355 spider vs 360 coupe

Well, after finally getting my 355 set up they way I want it, I can write a few comments on the cars. After about 5 years with a 360 coupe (stick), I guess I was ready for a change. I wanted to get a convertible as I love them- I could sell my coupe and put more money into getting a 360 spider (additional purchase price plus tax and costs to get the car up to my spec) or go for a more vintage experience and get the 355 spider. Even with the lower upfront purchase price of a 355 spider, once tax and work completed to get the car up to my liking (including addressing stickies and installing a challenge grill), it wound up costing me a few thousand dollars when the dust settled from what I sold my 360 for- but taking money off the table wasn't the main goal of this (nothing Ferrari related is really based on sound economics- whether buying a car or a pen in the boutique store- ha!) It was really to get a different experience. If I had the play money available I'd love to keep both as the 355 and 360 are definitely very different cars.

The 360 was a refined "modern" sports car in the truest sense- it's acceleration, high speed stability, build quality (aluminum chassis was very stiff) and looks are 100% modern, even though the car I had is now 15 years old. People refused to believe the age of the car when I told them. While more modern, I had a few maintenance issues- the worst of which was a $10K to repair a pre-cat issue (new Ferrari header, new hyper flow cats, plus a re-seal of the intake manifold for that whole episode), but overall a great car. The car had a good sound with tubi and the aforementioned hyperflows...but I always wanted to drive the car very fast. Due to the high capabilities on early morning runs if I was on a highway it felt better the faster it went- you wind it out a few gears and your doing well into the triple figures. It felt safe but you were tempted all the time to really MOVE.

The 355 spider is of course a generation step back, with its 'charms' (pop up headlights, air horns, Veglia gauges, some squeeks/rattles you notice mostly when the top is up, some cowl shake but no worse them my wife's BMW, etc). My wife even made fun of the rectangle lights on the dashboard when you start the car instead of the more modern 'pictures' that light up in newer cars. The 355 is definitely slower, but it doesn't matter to me- still plenty quick and with the top down on that same early morning highway run it is satisfying to get it up to over 100 but not as high as the 360 needed to go to get the same rush... The sounds the 355 makes are wonderful (I also have a tubi, but OEM cats for now...will hopefully put hyperflows on next year). The difference of a convertible vs. coupe are exactly what I was looking for- the wind in the hair but more important the constant symphony of the motor right behind your head. In short, I don't need to drive the 355 as fast in MPH terms to have as much or more fun than I had in the 360- it's more of a challenge to go fast and more raw. More fun to me.

Here are some quick bullets of pluses and minuses in no particular order, and these are just some things I could think of off the top of my head:

360
+ * Looks- the curves are timeless and will ALWAYS look good. The picture I attached is the best shot I have of my old car- a cars & coffee club member took it (Izaac Brook)- you can see the car's lines are breathtaking. If you are into image (which I am not), the 360 is for you vs a 355- lots of people think its a $200-300K car, with all the good and bad that entails. I had it for me and not to impress- I was always self conscious of it though when people came over to work on the house for example and see that in the garage with the incorrect assumptions they make...did not bother me enough to not thoroughly enjoy owning the car and wouldn't stop me from buying another some day (I'd like a spider though)
* The 360 steering has a great tight ratio, and the 360 also has the best steering wheel in a modern Ferrari in my opinion- simple 3 spoke, no silly buttons, smaller diameter.
* Car is most in its element when it's fully warmed up (to allow for higher revs) and you are driving fast, but it can also be VERY comfortable at 80MPH with windows up and A/C on- almost GT like, but back to a sports car in an instant.
-
* For me the high capabilities meant I was often going faster than I really wanted to be in it The car on a relative scale started to get more boring to me- again 5 years is a long time and I was just ready for a change. It was and is still a very special car to drive and see on the road, and has definitely got a great personality.
* Plus and minus are it is a wide car- roomy inside and awesome looking on the road with wide, low aggressive stance, but not as nimble as a smaller dimension car like the 355.
* The 360 doesn't ride as smoothly as the 355- the suspension in sport is too tight on normal paved roads that have bumps, yet the ASR kicks in too early if in non-sport mode for when you are driving harder. It would have been great if the 360 had the sport setting for the ASR independently controllable from the suspension setting as I like having ASR, but that it kicked in later in sport mode to let you slide a little but not too much.

