Hi there
Trying to decide which between these pair is a winner is not only a great dilemma to have but a real tough one:
I even sit hearing contemplating what to type, I guess the first thing to do is just put down some quick model/spec info:
2000 Ferrari 360 Modena Manual
3.6l V8 running CS ECU that revs to 8600rpm making about 425HP
Six speed manual transmission
0-60 (who cares) but probably circa 4.5s with a top speed of around 170-180mph at a guess, I've had it upto about 140 with ease.
Weight, again a guess but 1350-1450kg
RWD
2009 Audi R8 V8 Manual
4.2l V8 that revs to 8250rpm making about 415HP
Six speed manual transmission
0-60, again who cares but probably around 4.5s
Weight, a guess but 1650-1750kg?
AWD (mainly RWD)
So if I had to keep one, don't ask me it is that close, both are winners......
So lets try to think about some driving impressions, the 360 to drive, the way it steers, handles, it feels a much lighter car, it also feels a rawer as well, a little like Ferrari took a race car and then made it into a road car kind of vibe. The steering is very light but accurate but the car took a lot of setting up to get it how I wanted it, the factory alignment settings to me made the car not handle so nice, slow steering, car did not feel dynamically great, as such it is now running a very extreme Challenge Stradale alignment, what I mean by that is I am running maximum cambers and front toe out beyond spec, as I am toeing out, this however gives me the front-end bite, turn in I want and expect from the car, otherwise it felt somewhat mundane, very slow, very safe. As it is just alignment settings it was the cost of some shims (£80) and a few hours on a Hunter (£200) but now the car feels dynamic and it really plays its mid-engine layout as the car pivots very much around centre, it handles beautiful and been an older car on smaller wheels with bigger tyre walls it also handles a typical British B road with superb ride comfort and feedback, even pot holes don't trouble it.
The engine in my 360 running as per a Challenge Stradale which is just software, there is no hardware differences, results in an engine with power everywhere, floor it at 2500rpm and your off and it screams all the way to 8600rpm and boy does it scream, the engine has no sensation of losing power at any point, it in fact feels as if there was no limiter it would simply rev and keep pulling forever, there is no sensation of CAM etc it just pulls in a perfectly linear fashion with utter smoothness, as such sometimes when you get on it it can give you the impression it is not that quick, you look down at the speed and you think to yourself my god for an old car this thing has piled some big speed on in relative ease, remember this is a 25yr old car now.
The gearbox and clutch is perfection, its better than an S2000 and better than Porsche's finest, yes it has more throw but just changing gear is no longer a function, but an event. The click clack from the shifter is lovely, it goes into gear like butter and the clutch has perfect weighting sometimes your driving along and the clutch/gearbox almost feel telepathic it really is a joy to shift, the gearing for the age of car is maybe a little long but again compared to a Porsche the gearing is short. About 70 in 2nd, 100 in 3rd or more or less.
The sound, a stock 360 is a wonderful sounding machine, mine has highflow cats and a Novitec exhaust so the sound is somewhat obnoxious at times, in fact at idle it almost just a loud bark, not particular nice tone wise, its just barrrrrrrrrr, brrrrrrrrrrr, however rev it out and that somewhat high pitch F1 old school scream very much makes the hairs on your neck raise, you drop the windows and just cannot help but drive around everywhere in the 5500-8500rpm range, it is addictive but I would say somewhat monotone and you do have to go pretty quick to get the nicer sound from the exhaust/engine by revving it out.
Running cost wise, its £290 to insure, £345 to tax and I budget 2-3k per year servicing, some years it might only be £500 but it is an old Ferrari and with that comes expenditure and this is a damn good one, I drove so many and they all drove so different, some felt gutless, some steered woefully and some felt like the suspension was held together with cable ties, buying a 360 is a mind field, when I thought I found a good one from driving it an inspection revealed it required upwards of £20,000 spending on it, bullet dodged, this one has somewhat already had the big money spent, bare metal respray, suspension etc. etc. but I put money into it to keep it tip top.
