Ferrari Fidelity
Apparently I’ve done this all the wrong way round; earlier in the year I experienced ecurie25’s
Ferrari 430 Spider but have only just got around to trying it’s
predecessor, the F360 Spider. Regardless of the step back in time, this
was a thoroughly entertaining driving experience, and one that has
probably endeared me to the way of the Dancing Donkey more than managed
by the 430.
The current ecurie25 fleet car has the F1 automated manual gearbox
(which regular readers will know that I’m not the biggest fan of
generally), but apart from a few infuriating characteristics (see below)
it didn’t spoil the encounter with what turned out to be a lovely
balanced, responsive and engaging car. It certainly has a feel of
lightness and ‘pointiness’ to it that I don’t remember from the 430. Of
course it could all be psychosomatic, with the sports exhaust on the 360
overwhelming all other senses and indeed my memories - but I’m not
complaining!
It was a truly memorable experience on a clear, cold autumnal night
to have the roof down and heater on and be able to launch a late night
attack on the finest country lanes my locale has to offer: the high
revving, barking motor sat directly behind me with exhaust note bouncing
off the surroundings whilst I tried to exploit the enchanting handling
characteristics by braking hard and late into corners, simultaneously
coming over all F1 by rapidly flipping downchanges. There seemed to be
the perfect balance of power and chassis capability; neither overwhelmed
by the characteristics of the other.
However, these reports wouldn’t be complete without adding further
to the compendium of F1 gearbox madnesses: in this instance it seemed to
include not being able to reverse with the door open (it automatically
flipped back into neutral); making the driver look like a second lesson
learner when pulling off by wildly slipping the clutch and letting the
revs flare; and finally a kidney-punch change from first to second gear
for no apparent good reason. OK, I did have the car permanently in
’sport’ mode (who wouldn’t), but on the gearbox front at least I can see
there have been massive strides in Modena.
As you can probably tell, I was completely surprised by how much I
enjoyed the 360; such an alive and communicative drive, made all the
better by the intimate connection to the surroundings with the roof
down. And doesn’t it work well in silver as opposed to the more usual
Rosso - bellissimo!
