Hi Guys, I am driving a 01 F360 F1 and my clutch is going to wear out soon and I need to replace a new clutch for it. But my dealer also recommend me to upgrade the latest F1 ECU software as my car is still running on old SW. I am wondering if there is a big difference to upgrade the F1 SW for my car as the new SW is quite costly. I know that the gear changing on the new F1 ECO on F360 will be more smooth than old one. But will it be as smooth as comparing with F430 F1? Also I would like to know if the new ECU SW will help to reduce the wear out of clutch as the gear changing is more smooth? Hope to get your advice before I can make my decision on the upgrade. Thanks.
Yes, it can reduce the wear. The early unit used an "auto-set" method to aquire the P.I.S (biting point of the clutch) and it was woefully inadequate. It also meant that subsequent alterations were limited, resulting in higher clutch wear. The software in the early unit also had problems like over-zealous clutch overheat warnings etc. If you are going to do this modification you have the option of fitting the Stradale e.c.u which will give you very fast gear changes. A dealer won't sell you that though!
What year did they introduce the software that didn't have this issue? I have an 04 360 Spider and expect to have to do a clutch job in a year or 2. In fact, I noticed during some 'demonstration' laps at the FCA event in Ottawa a few weeks ago that when shifting from 1st to 2nd at under 8k RPM, the gear change appeared to get stuck, and it sounded/felt like I was bouncing off the rev limiter for a second or 2 until the gearbox found 2nd. I think I've read this indicates clutch wear. Any advice? Thanks for your help
Thanks, guys. If a newer F1 ECU will help the clutch wear out issue, then it worth for me to install. (it cost USD2600) For Stradale ECU, will it wear out the clutch faster than stock? If they are the same, then will consider to find Stradale ECU.
If anybody is interested, i can supply Stradale TCU's without a problem at the lowest possible price. Just PM me. I have 3 in stock at this time
Thanks for your advice on Stradale ECU. But someone told me that Stradale ECU will not work well on normal 360 Modenza. Does anyone have experience on doing that? Is there any serious problem?
I've fitted a dozen or so of these over the years, with no ill effects. The trick is to find someone who knows how the system works to install it for you. As long as it's been set up properley, it really changes the way the car shifts. I've seen a couple of cars that have had this mod where the P.I.S has been set too low (for ultra quick changes) and then they fail to start from cold. No damage, just an adjustment. The software on the late '02 360's onwards were vastly improved over the earlier t.c.u's.
