2002 Ferrari 360 Modena Sports Car Reviews & Ratings

Although the 360 is easily the most comfortable and user friendly mid-engine Ferrari ever, this is not a very easy car to climb into nor a very easy car to drive.

The wide door sills of its predecessor are history, but the 360 sits very low to the ground, so some leg muscle is needed to get behind the wheel. You must also get around the large bolsters of the driver's seats, which seem to take a beating over time. The seat leather on our test car was showing some wear.

Once in, you're surrounded by the finest materials we've ever seen in an automobile. The leather, which covers everything, is top notch. The console, door panels and dash are polished aluminum. And the plastics used for the switches and air conditioning vents are heavy to the touch. Even the toggle switches that control things like the trunk latch and the defogger require a heavy hand to operate. Everything about this car says quality, nothing feels loose or flimsy.

The seats are firm, but comfortable and supportive. They feature adjustments, albeit manual, for lumbar and the width of those big bolsters, so just about anyone can get cozy. Behind the seats is some storage space, which Ferrari says will fit a golf bag, and a net for small items like maps or the latest issue of Forbes.

Ergonomic problems are limited to the odd offset of the pedals toward the center of the car, which takes some getting used to, the poor reception and poorly marked controls of the car's audio system, and the lack of any cupholders. With time we grew to like the placement of the window switches, which are on either side of the stereo.

Ahead of the driver is a fat racecar-like steering wheel and a well laid out gauge cluster that's easy to read with a 10,000-rpm tachometer front and center. Only the gas gauge, which goes from full to empty rather rapidly, is a bit hidden behind the wheel. We like the odd green night lighting of the dials.

The Ferrari 360 Modena F1 is one of the fastest cars you can buy, and with the exception of the Porsche 911 Turbo, it's the quickest car available with an automatic transmission. This car will blast from a standstill to 60 mph in a tick over 4 seconds and rip through the quarter mile in 12.8 seconds at over 112 mph. There are only a few cars on the market, besides other Ferraris, that accelerate quicker. They are the aforementioned Porsche, the Lamborghini Diablo, the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Lotus Esprit V8 and the Dodge Viper. These are also the only cars that can rival the 360's 180+ mph top speed.

During our days with the car in and around Los Angeles, we never approached such velocities, but we did explore the Ferrari's off-the-line punch, which will strain your neck muscles, and sampled its handling around Southern California's many mountain roads.

It only takes a few corners to realize that the fishtailing tendencies of its predecessors are history and the 360 Modena is one of the finest handling cars ever built. Thanks to its tuned aerodynamics, four-wheel independent suspension, ABS brakes and excellent traction control system, the 360 can make Ray Ramano look like Mario Andretti.

Such roadholding is usually at the expense of ride comfort. Not in this case. The 360's around town ride, while firm, doesn't shake your eyeballs loose, even over rough pavement. Don't misunderstand, this is no Cadillac. We gave it the coffee test, and have the stained pants to prove it.

Problems we found during real world use include the 360's low front end, which scrapes itself free of paint on most driveways. There's also that constant engine wail coming from just over your right shoulder. Those with sensitive ears won't last long, plus the cops hear you coming from a mile away.

We think the semi-automatic gearbox, which adds $10,000 to the cost of the car, should shift smoother. It often snaps your neck on upshifts, and bucks hard off the line. But the transmission does have its good points. First, it makes changing gears completely fool proof. The transmission is controlled with two paddles behind the steering wheel. You pull the one on the right if you want an upshift, the one on the left for a downshift. It's really that simple. You don't even have to take your foot off the gas and there's digital readout to tell you what gear you've just chosen. And second, it has a full automatic mode, which proved precious in LA's heavy traffic.

Once you're comfortable with the whole paddle thing, you can click off upshifts with the flick of a finger, even with the engine wailing away at 8500 rpm. Fun? Like Disneyland. It's as close to racing Formula 1 as we'll ever get.

If things get out of hand, the 360's brakes are at the ready. Stopping distances from 60 or 80 mph are among the shortest in the world. The ABS system works perfectly, and the 360's brake pedal never gets soft even after miles of abuse.

Steering is just as impressive. It's quick but never darty, with an effort level that doesn't require the arm strength of Arnold, and the road feel is incredible. It's as if the driver's hands are directly connected to the front tires.

The Ferrari 360 comes in two bodystyles; Berlinetta (hardtop) and Spider (convertible).

Both are offered with a either a conventional 6-speed manual or a trick semi-automatic 6-speed transmission. Cars with the semi-automatic gearbox, like our Berlinetta test car, get their own model designation, F1, because shifting is controlled with two paddles mounted on the steering column similar to those used by Michael Schumacher in his gazillion-dollar Formula 1 race car.

Technically, there are four distinct models, the 360 Modena ($144,620), the 360 Modena F1 ($154,550), the 360 Spider ($161,475), and the 360 Spider F1 ($171,185).

Each comes with a long list of standard features including the ubiquitous air conditioning, power windows, locks and mirrors. (At these prices, they better.) Leather seats and a AM/FM stereo with CD player are also standard. Spiders get a standard power top. Standard safety equipment includes ABS, traction control and dual airbags.

Options are limited to exterior and interior colors.