question about 360 acceleration

Do you see a flashing ASR on your instrument panel when it's doing this? Could be b/c your cars traction control is trying to keep your tires from turning into a pile of molten rubber.

On the left side of your steering wheel are some switches... one's for Sport Mode (faster shifts, stiffens suspension) and the other is for traction control.

Most people here think traction control is a good thing as it keeps people like me (inexperienced) from letting 400HP get out of control. You can always switch this control off and try your foot-stomping launch again to see what happens, but be sure of a couple of things:

- You will smoke your tires
- You will be out of control
- You will not have any of the car's computers to help you think through the experience

Do this somewhere open and safe as the car can get sideways fast and your experiment shouldn't involve anyone but you.

Frank

 

I dont believe the switches are on the steering wheel on the 360...they are on the 430's steering wheel.

He has 360

 

I thought the opposite was the common problem; if you mash the throttle it will smoothly (but quickly) accelerate, but if you push the throttle down, like maybe halfway, without a lot of pressure (and especially if you lift a little), the car will load and unload the drivetrain and get itself into a wild oscillation. I know that this is normal.

 

Not sure about the lurching in first gear...but i do know when i let people drive my CS for the first time, it is 2nd gear that gives them the most trouble. I think the system is a "fly by wire" system (no cable). And unless (as said in above post) they are hard on throttle, and they are just trying to regulate a mild accelaration it does have tendencies to "buck" and it does get worse as they were trying to correct. When it happens...i just tell them to lift off throttle, now re-apply a bit heavier!!

It just takes some time...you get use too applying the throttle properly, and it becomes a non-issue.

 

I notice the same thing with my 360 F1. If I push down on the throttle softly and slowly start off from an intersection in 1st gear, it goes smoothly; however, if I put my foot down a bit heavier it bucks back and forth and you look like a total idiot. Therefore, I am always the SLOWEST vehicle off the line at an intersection, or I start off in 2nd gear to get a more "modulated" start (as the user manual says). Not what I imagined driving a Ferrari would be like! Ironic.

 

my 06 430 also has this issue, but only when i downshift to 1st and give it too little throttle. but if i mash it, i don't get any issues there.

 

Do you have sport mode on? If not, switch it on and try again.

 

I think Frank meant the left hand side of the steering wheel on the dashboard buddy ;-) If the chaps in the UK then they'll be on the right hand side

 

My 360F1 never did this! Hard or soft throttle it would launch very smooth, just much faster the more throttle. Mine was one of the so called dreaded 99 F1 car as well!

My 430 works very smooth too.

 

My MY 01 manual does this. I was told by my mechanic it's an issue with the accelerator potentiometer that is addressed in later model ECU's. of course, I just read where some folks later 360's and 430's do this as well. May just be how some of them drive.

 

My 03' 360 did the same thing.

Tim

 

This is why I went from an F1 360 to a manual 430.

Art

 

I have never had an issue with shifts even when the car is cold and shifting below 4500 rpm. Sounds very strange to me. Love the '99'S!!!!!!!!!!


Robert

 

The e46 M3 had the same issue in sport mode. What happens is that if your right foot isn't steady or braced against the footwell, you step on the gas and the car accelerates quickly forward. Because your foot isn't secured or planted, you back off of the gas involuntarily. When you back off, the engine braking causes your foot to move forward, again depressing the gas. Best advice I can give is to brace your foot against the footwell, or give it more gas from a stop.

 

Too funny! I say the same thing! I am always the last to leave the light! LOL! I believe the newer cars have something called "LAUNCH" mode tohelp address our shortcoming.

B


By the way CNS, my car does the same thing.

 

My '03 360 spider does the same thing. It is much more noticable when the car is cold. Here's how you deal with it:

Turning off the traction control will help lots. No need to worry, even if you're not a great driver, yes it makes 400 hp, so what? It's a car, drive it. Don't add lots of throttle, just start off normally. Engaging sport mode won't make a difference, for this problem, on or off.

In the manual, it states that it's ok to start off in 2nd. This will eliminate the problem you speak of as well. I do not recommend this as a normal practice as it seams to ride the clutch for an extended period of time.
On my car, once it is warm, the problem is gone. Try this and let us all know what happens.
J

 

I have had (2) 360's and both have done this in 1st gear. First time it happened, it scared the crap out of me.
I realized that I just had to be super smooth on the pedal in first gear and if it does buck like crazy, shift to 2nd immediately.
Like everyone else here, taking off in first has to be done very gently, or just freaking nail it and hang on.(make sure your car is pointed straight before you nail it though!)
Hunter

 

When I had my 360, this only occurred when the car was not warmed up to operating temperature. Once it warmed up, the bucking went away and never had a problem with it again.

I did though bring this up to the dealer and they put it on the computer and made some adjustments which lightened it quite a bit, so you may want to try that to see if you can straighten yours out a bit.

 

this is all very interesting..

same thing for me - buking to start with then goes away once warm..