You can buy an F1 car now for 40-70k - Honestly just avoid them, the gearshift is lethargic. A 360 Manual will set you back anywhere from 55-100k, with 360 buy on condition, mileage, age is somewhat irrelevant, but a manual is the one to get.
So all the above is very positive, I guess if I was to say what is negative, well it drinks fuel, its not the best on long road trips with that noisy exhaust and though the seats are decent, they do not fit me perfectly. For me the 360 is very much a special car, but one that is best kept aside for a weekend drive or a track day, as it is also very good on track, tyres been equal I'd rate it as pretty much on par with a GT4 but setup is everything, a poor GT4 will be quick, a poor 360 will be slow, but for fairness lets say my car a 360+ as its on CS power and alignment with a 80-100kg penalty as it has no weight reduction.
Lets move on to the R8 which basically came out 10 years later, this car is very different to drive, it feels very masculine as the steering is heavy which in return gives the impression your driving a much heavier car (it is heavier) the interior quality is in a different league, the Ferrari is nice, but the Audi feels like it was built by Germans at their best, it feels so solid. The steering though heavy is direct, it does have some feedback but maybe not quite as much as the 360 but neither are perfect here, both are just good and like the 360 the R8 has had the alignment all checked and is running newish Michelin PS4S compared to Ferrari's new PS5 (PS4S is better). The seats in the R8 are gorgeous and the comfort is amazing, those wingbacks are incredible to both look at and sit in.
The engine in the R8 is very special, it has this somewhat magical ability to absolutely pin you in your seat, even in higher gears if you catch it right, but it is not actually that quick of a car, certainly by modern standard my A110S would leave it, R8 is also probably a little slower than the 360, but it somehow does a magical thing of feeling quicker, the gearing is shorter and I think the engine has a very peak flat torque curve from early in the rev range maybe and like the 360 it revs forever, but you get the impression it revs faster but at the same time I do want to change up in the 7500-8000rpm rev range, I rarely ever rev it out, whereas the 360 it gives impression of revving higher and you want to do so. Both cars feel energetic and fast on the road without having to go silly fast to enjoy them but the R8 does seem to deliver and impress by feeling faster than it actually is, it feels a lot faster in fact. Now R8's are plagued with engine deposit issues and losing power, I'd say from my experience of other cars my R8 feels like it has all its horses intact and the gearing is shorter, circa 60 in 2nd and 90 in 3rd. The engine in the R8 feels mega responsive and urgent always pins you back, almost feels cable throttled.
Handling wise the R8 is more about grip rather than dynamics, in fact it is a superb all year sports / supercar, what camp you think it sits in I don't care.
Wet, cold don't bother the R8 you can use all the power all the time, but in fairness to the 360 and its very linear power delivery and PS5 tyres it can also put all the power down in wet conditions with ease, after all these are 400HP cars, not 600-800HP monsters so they both work very well on the road.
The 360 feels a smaller car on the road, better outwards visibility but there is nothing bad about the R8, it is well proportioned and easy to navigate on a narrow B road and I'd say the 360 feels like a delicate precise handling car where you can very much lean on its suspension and it will communicate everything to you and you can truly feel just how amazing an old car feels as you can feel all the suspension working hard and the steering gives you feed back something that is somewhat devoid in modern cars that corner totally flat and have electric steering systems, it is this what makes the 360 have such a lovely feel on both road and track. The R8 handles lovely but the extra weight can be felt, I'd not say its necessarily a bad thing, it gives you confidence and is very inspiring and the steering does talk, all the Audi does exhibit is understeer at the limits on very tight corners whereas the 360 is more neutral, the R8 feels fun, but is safe.
