996 turbo to 360?

[Bigred67]

Hello All,

I hope you don't mind me tapping into the collective knowledge, but I wanted to find out if anyone had previously experienced moving from a 996 turbo to a 360.

If any of you have made that move, was there anything you miss about the 996, was there anything you regret about the change, or has it been a completely worthwhile experience?

Im potentially looking at a fairly low mileage manual 360, but would welcome any recommendations for independent servicing in or near west berks. I have also been reading a lot of the buyers guides, but would welcome any other advice from existing owners.

Thanks in advance..

[davek_964]

I didn't make that move - but I did own a 996 turbo and 360 at the same time. 996 turbo for 5.5 years / 40k miles and 360 for 7 years / 15k miles.

The turbo was obviously quicker and is a very quick car. Very useable as a daily, but - despite owning it for quite a long time - I found it lacked any excitement 90% of the time. Very capable but no soul. I replaced it with an AM Vantage - much slower, but much more special place to be.

The 360 was superb. I loved it - and didn't think it was a car I'd ever sell. But it had a fairly serious engine issue last year (cam actuator snapped) and I don't think I ever really trusted it after that. However - I only sold it a couple of weeks ago, saw a 360 at the weekend and thought......... maybe I should have kept mine.
They are fabulous cars, and I highly recommend them. Only negative I really had was that (for me) it was a fairly single purpose car. If I was in the mood, it was superb. But if I wasn't - it was a bit too much like hard work, and that limited how much I used it in the last couple of years. That's quite the opposite of the 996 turbo - where you really don't need to be in the mood (but if you are, it kind of lacks something).

So it depends what you really want from the car I think. The 360 is a superb occasional car and huge amounts of fun.

ETA : Several reputable Indy's in the area.

QV in Windsor are very good and very reasonable.
Neal Lucas in Camberley
Autofficina in Epsom
Riverside virtually opposite Chessington

Edited by davek_964 on Monday 6th July 20:54

[Roof down]

davek_964 said:

I didn't make that move - but I did own a 996 turbo and 360 at the same time. 996 turbo for 5.5 years / 40k miles and 360 for 7 years / 15k miles.

The turbo was obviously quicker and is a very quick car. Very useable as a daily, but - despite owning it for quite a long time - I found it lacked any excitement 90% of the time. Very capable but no soul. I replaced it with an AM Vantage - much slower, but much more special place to be.

The 360 was superb. I loved it - and didn't think it was a car I'd ever sell. But it had a fairly serious engine issue last year (cam actuator snapped) and I don't think I ever really trusted it after that. However - I only sold it a couple of weeks ago, saw a 360 at the weekend and thought......... maybe I should have kept mine.
They are fabulous cars, and I highly recommend them. Only negative I really had was that (for me) it was a fairly single purpose car. If I was in the mood, it was superb. But if I wasn't - it was a bit too much like hard work, and that limited how much I used it in the last couple of years. That's quite the opposite of the 996 turbo - where you really don't need to be in the mood (but if you are, it kind of lacks something).

So it depends what you really want from the car I think. The 360 is a superb occasional car and huge amounts of fun.

ETA : Several reputable Indy's in the area.

QV in Windsor are very good and very reasonable.
Neal Lucas in Camberley
Autofficina in Epsom
Riverside virtually opposite Chessington

Edited by davek_964 on Monday 6th July 20:54

Absolutely sums up why I sold my 360 , my trust waned after a couple of issues, shame really because I loved it.Mike

[PGN6]

davek_964 said:

I didn't make that move - but I did own a 996 turbo and 360 at the same time. 996 turbo for 5.5 years / 40k miles and 360 for 7 years / 15k miles.

The turbo was obviously quicker and is a very quick car. Very useable as a daily, but - despite owning it for quite a long time - I found it lacked any excitement 90% of the time. Very capable but no soul. I replaced it with an AM Vantage - much slower, but much more special place to be.

The 360 was superb. I loved it - and didn't think it was a car I'd ever sell. But it had a fairly serious engine issue last year (cam actuator snapped) and I don't think I ever really trusted it after that. However - I only sold it a couple of weeks ago, saw a 360 at the weekend and thought......... maybe I should have kept mine.
They are fabulous cars, and I highly recommend them. Only negative I really had was that (for me) it was a fairly single purpose car. If I was in the mood, it was superb. But if I wasn't - it was a bit too much like hard work, and that limited how much I used it in the last couple of years. That's quite the opposite of the 996 turbo - where you really don't need to be in the mood (but if you are, it kind of lacks something).

So it depends what you really want from the car I think. The 360 is a superb occasional car and huge amounts of fun.

ETA : Several reputable Indy's in the area.

QV in Windsor are very good and very reasonable.
Neal Lucas in Camberley
Autofficina in Epsom
Riverside virtually opposite Chessington

Edited by davek_964 on Monday 6th July 20:54

That wasn’t my 360 was it Dave?! 😉 Sorry..!

[davek_964]

PGN6 said:

That wasn’t my 360 was it Dave?! ?? Sorry..!

Don't think so - but you're welcome to pay half the repair bill if you like

[davek_964]

OP - what things do you like about the 996 turbo?
What are you hoping the 360 gives you that the 996 turbo doesn't?

[TB303]

davek_964 said:

I
The 360 was superb. I loved it - and didn't think it was a car I'd ever sell. But it had a fairly serious engine issue last year (cam actuator snapped) and I don't think I ever really trusted it after that.

Edited by davek_964 on Monday 6th July 20:54

Was your car a 99 car out of interest?

