Ferrari
Italian performance & style
The Ferrari 360 Spider is Ferrari’s 20th road going convertible. In terms of engineering, looks, and performance it is the best production spider Maranello has ever produced. Thanks to the exclusive know-how Ferrari has accumulated as a Formula 1 constructor, it is the most technologically advanced convertible available today.
Book Now | Our Fleet | Free Call Back
Despite the car’s mid-mounted 400bhp V8 engine, Ferrari engineers found
a way of creating a roof that automatically folds into its own well between the cabin and the engine bay, thus ensuring purity of line.
As strong and rigid as the Berlinetta, the 360 Spider offers performance almost identical to the coupe version. It can achieve a top speed of over 180mph while weighing barely 130lbs more than the Berlinetta and offering the same amount of room for the occupants and their luggage.
The most striking aspect of the 360 Spider’s styling is its convertible
top.
Using the wonderful shape of the 360 Maranello as a starting point, the Ferrari engineers and designers created a stylish, highly effective fully automatic folding roof. With the top down the Spider’s rear fairings evoke the great era of sports racing cars.
A design tour-de-force, the Spider gives nothing away to the Berlinetta on the road, the track, or the boulevard. The 360 Spider features a fully automatic roof, the driver needs only to slow below 3mph, press a button, and in a mere 20 seconds the roof totally disappears into the specially built well between the engine and cabin.
The roof can be closed to form a total seal with the windshield, or open to let in the California sunshine. The storage mechanism involves a complex two-step action, the roof folds double before it slips inside its own compartment, and is then covered by a special tonneau made of high-density SMC. The Spider’s roof features an invisible frame which is made from cast aluminum and pressed steel elements, it’s driven by electro-hydraulic actuators.
The 360 Spider is as efficient as its hard-top brother. The same aerodynamics being obtained by a combination of twin radiators and under trays that channel air beneath the car to the extractors under the tail.
An aerodynamic down force of 375lbs is achieved without spoilers or wings through an incorporation of solutions first adopted for Formula 1 cars. As a result of intense research into fluid dynamics and cabin design, a favorable Cd of 0.36 is achieved while providing optimum comfort for the occupants inside.
The innovative design incorporates small mesh screens that fit inside and between the roll bars, which eliminates the buffeting normally problematic in convertibles.
Without spoilers and wings, aerodynamic downforce of 375lbs is still achieved, partly through the incorporation of solutions first adopted on Formula 1 cars. A favorable Cd of 0.36 is achieved while guaranteeing optimum comfort for the occupants in all conditions, a result of intense research into fluid dynamics and cabin design.
Amongst the innovations are small mesh screens fitted inside and between the roll bars that eliminate the buffeting normally found inside convertibles.
Benefiting from similar research, the engine bay is built with honeycombed grilles flanking the glass cover. The hexagonal openings have been expanded from those of the Berlinetta to ensure optimal heat exchange through the Spider’s smaller engine bay without damaging the car’s sleek lines.
