Making the move 360 -> 458

My buddy who let me drive his Italia, just purchased a Speciale. He took me for a ride in it - oh my freaking goodness!! The only word I can think of to describe the acceleration is VIOLENT!! Man is this thing fast. Having said that, he let me drive it for a few miles on some twisties (and, yes, it was in race mode). Unfortunately, the throttle response is the same as with his Italia. There is basically no "hair trigger" throttle response. Once the gas pedal catches up, the thing takes off like a bullet! I'd definitely own one if I had the money.

 

You keep telling yourself that so you feel better about owning your 360 and not a 458. Several reviews of the 458 have the driver complaining about how touchy the throttle is.

 

Maybe he's bogging the engine from being in too high of a gear?

 

I have both and like each them in their own way as they are.

 

I own a 348 Spider and agree 100%. The 458 throttle is TO binary IMO, I'd actually like a tiny tiny weeny bit of feather in the Go pedal. It's actually my only real criticism of the car. But is it snappy? Snappy as the jaws of a dragon!


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Excellent commentary, thanks. You can’t compare directly cars of different generations.

 

This is definitely not my experience with these cars at all.

 

458 is far more sensitive, yet very easy to modulate.

 

It may also depend if you drive it in different modes: sport or race and/or automatic ...

 

I had a 360 and driven a 458 on track.
458 is great overall and really love the smooth transmission. My favourite non special edition Ferrari.
360 has an amazing racing engine though, no wonder the crankshaft alone cost 3,000€ while in 430 costs half this price.
My favourite V8 Ferrari though is still the 360CS.

 

Anyone who drives these cars in automatic should really look elsewhere for a car. There are so many other cars with double clutch transmissions that drive beautifully in auto mode. These cars just plain suck!

 

I totally agree with the statement above. I have a buddy that drives these in auto only............uh whats the point then

 

All above may be correct … or not …

The OP asked this to us all: Making the move 360 -> 458

 

The 360 was never competitive during its day as a competition car on the track.
But things changed with the 458. It won at Le Mans in the AM class, and also in the IMSA series.

One of the best things that happened to my 360 was when I upgraded the stock exhaust to the factory sport exhaust which is very similar to the CS muffler system.

The 458 is so much better mechanically, as well as holds the road way better (esp at or near the limit).
Also the 458 folding hardtop is a vast improvement over the canvas top.

 

That's more to do with the class structure at the time though - the 550 was used instead back then, so it's not like the 360 couldn't/wouldn't have been competitive had GT3 type racing been the way at the time.

(Plus of course the 360 was used extensively in Challenge series racing.)

 

Yes you are right the 360, as the 355, was active in the Ferrari Challenge series. But when raced against the other Marques, the Ferrari 360 was rarely on the top of the podium, whereas the 458 was.

Of course each successive generation of Ferrari eclipses the past. At least in terms of performance.

That is a given we can count on.

 

Of course this doesn’t matter much, but I’m not sure you got my main point - the 360 didn’t race against other marques, the 550 did (and was winning) because that was the size of car and engine which fitted the FIA GT rules at the time. I don’t doubt that if the 360 had fitted those rules, Ferrari would have had it winning as well!

 

No hair trigger response? I think you’re bald...

 

There should not be

 

458 is an absolute joy in every sense. It is raw, powerful and needs to be tamed. Unlike many models, it is one of very few that you will never get sick of driving. Don't even think twice about it.

 

The 458 Spider in this test had the exact same throttle response as the Italia and the Speciale I drove (and performed this test on).
https://youtu.be/-Fa_DijcQF0

 

Interesting. My 458 reacts instantly to throttle input. If anything, the first inch or so is too sensitive to allow you to drive smoothly at lower speeds.


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My EXACT findings/complaint

 

360 6 speed manual here. Debating at times changing to a 458. Problem is I’m afraid of giving up 3 pedals.

Would love to drive a 458 to see if it really can win me over.

Ideally would like to keep the 360 and add a 458 but the economics don’t seem to be working out for me.

 

That’s a fascinating statement right there when you look back at this forum and view all the comments about 458 being full of old-school n/a goodness and the 488, well...not.