Ferrari 360 or corvette c7

C7 is the better car. The 360 is a Ferrari.

 

I recently did a road & track test of the new C7 coupe.

It was a powerful mount, sure has a lot of hood in front of you, but it felt planted on the track. However... My own personal taste shy's away from such technical gadgetry such as the abundance of dash information available. Who actually needs the on-board track data in this thing? I want to drive the car & feel the excitement, not have to read the dash to be told that it must have been exciting... 0-60, g-readings, tire data, suspension data, on & on it was mind numbing.

Give me a car with no radio & superb suspension. Nothing more than a centralized tachometer and a rich exhaust note is needed past that (kinda explains my Stradale & early short wheel base Porsche).

The C7 was a bit too GTR kinda gadgetmobile for me.

 

Do you want performance or panache? The C7 I rode in was super competent. My 360 is such a more visceral experience.. and is better proportioned with italian design IMHO.

BTW are you a slightly paunchy guy in his late mid to late 50's+? (hehehe.. just kidding)

 

The C7 is very, very good. This is coming from someone who was a major skeptic before driving it.

That said, it is a chassis awaiting an exotic engine. I realize many people will cry "The LT1 is a technical marvel" etc etc., but to me it feels like an amped up LS3. That is a great motor but it is sort of "one-note" in how it does things. It is just missing that last critical piece to the equation to make it one of the greats.

It is hard for me to explain further without having you drive the C7 and something with an exotic engine back-to-back (in fact the LS7 would be a great motor for the car, and that isn't even fancy engine architecture, but it is fairly exotic in how it feels).

My opinion, if you aren't going to be daily-driving the car, 360 with full headers/exhaust/intake/tune (which will have it making rated power or better) is the way to go. The performance will be acceptable after those modifications, and the rest of the experience is way beyond the C7.

In fact I would take that spec 360 over a F12... madness I know but I have driven both aggressively and the 360 is a more analog and engaging experience 95% of the time...

 

I live in Myrtle Beach. Every silver headed guy has a vette. (I'm not quite silver yet) Believe me the 360 will stand out and get you attention. Sounds like you like the Ferrari more. I thought about the vette too but not for long.

If you are up in Myrtle Beach, pm me and I'll take you for a ride. There is a car show in Hilton Head in a couple of months I think. I will probably be there for that.

There is a cars and coffee in Charleston every Sat. morning. You will see tons of vettes and just a couple of Ferrari's. Feel free to stop by. Curt or I are usually there with 360's.

 

I love it. Yes the maintenance is bad but expected. I would set aside 3 or 4 thousand a year for repairs/tires. I just got hit with a good bill but was ready for it.

There is a pic of mine.
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I have also driven both also, one right after the other in fact.

I was finishing up a 1.5 hour drive from having new tires and alignment done on my 360 and a friend called me and asked if I wanted to stop by and drive his C7. I previously owned a C6 so was looking forward to the new generation.

Here is my cliff note version. The car was a 7 speed manual Z51 Coupe. There still was the unenjoyable delay in throttle response, press the gas and it took a few seconds to kick in. But once it did, a lot of power at the disposal. Most power is at the low end still, gets weaker at the top. I agree with Michael B on dash overload, enough said there. Engine noise was almost non-existent, exhaust was ok. Nothing like the 360.

Overall a nice touring car and the occasional track day.

After I was done I hopped back in my 360. The refreshing feeling and rawness of the 360 came back to me and I smiled the rest of the way home.

My suggestion would be for your to drive both and hopefully back to back in the same day and you will see what we are talking about.

Good luck!!

Deiger

 

Hilton Head Concours is the first weekend of November, The 1st & 2nd. I am a judge on the roadster class of the Jaguar E-Types. Come by and say Hi if you make it. There is a Club show on Saturday and there are usually a few Ferraris there also.

 

I will definitely stop by.

 

Not a fair comparison because you are comparing 2000ish technology to 2014 technology...these cars are galaxies apart. The 360 is downright slow compared to the C7, but the 360 is a Ferrari. The 360 will also be more costly to maintain, but probably more raw and visceral to drive, especially with a 6MT. I personally have owned several Corvettes over the years, but they just don't turn me on anymore. My tastes have changed. That said, they are a bargain for that kind of performance.

