I recently saw a remote control kit to operate the exhaust valves for sale and thought I write out my thoughts. The kit is pictured below and, in my opinion, is potentially dangerous to fit to your car. I will try to explain why and will also describe a safer way of operating the exhaust … More Ferrari 360 & F430 Remote Control Exhaust Valve
I was recently asked for my opinion on fitting aftermarket coilover suspension to a 360 – my response was that it would be a bad idea. The 360 was fitted with a very sophisticated active suspension system for its day. In my opinion, replacing the electronic dampers with passive units would be a step backwards. … More Ferrari 360 Active Suspension
The Ferrari 360 was offered as a convertible about 18 months after the introduction of the Modena and accounts for nearly half of all 360’s sold during the production run. The 360 chassis was designed with a convertible version in mind from the outset and is identical between the two models – the 40% increase … More Ferrari 360 Spider Roof
I was asked about fitting a Stradale TCU to a regular 360 the other day so thought I would write some notes on the F1 system and incorporate some info on the TCU. The transaxle on the 360 is near identical between the manual and F1 models (the shift mechanism is different and there are … More Ferrari 360 F1 System
The 360 has a button near the steering wheel labelled “Sport”. This activates the Sport Driving Mode which makes a few subtle changes to the car and transforms the way it drives. I personally only drive my car in normal mode if I am on the motorway and require a degree of comfort. At all … More Ferrari 360 Sport Driving Mode
The Ferrari 360 engine has a variable valve timing system fitted to the exhaust camshaft (the intake valve timing is fixed). The critical part to this system is called the “Exhaust Phase Variator” (part #190042) and is fitted between the cam pulley wheel and the camshaft itself. Here is a diagram showing the position of the variator … More Ferrari 360 Phase Variator (aka Variable Valve Timing)
As these cars get older and change hands more frequently it is very common for keys to go missing. Fortunately inexpensive key blanks are available as the key pattern is shared with a number of Fiat vehicles. I have successively used the Giobert GT6RP key blank in a number of modern Ferrari models. As far as I … More Ferrari Key Blanks
There are two engine control units fitted to the Ferrari 360 – one for each bank of cylinders (locations shown in diagram below). The units are Bosch Motronic 7.3 which are also used in a number of other vehicles. The ECUs are constantly monitoring the engine as the car is driven and make a small … More Ferrari 360 ECU Reset
The air intake system fitted to the 360 has some really cool features built into it. The 360 was developed in the wind tunnel at Maranello and the air intake starts just behind the door handle as the bodywork opens up into a channel to draw the air flowing over the body into the system. … More Ferrari 360 Air Intake System
Changing the battery on a 360 is fairly straightforward. The Ferrari factory battery is a FIAMM VR760 – in the UK this is called an “096”. My preference is to fit Bosch S5 batteries – the correct battery is an S5 008 (Bosch ref 577 400 078): The first thing to do is to
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