| Author |
Message |
s.c.davis (360c)
New member
Username: 360c
Post Number: 13
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 3:34 am: | |
I took delivery of my M3 CSL yesterday after a 2 year wait. I have had 5 Ferraris, including my current 360 Modena and the CSL rates right up there. At this early stage of the relationship, I would say it is every bit as good as the road tests have said. It is so full of character and an absolute riot to drive. A very special car indeed. |
Paul Loussia (Bumboola)
Junior Member
Username: Bumboola
Post Number: 229
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Friday, October 31, 2003 - 1:01 am: | |
A much closer look at these PCOTY contenders in comparision to each other:
" As the somewhat less than stunning acceleration figures show, hooking up the Ferrari's frenzied power delivery with the tarmac is easier said than done. We couldn't get anywhere near Ferrari's official 4.1sec 0-60mph claim."
I don't know how many of you have tried to launch a 360, but here's how it goes for me: pop the clutch as you press down on the throttle to break the tires loose then quickly back off to about half throttle and wait, for what seems like an eternity, for the tires to regain some sort of traction, and then press back down on the throttle and go. Unless you launch this car on a dragstrip with a bunch of sticky rubber laid down on the starting line, you are not going to get anywhere near the potential acceleration times from a dead stop. From a roll, it's a different story as the final paragraphs from the text shows:
" I start out in the 360 CS. More than any other car here, the core component of the Stradale is its engine. It's the first thing you bond with, the last thing to fade from memory. Power isn't the only issue. It's the quality of the interaction between driver and machine that gets under your skin. The multi-layered and savagely loud sonic presence of the Ferrari is real edge-of-madness stuff. You can hear it all and it's heart-stopping: eight cylinders, four camshafts, 40 valves, exhaust plumbing that would do justice to a church organ. It's an intense, wailing wash of sound, the stadium rock of mechanical music. Wall to wall. Visceral. Intimidating. Neither do the figures convey the explosive urgency of the delivery. Below 2000rpm the engine is smooth and tractable but essentially asleep. The 275lb ft torque peak happens at 4750rpm, and once past 6000rpm, the motor hurtling towards its 8500rpm limiter simply delivers brutal shove. Best of all, the next gear is only a 150-millisecond paddle-nudge away."
"In some ways, the CSL is 360 CS lite. Many of the important cues are the same: the directness and bite of the helm, thw magnetic attraction of a statospheric red line and, amazingly, a paddle-shift transmission with even faster reflexes. It offers a similar full-on driving experience, notably large on noise, grip and response. Except that it's only wound up to about 8.5 instead of 11. And its brakes are barely a match for the performance, whereas the Stradale's are like driving into a concrete wall. Basically though, it's a comparable deal. The treasures of the CSL's amazing engine are easy to plunder. Its chassis has stupendous grip in the dry, grace under pressure, near race-car edge and even a half-decent ride. As a generator of thrills, it's up there. In the convoy too, although it can't hang onto the Ferrari even if there are no kinks in the road."
"But then, neither can the GT3. Give the Ferrari its head on any decent straight and so unabatingly savage is its push, gear after gear, it more or less instantly clears a space behind its bellowing, big-bore exhaust pipes. But these roads are twistier and more undulating than ribbon in a breeze, and here the GT3's size-to-grip-to grunt ratio (not to mention its ceramic brakes) put it firmly in the frame. Although it still can't quite match the Stradale's stonking pace through the flick-flacks, the sensations it brings to the party are absorbing, all-consuming, palpable. Body motions are superbly controlled and damped, grip for the most part is so high you push hard without even remotely leaning on the limit. Push the pace and you'll find that the chassis has a fat sweet spot, too- a deliciously broad and adjustable band of behaviour that encourages and rewards commitment. But it doesn't flatter mistakes. If you can't wrap on opposite lock quickly and precisely, don't go there. Before you discover if you can, there'll be a moment of doubt."
"That's when the BMW comes in. The CSL makes fast easy, stripping away the cause-and-effect concerns that haunt the nine-tenths GT3 pilot. It's a gun-it-and-go raised to a fine art. You're a little more aware of the momentum of its mass and its relatively tall build, but it feels fantastically nimble and, mostly thanks to its terrific body control, is dynamite to hustle down a demanding road, while staying remarkably comfortable. The GT3 may be stronger in a straight line, but the CSL is both sharper and more supple. Its throttle responds more energetically to any given input and it revs harder at the top end. It feels uncannily accessible and neat, with hyper-clean responses, a tremendous sense of immediacy in everything it does and wonderful, exploitable balance."
"And here's the thing. We're going to give it the gong. All right, the Ferrari 360 CS won PCOTY, and deservedly so. Price no object, it's a stunning machine. We rate the GT3 massively, too. The edge is back, it's the best 911 for
years. The brilliance of the CSL, though, is that it gives you 85 percent of the Ferrari driving buzz for 50 percent of the price. Who can resist that?" |
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