[davek_964]

TB303 said:

Was your car a 99 car out of interest?

No. 2001 - and it had the modified cam actuators fitted as a recall when Ferrari identified the problem ~18 years ago. But it seems they also fail.

[TB303]

davek_964 said:

No. 2001 - and it had the modified cam actuators fitted as a recall when Ferrari identified the problem ~18 years ago. But it seems they also fail.

Thanks for the reply. Good to know. I wonder if there are any preventative checks that can be made? Sorry to hear of your story.

Owning a Ferrari is a real tug of war at times!

[Bigred67]

davek_964 said:

OP - what things do you like about the 996 turbo?
What are you hoping the 360 gives you that the 996 turbo doesn't?

Thanks for all the feedback and the information.

The 996 Turbo is a great car and for 17 years old it is properly fast ( my car has been breathed on with 500 (ish) BHP). But, its just lacking something, not entirely sure what its lacking, it could just be that its too efficient at what it does.

As an example, I previously had a Z3m, I changed this for a C4S, then after a year, I went back to another Z3M. Again, I couldn’t put my finger on what the problem was, but the C4S felt very efficient at what it was doing, where as the Z3M had to driven to get the most out of it. I think its the same with the 996 turbo but a fair bit faster.

I’m going to have a look at a 360 and a 430 at the weekend, so it will be interesting to see how they compare to the turbo.

Thanks again..

[davek_964]

From your description - I'd say the 360 will definitely have what you're looking for (as would a 430).

(My 996 turbo was mapped too).

[TB303]

Second the above. If you can hack looking after them, there's nothing quite like a 360/430 for a bit more fun/engagement/feeling.

996 Turbos are brilliant cars but a bit bland in a world of low speed limits etc. Plenty of time left to have turbo-engined cars, not so long for race derived engines that rev out to 8.5k RPM.... But you must be prepared to look after them and embrace the quirks/bills is the truth.

[Wozy68]

I think the question you need to also ask yourself is if you could handle the stares (and jealousy) of others when driving it.
I asked on here when a few months back thought of shopping in my 993 for a 360 and must admit I had some great replies for the pros of a 360 and 430 and then someone suggested going older for a 355 and I was hooked.

Then I was sat in the pub talking it over with a mate and he’d just swapped his 360 for a 488.

His opinion (of me) was that I wouldn’t be so keen on the constant looks of either positive and negative reactions that newer Ferrari’s bring and thought I’d be better off in an older model if I went down that road.

Ive always been an old school Porsche man and an old Porsche really isn’t intimidating to anyone and his opinion was that the old School Ferrari’s arnt either.

Saying that I’m still quietly checking the classifieds for a 360

Edited by Wozy68 on Tuesday 7th July 22:37

[ZeroH]

You are swapping a subtle reliable rocketship for a more electrifying drama queen that makes every drive an event..... as long as thats what you want from your next purchase then its a great move.

A porsche turbo is so different to a V8 ferrari that they can't really be compared.... I enjoy both equally as each fulfils a different role for me, but my advice to OP is to test drive a 360 first and very quickly you'll know if its a viable replacement for your 996

[TB303]

Wozy68 said:

I think the question you need to also ask yourself is if you could handle the stares (and jealousy) of others when driving it.
I asked on here when a few months back thought of shopping in my 993 for a 360 and must admit I had some great replies for the pros of a 360 and 430 and then someone suggested going older for a 355 and I was hooked.

Then I was sat in the pub talking it over with a mate and he’d just swapped his 360 for a 488.

His opinion (of me) was that I wouldn’t be so keen on the constant looks of either positive and negative reactions that newer Ferrari’s bring and thought I’d be better off in an older model if I went down that road.

Ive always been an old school Porsche man and an old Porsche really isn’t intimidating to anyone and his opinion was that the old School Ferrari’s arnt either.

Saying that I’m still quietly checking the classifieds for a 360

Edited by Wozy68 on Tuesday 7th July 22:37

You and your friend are absolutely right.

When I ran my 360 with a tubi exhaust years ago the attention was polarized.

Years later and with stock exhaust, it’s now an “old ferrari” and not as offensive!

[ZeroH]

Oh and as for reco's on specialists to look after the 360... if you can make the distance work, AV Engineering are absolutely first class.

[DamanC]

996 TT Owner here - 8 years and counting, love it so much I have kept along side my Hurracan Performante.

Looked at a 360 around 5/6 years ago. The 996 TT is a superior car in every single way - only problem with the 996 TT is it does everything so well and efficiently. A steel in today's market still.

[Bigred67]

Thanks for everyones feedback and comments.

I have a couple of test-drives booked for the weekend, will let you know how I get on.

[ZeroH]

DamanC said:

996 TT Owner here - 8 years and counting, love it so much I have kept along side my Hurracan Performante.

Looked at a 360 around 5/6 years ago. The 996 TT is a superior car in every single way

Its just not tho - not for drama, not for noise, not for driver engagement, not for excitement.... not remotely close on any of those things...

[DamanC]

ZeroH said:

Its just not tho - not for drama, not for noise, not for driver engagement, not for excitement.... not remotely close on any of those things...

You missed off the last part of my statement about how I described how it does everything so well and efficient which I would have hoped most would have grasped that that meant it lacked the "drama". That said, mines just short of 500BHP, manual, coupe and has a TUBI exhaust so definitely is exciting, with plenty of drama that makes you work hard. The 360 is one of the worst and most disappointing cars I ever drove on the road and track all imho of course.