360 1-year into ownership of a 68k-mile Modena.

It's been about a year since I purchased the car and I have learned a lot in the process. I purchased this car last August on Fchat from the 2nd owner. Although it had higher miles, it was dealer-maintained since new with full documentation including a complete transmission rebuild ($27k!) at 54k-miles. This was due to the infamous heat-exchanger failure. While I was fairly confident the car was mechanically sound, it did have some tired cosmetics including stickies as well as a persistent CEL (misfires).

The first thing I wanted to do was have the CEL diagnosed, have the car gone over and have an annual service completed. I turned to Sean, Peter and the team at Automotive International in Charlotte and could not be happier. They are truly passionate about the marque and it shows in the quality of their work. Sean was able to quickly identify a few key items the car needed along with diagnosing the CEL to leaking intake manifold gaskets. Oddly enough, this was the first time I realized "dealer serviced" isn't always such a good thing. The car had made multiple trips to a classiche-certified dealer who mis-diagnosed the CEL and other issues at great cost to the previous owner.

Once I was confident in the car mechanically, I began addressing a few small things the car needed. The wheels were painted black and wore a set of Hankook Evos. While I know the Hankooks are a fine tire, they just looked wrong on the car. I had the wheels stripped and powder coated back to factory silver and had a set of Michelin PS4S mounted. Honestly the difference in comfort and noise is night and day, cannot recommend these tires enough. I also had a complete paint correction and CQuartz ceramic coating installed by Mike at CMC Detailing. The results speak for themself, no-one believes this car has almost 70k-miles with only the front bumper being re-sprayed.

The previous owner installed Fabspeed Headers and Sport Cats when some cat degradation was found but retained the factory muffler. When the headers/cats were installed (by the dealer), the tech must have hammered the muffler supports to "slip" the muffler pipes into the cats and by doing so cracked the muffler on both sides at the supports. As a result, after a few drives the engine bay would be covered in silver insulation dust from the muffler. While the car sounded OK, I wanted more of the infamous 5v exhaust note so started looking into options. That's when I discovered the modified 430-system. While the 430 exhaust is not plug and play, it is absolutely worth the effort. I want to thank @clean512 for pushing me to do the 430 exhaust vs taking the easy route and going Tubi. In his words "A Tubi will never sound like a CS exhaust." That always stuck with me and helped persist during the process of fabricating the 430 system, which I detailed in this thread. The car has a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde type of personality with the valves closed/open. The exhaust completely transformed the car from pretty fun to an absolute animal.

While I was aware of the performance tune by @360trev from browsing these forums, I was not convinced my car needed it. The car ran incredibly well and sounded great. I kept it in this configuration for about 5-months and loved it. Every now and then, I would still get a random misfire CEL on cold-start if I let the car idle for a few minutes before taking off. It was annoying but something I just lived with. At one point in April, I was driving the car and got a very brief "slow down" light. It was off within a few seconds and the car seemed normal so I kept driving. The next time I drove the car, the light came back on and stayed on (putting the car in limp mode) until I pulled over, shut down the car and restarted it. I had spoken with Trevor about the tune in the past and figured now would be a good time to revisit. Trevor explained the Slow Down light/cat ecus/thermistors were all unnecessary systems on the 360 that cause nothing but headaches. He explained he was able to eliminate the cat ecu's completely allowing the Bosch to monitor itself just like the F430. He also explained the misfire CEL may be software related as he discovered the Bosch firmware was full of bugs. The possibility of remedying the occasional CEL and now present Slow Down light alone justified the cost of the tune. Not to mention the alleged performance and drive-ability gains. I boxed up my ECU's and had Trevor do his thing via his contact in SF, Sam. I want to give a big thanks to both Trevor and Sam for everything they did for me here as they both went the extra mile and it absolutely transformed my car.

I have put a few drive cycles/tanks of fuel through the car since the tune and all I can say is I'm blown away and cannot believe I didn't do this sooner. No CELs, No Slow Down lights, and the performance increase is dramatic. Everything from throttle response, to shifts (Trev's software is optimized for the CS TCU which I have installed), to mid-range torque, to top-end power, to the custom exhaust valve mapping... the car is just an absolute beast now. I thought it was fun before but this tune has transformed it from a chef's knife to a razor blade.

If you have a 360 and you are not running an active exhaust with Trevor's software, you are missing out. The combination of these two modifications absolutely transform the car. You can still drive it modestly around town but the second you switch to Sport (now more akin to Race on the CS) and stomp the gas, the car comes to life. While some guys believe Maranello always gets it right and modifying a Ferrari is sacrilege, I can tell you with absolute confidence that is NOT the case with the 360. Do not wait - unlock the heart and soul of your car! I consider myself very lucky to own my "poor man's CS" and hope to do so for a very long time. It now reads almost 68k-miles and I hope to one-day see it cross 100k.

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I have followed your thread and love it! I think you made the buy of the decade.

 

Just wanted to update this thread and let everyone know the car will be listed for sale soon. Fortunately and unfortunately I have recently been able to acquire one of my grail cars and am simply out of space!

 

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Well guys, the car sold this week. It's a bittersweet end to this chapter for me. Hopefully I will be back one day in a 458!