Now lets talk noise, if both cars were stock, the 360 wins hands down, it is not even a contest. However both cars are not stock and whereas I'd say the 360 went from a 8/10 to a 10/10 the R8 went from a 5/10 upto an 11/10. The difference is mind boggling on the R8, valves open at low revs it sounds like a Mustang or Aston Martin V8, you can potter around at low speeds with low RPM and the burble is to die for, it just sounds glorious and is in no way obnoxious at all, the tone is perfection. But the really weird thing is what happens when you floor it and let the revs go beyond 4000rpm, it is as if that V8 becomes a V10, the scream whilst maintain tone becomes just so exotic in the way it sounds to me the driver, from the outside yes it is very much a V8 but because of this the R8 wins on sound track, in fact with this exhaust I cannot believe I am going to say this but I think the R8 is the best sounding car I have ever owned.
The R8 gearbox, it click clacks even better than the 360 and the gear change is very much rifle bolt notchy operation unlike the buttery smooth operation of the 360 but they are both equals, what lets the R8 down is its clutch is just a little heavier and as such not quite as perfectly weighted as the Ferrari's but we are splitting hairs here as the manual in the R8 is one of the best manuals out there for sure. When it comes to manuals you would normally never consider Audi to be good but with the R8 they are up there with Ferrari, Honda and Porsche.
Brakes on both cars are superb, no complaints, bite well and have ample power.
Ride quality on both again superb, both feature MAG dampers but both even fully stiff are still softer than say my M2 was.
I could talk for hours about them both, they are chalk and cheese to each other but both superb.
I will say the R8 is a true daily driver sports / super car, whereas the 360 nearly is but the R8 does pip it, but the 360 is more special, is it the badge, a little I guess but you can tell the people who built it also build race cars.
If my R8 was a boring coloured one, with regular seats and a stock exhaust I doubt it would have got under my skin so much but having a car that is so pristine in such a rare spec (velvet purple) with R8 wingback seats and that exhaust really for me elevate the R8 V8 from good to sensational.
The 360 is the better more fun stock car and more special, but I feel my R8 rivals it been itself such a special specification from factory.
The one thing we have not mentioned, my R8 cost me a few quid over 35k, the 360 cost me 70k, is the 360 twice the car, no!
Also to mention R8 is £725 to tax, £400 to insure and also drinks fuel, servicing cost is probably £500 a year but keep 1-2k spare as they can throw big bills as well but you will see a lot more R8's on 100k plus miles than you will 360's.
If I was ask what car do I take if:
Track day: 360
Weekend drive: 360
Daily use: R8
European tour: R8
Two amazing cars, glad to own both if I ever sell one that will be so hard, lets just put it this way if I sell the R8 I am asking 45-50k, I want a big profit otherwise I keep it. If I sell the 360 I will probably take a hit on it, 60-65k, maybe break even if lucky, of course give it another 3-5 years 360 values might rocket because if you ask me a 360 is the last of old school Ferrari's, no E-Diff, no fancy TC system and no ceramic brakes, but keeps the epic 5V engine and is rather reliable for a Ferrari.
What both these cars really excel at though to me is proving faster does not equal better, I prefer the V8 R8 over the V10, I can drive it hard, I can rev it out, I can swap cogs often and frequent, the grin on my face is massive, the speed on the speedo won't land me in jail and I am buzzing, likewise for the 360.
Now stick me in a gen 2 V10 R8 DSG or a Huracan, or say a Ferrari F8 or a McLaren 720's, I am doing twice the speed for the same thrill, when Mr plod see's me its not a slap on the hand it is give me your license you plonker. So few modern exotics can give fun at legal speeds, some are now trying to dial it back, 750S over 720S for example, 296 over F8 etc, but these are 200-300k cars and you still end up been silly.
If these cars are too old for some, what I will say is the little A110S I just purchased would leave both these cars on the road, revels at been driven silly hard and is mega cheap to run by comparison, but yes it does sound junk in comparison been a 1.8l 4 pot turbo but handling dynamics and low weight really make the Alpine A110 a very special car too, which also makes a great daily, the R8 feels quicker but the Alpine is much faster.