355
+ * Looks are great- the dimensions are just right- smaller mid engine go kart feel. The looks are definitely vintage vs. 360 which is modern. The 360 can be mistaken for a new car, whereas the 355 with pop up headlights and the wedge shape look 70's-90's.
* The 355 sounds better than the 360
* Very fun to drive- both cars are fun, and both have pedals perfectly set up for heel/toe shifts. Both cars have a great shifter (once the oil is warm)- even though the 360 had about 23K miles and my 355 now has about 20K miles, the 355 gear change for whatever reason is smoother. Could be the gearbox oil which the prior owner had royal purple vs. shell in my 360, or simply adjustments. The 360 did not shift bad though- both cars have a satisfying clack through the gate.
-
* The 355 is a more delicate car- from the interior bits to the convertible top. The windows go down slow, the car is not as tight. Older school Italian stuff, but more reliable electronics than I'd imagine things were in the 70's and 80's.
* My biggest disappointment with the 355 is the steering- the ratio is not as tight as the 360. It is not bad, but the feedback on the 360 was better. I guess after reading period road test articles on the 355 when new and the glowing reports of the steering I just assumed it would be as good as the 360- again it's not bad and I wouldn't likely notice if not coming right from owning a 360.


~~~
As much as people hate to admit it, both cars are old. I certainly don't care about any more speed than either car offers- if you want power and speed at this price point get a new C7 vette (which I did briefly consider- great car but not a light weight Ferrari). But the other side of being "old" is potential maintenance issues. Either car can be costly to set up right if there has been deferred maint and it is important that you buy either one with eyes wide open- a car that is $5K cheaper than an otherwise seemingly similar car may most certainly not be the better buy. It used to be that 360 people said the 355s were a nightmare- after my $10K bill on the 360 there's plenty that can go on an old 360 now (the worst being a variator fail- may be rare but can happen to any 360, even the ones that were updated). I've now heard of a couple 360s that had the transmission oil cooler go and let antifreeze gush into the gearbox- same system in the 355, but less incidence of the occurrence maybe due to more 355s having antifreeze flushed w/the engine out service? I always changed my antifreeze each year in the 360 as a precaution.

The 355 has the dreaded valve guides, but as they age many have been updated by now. In fact the reason I bought the 355 I did was because it just had the valve guides updated with a belt change at a Ferrari dealership by the prior owner...for an eye watering $17K. My fingers are crossed that my perfectly operating convertible top continues to be a perfectly operating convertible top

A long winded post, but the upshot is the 355 spider is exactly what I expected. A more vintage ride. The 360 is of course the "better car". A few people asked me to compare the two cars as they are similar in price point- at the end of the day though you need to decide for yourself what you want. I was originally looking for a 355 spider back in 2009 but the 360 prices came down and that's how I wound up buying a 360 coupe (360 spiders were still out of my price target at the time). If I had bought the 355 spider first I probably would have wanted the 360 by now- just a matter of wanting to experience some variety. In general, I think if someone has the funds to buy a 360 up front it is 'probably' a better car for a first time Ferrari buyer if they are undecided, but either car requires acceptance of running costs that are higher then say a Porsche. But the experience of owning and driving either a 355 or 360 is incomparable to any Porsche I've ever owned or driven. Very special, and I love having artwork in the garage every time I walk through to go trudge into work in the morning.

I'm not sure I really summed this whole thing up very well, but there you have it for those that asked. I do miss my 360, but the 355 is new to me and therefore gobs of fun.

PS: A topic I do not touch on is the difference in F1 performance- I had no interest in anything but a stick for my cars, but the difference in F1 generation is likely a big factor to consider for anyone between these two cars. Some like the 360 system and some like the 355 system.

-Andrew
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If you can keep your 348 that would be great- different generation cars!

On the steering- it is similar to my 540i, which doesn't have rack and pinion like the inline 6 5-series due to limited space from the V8 or something like that. I don't think it's so bad to make it boring, but with the mid-engine balance of the chassis it would be perfect with the tighter ratio of the 360. In fact, I believe the final Fiorano edition 355's came standard with a tighter steering ratio. Early brochures also speak of the option of manual steering in the 355 from the factory.

On the suspension- the 355 is firm for sure, maybe part of the softer feel of the 355 to 360 is because my 355 is a convertible (different suspension specs for a convertible?), but I don't think that's the main culprit- the 355 in regular sport mode (not the soft setting) is not as firm/hard riding as my 360 in the regular non-sport setting. In sport setting the 360 coupe was too hard because if you were pushing it the car would skip over bumps vs. absorb them and I felt it handled better on the back roads I'd take it on for early morning runs in normal mode vs. sport- tires were able to maintain contact with the road better (it wasn't the tires either as I had RE-11 tires that were nice and sticky summer tires). On a flat as glass track maybe the sport setting of the 360 is better. Also, the 355 (at least my 1997) has a switch that if you toggle it turns on a shock light on the dash and puts the suspension in Buick-soft mode. On the later 355s (1998-1999?) the car is in the softer setting standard, and when you toggle the switch from what I have heard a "sport" light comes on indicating the suspension firmer (and if F1 equipped the shifts will be more aggressive/faster). My theory is once they offered the F1 as an option they didn't want people getting the neck jarring quick shifts that accompany the sport mode if they didn't make the decision that is what they wanted, thus making the "normal" mode the default setting (i.e. switch not toggled). And they made the change for all cars not just F1 because why have it two ways on the production line. I know it's strange to switch the default setting and change the shock picture to "sport" in the middle of a model production run, but it's Italian thinking

