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Giles’ 360 Modena on-line scrapbook

Hi Folks,
360 back with me and soon off to the South of France in it, just north of Toulouse, should be fun, and if it isn't as fun as I hope I always have European recovery! 😄
Last update about the air con playing up, well.... a few (more) big bills later I can tell you that the rebuilt compressor I had done about 3 years ago was toast, this time with a stuck compressor clutch and therefore drawing too many amps and cooking/burning the wires, outch! I now have a new air con compressor, fresh wiring replacing the heat damaged wires and all seems OKish. On the drive back the air con did momentarily drop out (screen heavily misted up) and then worked again clearing the screen, I am trying to make sure I use it as much as possible in the few days I have before I leave for France to test it thoroughly.
While Sam from Stradale Italia had it all in bits he noticed that one of my fuel tank retaining straps had rotted through and was no longer securing the tank, so a new fuel retaining strap has also been fitted which by all accounts was an absolute pig of a job!
I had thought 2024 would be a reasonably quiet year for the 360, I was wrong! 😄
Cheers, Giles
 
Have been driving all day from 05:00 this morning, arrived at my overnight at 8pm french time, didn’t use toll roads, 360 hasn’t missed a beat.
Driving for such a long time really focuses the mind on the details, niggles and nuances.
Ride is really very good indeed, so much better than it has any expected right to be for a car of this type/genre (supercar). The damping is so well judged, in no way harsh, on the contrary, I think it’s really supple and eats up the undulating french country roads with aplomb. Yet while doing that, if you chuck it into a challenging complex of bends it is firm but compliant with next to no body roll. Such an accomplishment for a car launched in 1999.
Adjustable height seat belt point rattled in all but it’s highest setting, which luckily is fine for me.
The standard audio is pretty average at best.
450 mile tank range is fantastic, it’s a big old fuel tank, but I would much rather have that than a superleggera thimble sized fuel tank 👍
This 360 is the perfect dual persona of supercar / grand tourer and being in Grigio Alloy it almost goes under the radar although the french school boys on bmx bikes (was like a scene from ET) still know though and give it the grin/thumbs up salute 🤣👍
On to Cahors/Montauban tomorrow 👍
Cheers, Giles
 
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Hi Folks,
Returned from the South of France and the car was fab. This is the bit when I bang on about it not missing a beat, but beat it did indeed miss. After a colossal downpour, so much so that I had water coming through the ceiling on the airb&b, no great shakes, all ok. However the next time I drove the 360 it was stuttering somewhat and responded best to very light throttle, when more torque was demanded it became more lumpy/stuttering/missing, so I didn't worry and just thought there was a bit of dampness in the electrical system and it would dry out and all would be well. It didn't and I drove back from the S of France on 7 cylinders with the MIL illuminated. It drove best with a very minimal throttle angle so although motorway speeds could be maintained easily, driving through towns was a somewhat steady affair, but the car is still fab!
Once home and having Sam at Stradale Italia replace the coil pack from cylinder 4 (my South of France diagnosis was correct without his SD2 code reader! 🤓) my 360 is once again running as per design intent.
I've worked out my MPG over the trip and I returned (over 1,610 miles) an average of 25.8MPG. Obviously if I had not had the coil pack go down that efficiency number would have been higher. In my experience the fuel consumption is no worse on my 360 than a 3.4 996 I owned a few years back.
Next job is to decide when to switch over to the winter wheels and tyres, but at 15 degrees today I suspect it will be a few more weeks before the temp is regularly below 7 deg Celsius.
Cheers, Giles
 
Hi Folks,
I’ve modified my 360!
I’m pretty horrified with myself for doing this but thought it had some safety factor merit.
Although, in the most part, I like everything OEM, the sidelight / parking lights are dismal. So after a bit of research I’ve changed the incandescent side light bulbs with LED replacement bulbs.
Really easy to do and I think it does give you the option of a functional daytime running light as modern cars now have. It’s almost like a minimum hygiene level of lighting/visibility to have DRL’s these days, but let’s not get into that discussion here!

I don’t know for sure but I expect the LED will generate less heat than the standard filament incandescent bulb. I noticed on doing the job that my white (more cream now) bulb holder is looking somewhat charred from the heat of the standard bulb so with a bit of luck the LED will alleviate that.
Process was simple, steering cranked over inboard to whichever side you are changing, 8mm socket on two bolt heads and the cover panel comes off. Top bulb holder with a 90 degree bayonet action removal and you can switch the bulb. LED’s only work one way, so if it doesn’t work, turn the bulb around and try again.
Pretty impressed with the results.

In the photo below, both side lights are on but you can only see the LED one, that’s how bobbins the original side lights are.
IMG_6768.jpeg

Standard side light bulb
IMG_6775.jpeg

LED side light bulb
IMG_6776.jpeg

£5 for 10 bulbs from Amazon
IMG_6774.jpeg
IMG_6773.jpeg
This is where I got mine from:
IBEIKE 501 W5W T10 LED Bulbs - 10... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CPWM73RC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I will check the light output at night to ensure it’s not a dazzling distracting light for other road users and if so I’ll switch back, we will see. This is mentioned as OEM daytime running LED’s are either turned off altogether when you put the main lights on or they are dimmed. Conversely when you see ‘home modified’ daytime running lights on, say for example, an Audi with a strip of multiple LEDs under the main headlamp, these do not turn off or dim down at night and they are often too dazzling, don’t want to do that!
Cheers, Giles
 
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