Noticeably faster 360; why?

Maybe check the leakdown to make sure your valve guides are good.

 

Yes, these cars rev up much faster with higher mileage. When new, most high compression engines (owned F430, M3, M5) drive like dogs. There is a reason why Ferrari doesn't want journalist to test just released models with customer cars. Most owners keep their new Ferrari low mileage when these cars need more than 10-20k miles to reach the engine's optimal performance. On the other hand, the quickest way to lose compression on these engines is to rev and drive hard when the engine is stone cold.

 

This phenomenon is fascinating.

 

Well, yes that. Also in every make from every manufacturer some examples will simply be better than others. In the case of the video, if it is true, that's quite a difference.

 

I would put a lot down to perception rather than varying differences between cars with almost all of it due to exhaust note. Sometimes cars can feel exceptionally fast just due to how race ready they sound. Throw on a standard exhaust and it feels like you've cut the power in half. Would bet the faster cars simply have the exhaust valves disconnected or an aftermarket system. Failing that I would say road conditions or where you are driving. For instance my car sometimes feels like it is flying when pushing it through urban areas yet take her on wide roads out in the country and she can feel underpowered.

Its all perception. Stick em on a dyno side by side and you'll see minimal differences.

 

Another vote for a broken in engine. Most cars with 40k miles are faster than when new. I remember always seeing this when reading long term tests in car magazines

 

Slower ones have bad MAF sensors When I put in 2 new ones in a while back it was like a different car (first set lasted ~20K miles) Now I let the motor vent when I'm not parking it somewhere for dinner or whatnot (i.e. when returning home from errands or a drive- I'm not so anal to vent it in a parking lot or anything but do when I get home). I think the heat kills the MAF sensors faster than most any other car.

 

It really isn't just a perception thing. Its fact that I've seen on 360 dyno days.

There are lots of cars now over a decade old. Not all of them have had obsessive owners replacing all these expensive bits like MAF's, Coil Packs, Spark Plugs, O2 Sensors, Batteries, Catalyzers and so forth.
Maintenance makes a really big difference to power because the Bosch Motronic Ignition ECU's learn the characteristics of the various consumables (even the spark plugs and coil packs) and then reduce power accordingly to save the engine.
Assuming the car has had a full maintenance, and is healthy, even a Sports exhaust on its own doesn't tend to add much (5hp) but combined with an ecu map it can be much higher. Add it free flowing cats, headers and air boxes and you can really notice the difference.

I saw cars gain instantly +30ft pounds more torque just by swapping to CS maps.

 

No, it must be a red 360...

 

It's silver it must be......

 

TDF Blue.....

 

you guys are SO wrong...
The car is FAST because of its mileage AND color which of course must be Grigio Alloy.

That makes my 360 the fastest ever built, since its 1. a 1999 2. 60K+ miles 3. Grigio Alloy

 

Mike,

agree on point #2...