CS version, quite cheap and took an hour to fit . Noticed a nice improvement to handling, car feels more firm and far more confident throwing it into corners.

 

From memory the CS part number is 198416 think it cost about £250

 

I am a long time Porsche Club Racer, and have driven 911 varients (911T, 911SC, and GT3 Supercup) for over 20 years. I have test driven 3 Spiders so far, and can unequivocably tell you the Ferrari is a better handling car. The steering is so direct, so connected, and offers feedback that is similar to my GT3 Cup, yet it is a street car! I felt this the very first time I drove the Spider.

I suspect that your car needs a ride height, corner balance, and alignment check by a well qualified expert. You should not be feeling what you are, IMHO. Good luck!

JL

PS: No lifting after turn in at the track. Power to the floor from the Apex to track out. Right?

 

I think the car is so sensitive you feel the twitchiness you might not feel in another car- the car has great mid-engine balance, low center of gravity and you really become "one" with the car. I have not driven my car on the track, but on some back roads got the rear loose (just a little- don't want it sideways on a public road, even if the road is totally empty) and once you do that and realize the perfect balance you have with the car to control it with minute countersteer, the car is simply amazing. While I can't speak to the handling at track speeds, I've seen some good videos from that BBC show top gear from when the car was new. You can see the corrections made to balance the car in the curves in the section of the video where Tiff has the car on the track

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWMuv5yLENE[/ame]

After driving "old school" 911s for 20 years, I think I'm in the habit of not lifting mid corner and certainly not braking, but the mid engine placement takes away that pendulum effect of the 911s...

I have the same tires as you by the way...

I've heard the 430 takes away some of the twitchiness you feel in the 360 when pushing it, but I would not recommend setting a 360 suspension to "430 alignment specs"- it's a different car and there may be minor (or major) differences in the suspension.

 

I argue Apples to Oranges.. last 911 I drove was 996.. nice handling but the throttle off oversteer in the corners didn't sit well with me.. My Boxster comes the closest to the Modena, and both dance nicely through the corners. The Modenas steering is the closest to being "one with the car" that I have encountered. A tad stifffer than the boxster, but still as perfect as I have encountered. I have fitted Hankook Ventus on the car that have less than 50-60 miles on them and are still "settling in" and don't have the grip that I expect.. but the Modena is still one of the best handling cars I've ever expereinced.

 

The best steering of any car I've driven was the non-power assisted steering in my old 1978 911 and 1987 911...the 360 is very very good feedback especially for a power assisted unit (and the 3 spoke steering wheel with no buttons on it is ferrari's best modern steering wheel to boot which makes it all even more fun )

For the original poster (Ray)- it's tough to tell if your car is set up right of course just through a forum, but my gut feel is that your car is fine and just a matter of you getting used to the feedback/twitchiness with some more seat time...the sport mode makes you feel everything (I don't use sport unless on good flat roads with no big bumps...)

-Andrew

 

best handling and feeling car i've ever owned, and definitely among the best that i've ever driven. going into corners i can sometimes sense the rear weight bias. Turn in is absolutely fantastic.

 

I hear you and I misremembered. The advice I got comes from this post: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=140413475&postcount=15. An earlier post in the same thread said that 360s and 430s share suspension geometries. This later post in the same thread gave recommendations for alignment settings. Use them or not, FWIW.

 

check your tire pressures..

 

+1

check those tire pressures.

and you may have a defective tire(s).

 

Use the CS alignment/setup specs on your 360 and you will get rid of some of the lightness you describe. When the CS was new, this was one of the selling points...