P.S. I own a 2008 430 Spider 6MT and while the C7 is probably a faster car, I would never trade/sell my 430 for a Corvette. The sound of a NA Ferrari is something very very special and it has a vibe that no Corvette can compete with in my heart. I agree with Curt below...the only people I see driving Corvettes are old fat bustards! (Curt you killed me with your paunchy comment

 

I'm up in Charleston. If you're up on sat for the C+C PM me the night before (to make sure I'm in town) and I'll give you a ride in my 1999 3 pedal. Dude, even here in the last 6 months there are like 4 C7's. In this small city.. every guy has one. There's one guy without grey hair. All the rest are paunchy.

Karl Troy here in town works on them and he's reasonable.. more importantly, competent and fair with his pricing.

Absolutely LOVE mine. Haven't had anything major yet. High miles vet out the issues...

 

there's like 15 years difference here.. u want the better overall car, C7. But the 360 is a Ferrari, if you really want one, get it.

You'll see a lot of corvettes on the road... you rarely see Ferraris.

If you're on a budget, get the C7... warranty and all

 

The C7 may be the better car (although not in my opinion), but ask yourself which one is desired more?

 

The corvette make all the sense in the world and makes a lot more sense and I pass 10 a day. Still haven't passed a ferrari in the past 2 weeks since buying my 360. It is special and raw.

 

ferrari or corvette..........do u really need to ask
corvettes are a dime a dozen

 

It's not so much that they are more abundant than prius's now. Having driven the C7, it's a great car for the money. Plenty of high tech options that are definitely more updated than the 360 offers. However, the interior, while much better now is still not as sophisticated and refined as the 360. C7's sound decent in stock form. I'm sure they sound great with aftermarket pipes. Even still, the 360 has a musical note to it which seems to be able to create a harmony between your senses and the car.
You'd be buying the 360 for the experience more than the performance. The 360 is dang quick even by current standards, but on a track and off the line the C7 will dominate it.

 

The Corvette might be a better car, but it's not really an apples to apples comparison. Where I live, there are hundreds of corvettes. I see them on a daily basis. If you want a unique car that stands out, get the Ferrari. Plus there is about 10 years in development between the two models, so obviously you will get all the new gadgets with the Vette. I'm obviously biased, but Ferrari all the way without a question. It's an exotic, and excellent sports car, an eye catcher and just looks beautiful, especially the 360, which as a timeless design. Also maintenance has been good to me so far. Have driven it half a year, with no issues whatsoever, none, zip!

 

I have had 11 corvettes in my 37 years of life and have had three C6's including a Z06 C6. Great cars for the money but not the same experience in any way. I have had my 360 for a month and i see C7's everyday here in California and I can say this having grown up a Corvette guy and owned a ton of them, i now have ZERO interest in owning a corvette.

The Ferrari is a totally different beast. Unless you are going to truly track the car regulary you will have all of the performance you can safely use on the public roads (and then some). This coming from someone who tracked his C6 Z06. The vette is much cheaper and probably better for that. The 360 is not a 0-60 car, especially the F1 (which i have). it s acar that once you are going provides a unique and just awesome experience. The engine notes, the timeless style and design. Hell the 360 is a 15 year old design and to me it still looks better than a C7 and in 20 years the vette will just look super aged and the 360 wil still be a work of art

Follow your heart but if you can truly afford BOTH the 360 AND the Maintenance associated with it then to me there is no question.

Be sure you want the attention of owning a Ferrari. I live in Orange County here in Cali and work in L.A. It's probably if not the most common place to see a ferrari in the USA it's damn close. Even with that when i take my 15 year old 360 out i get pics taken, questions at red lights, valets still wanting to talk about it and leaving it right out front, etc.

It's two totally different experiences. Go drive a few 360's for sale and you will be sold on the difference

 

360 with headers, cats, exhaust, intake and tune is MORE than fast enough. Our 360 spider with the above mentioned mods drives completely different than a stock 360. I don't care where you are from or what you have, a mid 12 Second car will always feel quick on the street. As soon as you start talking about the grip available (we all the 360 isn't a drag car, even though it still feels very peppy) and the cornering speeds achievable, you start exceeding most drivers capabilities IMO.

Truth is, most of us don't even come close to the full abilities of our cars on the road. I think it is more fun, and more engaging to drive a 360 at a higher % of its ability rather than to drive a corvette and a lower % of its capability. The 360 feels light, ready to go, like a dart. The corvette is like a sledge hammer with scalpel on the end..

 

My issues with any Corvette is given about 2-3 years of driving and they sound like an old wooden ship. I think if I were to compare, Id say try a Dodge Viper. At least they still promote an N/A approach, which is far more impressive than superchargers and turbos for the top runners. The Viper has a visceral feel but I cannot stand the new 2013+ front end look. I prefer the 2nd and 4th gen