Regarding "stiffness" (torsional rigidity), the 360 coupe was the stiffest car I've owned. The construction design and using aluminum made it much stiffer per the brochures and period reviews- I'd expect the 360 spider to also be very tight. Again, the 355 spider isn't as bad as say a 90's Mustang GT convertible, but similar to a fairly modern BMW convertible. It's acceptable and about what I was expecting for this generation mid-engine Ferrari. My old air-cooled 911 convertible (and 911 targa before that) was rock solid- zero cowl shake, which is how I'd imagine the 360 spider to be but I've never driven one.

 

Two more things before I forget:

The first time I drove a 355 was when mine showed up at the door. Probably the first weird thing I noticed was how close together the pedals in the 355 are- I was wearing heavier shoes (it was still winter- I had to drive the car up and down the street when the salt was off just to try the car, and then park it and wait for spring)- the steering rod rubbed against the tip of my shoe- the 360 definitely has more room down there. That said, in the spring/summer/fall I'm in thinner shoes or flip flops (i.e. drive in bare feet- great feel with the metal pedals) and so the smaller space doesn't bother me. The pedals in the 355 are set up perfectly for heel and toe, just like the 360 was. I refuse to wear those piloti things (no offense if anyone likes them)

Speaking of heel/toe, both the 355 and 360 have very light flywheels which once you get used to adjusting for that (i.e. on the throttle a fraction of a second quicker for smooth upshifts as the light flywheel allows the motor to lose revs/momentum quicker), is much easier to feather the throttle with the side of your foot to get revs up in the milliseconds before engaging the clutch after a downshift (as the light flywheel also allows the motor to rev up quicker ). Heel and toe shifting in both cars is incredibly fun once you are used to it- the 355 seems to be a little easier to do this smoothly than the 360 for some reason, but that could also be either variances in the cars I owned or simply a faulty memory in my mind- I last drove the 360 before I sold it last fall.

The other thing is I remembered with the 360 if you were getting on heavy throttle in lower gears it often struggled to put the power down- between (a) the car being lighter than a 355 (even though it is physically larger- the wonder of Aluminum!), (b) more powerful HP and more torque, and (c) the slightly over-sensitive ASR in non-sport mode, the traction light would come on and cut power. No ASR in a 355, and with the heavier weight/lower power of the 355 spider it's not enough to cause any control issues (I'm talking in the dry warm weather- don't mess around when it's raining or very cold in either car, assuming you have summer sport tires on).

I'm posting this whole thing in the 360 section as well...will be interesting to see if any difference in responses in each forum if others respond.

 

OK, maybe describing the softer setting as "buick-like" is a stretch, but I definitely notice a softer ride with less-sharp handling. It is one button I won't be using in the car...

 

A good read! Being as the cars were both newer/more current of course back then, a lot of your write-up focused on the higher performance of the 360. It's funny- when cars are current or near current I always like to see which performs better, but now with the cars older my focus/preference is more about the experience, and in my particular case much of that was just a change of experience (like I said if I started with a 355 I would likely have been ready for a 360 by now). The 360 is certainly a better performer, but they are both quick enough (for me). It makes sense that your write-up read the way it did- the 360 was a fairly big step in design (more interior room, better construction), performance (more power, more torque w/variable timing, AND several hundred pounds lighter) and just generally more modern.

Regarding Yassa's comment- the 458 is a current car where I'd expect performance to be at the top of the class...and it is. I have drove the 458 when it first came out and its insane. Almost too much/too fast/too capable The dual clutch is seemless- video game like, and the car is beautiful. A 360 looks more like the predecessor to the 458 than the 430 due to the curves of the 360 and 458...

 

I stand corrected- the chassis is listed as being "28% lighter" on wikipedia, but overall 360 is ~130lb lighter.

I have a 355 spider, which in one period test by road & track (and one test doesn't make a good sample), they noted 0-60 in 5.3 vs high 4s when they tested the coupe, due to the spider being a little heavier and also the car they tested "didn't feel entirely broken in". Because I had a 360 coupe and now the 355 spider there probably is a bigger weight difference than the 130 pounds, but that combined with the higher outright power and higher torque band of the 360 with variable timing means my 360 couple felt noticably faster than my 355 spider, a bigger delta than a few tenths of a second 0-60 by my seat of the pants estimate. It doesn't matter though- the 355 is fast enough, and the sounds plus converitble top- well I'm having a lot of fun driving it and when I accelerate quickly there is a big grin on my face I'm never drive the 355 and think it needs more power- very satisfying as is (even today, 375HP in a light sports car is nothing to sneeze at).