Autocar Magazine / Ferrari Announces New 360

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If the car is shown at Frankfurt (Sep) next year we will not see the upgraded engine until the 2006 model year, with a possible mid-2007 release for the replacement car. Follows Autoweek's year-old article pretty closely.

 

Strategically, it would make more sense to debut another limited edition, higher-performing 360 in the same year as the new 575. This would maintain press coverage/reputation, attract new orders, while at the same time retain orders for the current 360. Then, in another two or three years, debut the entirely new model.

 

Ferrari of course designed the engine for the Masers & when i was visiting the factories I was told the Maser 4.0 V8 would find its way into the next Ferrari V8 model. I am sure Ferrari designed the Masers V8 so that it could easily be transferred into a mid engine model. Any reasonable businessman would do that to maximize profits & minimize R&D

 

What I heard in Autoweek as of late was 4.0 or 4.2 liters, 500hp, 0-60 in 3.8 seconds, and a top speed of around 205 mph. Pretty impressive stuff. Also, the car will be gunning for increased thrills while retaining the 360's advances in comfort.

 

Take one Maserati engine block. Add one flat plane crank, 8 titanium con rods, high compression pistons for a short block assembly. Engineer new heads to the Maserati engine block and tune intake for the 8000+ RPM peak power point, adding tuned headers for a long block assembly, retaining but retuning the dual path 360-like intake stacks. Change the cams from around 10/44 (Maseratti) to 16/56 (F355) to accentuate the breathing at the RPMs garnered from the new heads.

Then engineer a different hub that couples the engine block to the 360 transmission to allow attachment to the Ma^^Ferrari engine. As long as the total length of the engine remains 360-like, the clever Ferrari engine bay packers can find a way to fit it in.

Presto: 4.2 litres at 1.10 HP/litre is 462 HP (8200) at 1.2 HP/litre is 508 HP (8500) (Honda s2000-like)

 

If you ever see Luca in interviews or articles, he always mentions the front V-12's are his favorite. Same for Schumacher.

For the 420/30 I hope that they use front trim and side skirts like the Stradale. I would like to see them accentuate and enlarge the upper intake on the sides, to draw some lines similar to the 3x8 series cars.