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Tested: 360F1 vs NSX on the track

Joined
23 October 2001
Messages
3,886
Location
Zürich, Switzerland
Hello all,

I had the opportunity today to test drive my NSX and in the same afternoon a Ferrari 360F1 on the a small track. This is a description and also my opinion about the differences between the two cars:

The track was made with hazard cones on a airport landing track, the total length is 2km and the maximum speed was about 100mph, held just for a couple seconds. Most of the track has to be driven at 40-60 mph (very tight curves).

My NSX has japanese short gears, Tubi exhaust, carbon fiber intake, bilstein suspensions and 18/19" wheels. I drove 20 laps with the NSX.

The 360 F1 is completely stock, I drove 5 laps with it.

Acceleration: I reached on both cars 105 mph after the long straight but I have to say that with the NSX I felt more confortable (since I know the car a lot better) and I was pushing it more. Afterall this is my car, the Ferrari si my friends'. In the 0-60 you feel the 360 pulling significantly stronger but less than what I imagined, probably the short gears helps diminuishing the gap. NSX=6, 360=8.

Handling: the two cars handle very similarly. That was a surprise, I expected the Modena having an edge here but it was not the case. Ok, I have an aftermarket setup and very low profile tires (a lot stiffer and with a less body roll than a OEM NSX), but I was surprised anyway. NSX= 7, 360=7. :D

Noise/Sound ;) : the 360 with the OEM exhaust has a sound that is quite different from the NSX+Tubi+Intake. The NSX is a little louder and has more bass. I liked the higher pitched sound of the 360 better but many friends said that altough different the sound was very nice on both cars. NSX=8, 360=8.

Transmission: I WAS not a fan of the F1. This because I drove a 355F1 before. I also drove a 360 manual before... and people, the one on the 360F1 is on another level! :eek: Really: it took me two laps to get used to it and then it was a blast! NSX=7, 360=10.

Driving position: the 360 has to be driven in a higher and less "horizontal" position. A little more rally-style. I prefer the NSX on this. NSX=9, 360=8.

Looking at the total, the Ferrari totalized 41 points and my NSX totalized 37. Probably a stock NSX would have done 34.
In my opinion these numbers do really represent the difference between the two cars. The 360F1 is better, not by a big margin but still well noticeable. Of course, as with all nice things (both these cars), the difference tend to be small even with high price difference. You can see the same behaviour with electrical hi-end equipment or nice watches...

Another small date: my best lap with the NSX was 1min:09s and with the 360F1 it was 1min:13s. If you take into account that I have 60k miles driving time on NSXs and 20 miles (not 20k! :p) on the 360 (manual+F1)... this should represent very well the performance difference between the two cars. The 360 is very easy to drive fast ( I did not push it as hard I pushed the NSX...).

Photos will be posted later!
 
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Another samll input: the DAX was there and lapped in 57s! :eek: :eek: :eek:

The best done on the Ferrari (the same driver, that is also the owner of both cars) was 1:04s. In both cases the cars were driven at the limit... too bad that the radical was not there (in nothern Italy it was snowing and the owner did not find an available trailer to take the car to Switzerland).
 
And here starting (where we had a 500m straight before the slalom parcours)... far away there is a EVO VI Makkinen Edition and together an Exige. Only three cars were allowed on the track...
 

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ARGHHHHHH !!!! I am not sure that I want more pictures !!!!! :eek:

We really have to organize again something like that next spring !

About me...nothing new for the moment ! :(
 
I did not get to drive this Alpine... because I had to travel to Zürich. Next time... :p

Anyway, it is race prepped, and it had about the same acceleration as the Modena. Ok, the Modena with the F1 is a lot asier to Accelerate. Press down the pedal and snap/snap/snap... no art needed! :D
 

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Please, :p no jokes on the small yellow car here above. It was only a "stand" for the coffee...

Here below the beauty (in red) and the BEAST (in forground!) :eek:
 

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Ken, I left out braking since I did not have enough elements to make a subjective distinction. My NSX brakes quite well and so did the Ferrari. With the Ferrari I always braked a little too early since 5 laps are not enough to really estabilish the stopping power of the car.

From what i read the Ferarri stops better (100-0 reports) but here I wanted a fully subjective report... and as said I could not rate them. :(
 
what was the lap time of the yellow car?:p
 
Why do I always find the NSX nicer ?

It is such a wonderful design. Even when I look at it side by side of a Ferrari.

Gheba, put a supercharger in yours and I'd be curious to see how it would then compare against the 360.

Do you think that you would have been able to best your 1:09 laptime?
 
What do you mean? Beat the 1:09 with a supercharger? Probably yes, at least in the first straight. Then in the curves probably I would not have had any advantage since the car was running at maximum 50% of the power. I imagine a 1:07 with a SC and 80ps more.

But if I had another 10 more laps on the 360F1 :p I would have probably beaten the 1:09 too. :D

And the smile on my face would have been even bigger!!! :cool:
 
Hi, Gheba,

Thanks for the wonderful pictures.
Was it in Switzerland? Where exactly is it in Switzerland?
 
The scenery there is just gorgeous! Wow..

I personally don't find the 360 very attractive. The spyder however I think is GORGEOUS. Its that roofline..
 
It is in Lodrino (Ticino is the Swiss state) on a military airport that we rented for one day. Lodrino is 30 miles form the Saint Gotthard, probably the most important mountain in th Alps and the main north-south axe in Europe.

It was very cold (30-40 F) since it is quit high, 2700 feets above the sea level.

But the track was dry and we had a blast anyway!


NetViper, I agree, the Spyder is way nicer than the coupe. This is my personal list of favorite 3-Ferraris...

360 Modena spyder
355 coupe
360 Modena coupe
355 spyder

Very strange eh? The best and the worst IMO are the two spiders...

:p
 
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