mranderson

Great shots of the car and love your plate! The shot with you in it highlights how well proportioned the car is. The double bubble looks awesome!

ISPYA718

Thanks for feedback. I appreciate it. The plate may be temporary. I had convertible with every previous sports car I’ve owned bar the last one when I was talked into a coupe ​​​​​​as I was doing more track days and fellow enthusiasts persuaded me into a coupe. When I went back to the convertible someone said I guess your “spyderman” after all and so that has it came to be. We will see if I keep the plate. I love an open top car.

Selo

As much as I lust after a 360 or 430 Spider with a gated manual, I know I'm just too practical to do it. I don't mind the purchase price, or even depreciation if it were new, but I couldn't stomach those maintenance costs. I know I'm going to be dodging tomatoes here, or at least expletives, but if I look at any other car that needs the frequency of repairs that Ferraris do, which also happen to cost an arm and a leg, I'd call it a **** car and I wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pole. I know Ferraris are thrilling and spectacular, but I can't accept giving any brand a pass on reliability because of performance woodies. So instead I buy the Spyder, my poor man's Ferrari, beautiful in my eyes, damn near bullet proof, still available with a manual, and half the cost of a Ferrari, Lambo, or McLaren. A fricken bargain.

ISPYA718

Agree with your assertion that is why I wrote “I have zero apprehension using the Porsche on an extended road trip. You could drive the Porsche daily and not worry about throwing a CEL.” ... “the reliability of Porsche vs Ferrari. So Spyder gets checkered flag.”.... And what it offers, and it’s crazy to say about a 6 figure car, but it is under priced.”

The Ferrari does feel fragile. There is a certain cost per year you need to set aside for older Ferrari. But it is a cost benefit analysis in the truest sense. But since the 458 you can get a 7 year warranty and r Ferrari owners I have spoken to indicate they are better built and reliable.

RonLu

ispya718, when downshifting into 1st gear are you double clutching or just letting the auto-blip do its thing? Are you finding that you are doing this often to get the most out of the car at lower speeds?

wizee

Not speaking for ISPYA718, but I’ve been downshifting to first too for slow corners and traffic. It does make the car feel much livelier. I’ve just been letting auto blip do its thing when shifting to first below 40 km/h, without double clutching.

Above, 40 km/h, there isn’t much reason to downshift to first, as second has enough torque, and the synchros resist for a moment to get the transmission up to speed. Downshifting to first above 40 km/h probably isn’t too great for the transmission either due to synchro wear. One could double clutch, but the extra time it takes makes the downshift to first from second pointless.

ISPYA718

This is contrary to everything I’ve been taught about driving a manual - first by my father who loved to heel and toe and double clutch - (he was a Brit to the core and whose first love was motorbikes and then cars and convinced me to buy my first sports car at 17 with stick. He would have loved to have driven both my Porsche and Ferrari but sadly died before I had moved into this category of sports cars) and also by track instructors, but it I do find it makes a difference. I would also endorse Wizee statements above about shifting.

ISPYA718

This is contrary to everything I’ve been taught about driving a manual - first by my father who loved to heel and toe and double clutch - (he was a Brit to the core and whose first love was motorbikes and then cars and convinced me to buy my first sports car at 17 with stick. He would have loved to have driven both my Porsche and Ferrari but sadly died before I had moved into this category of sports cars) and also by track instructors, but it I do find it makes a difference. I would also endorse Wizee statements above about shifting.

Larry Cable

double de-clutching was a must prior modern synchros ... its an anachronism in the world of modern synchromesh transmissions ... IMO YMMV

wizee

In general, yes. I can imagine it being beneficial (in terms of synchro wear and shift smoothness) to double clutch in cases where there is a large increase in revs happening, for example downshifting from third to first at 50 km/h, but I’d say it makes more sense to just shift to second in such a scenario.

ISPYA718

The irony is at Ferrari dealership when I bought the car the GM was telling me why I should be buying the F1 DCT and how I would lose money by buying the manual. Little did he know ....

66mustang

That is Genitan Blue, it is a fantastic color

CarAholic

Sorry if I miss read it but do you still have the 360 or did you trade it in on the spyder. Currently contemplating trading in my 430 for another GT4.

ISPYA718

Yes Porsche, Audi, Jag, etc. “made me an offer I couldn’t refuse” a few years ago when the gated manual demand was very high. It ended up at Porsche.

time_4_porsche

Thanks for the write up ISPYA718. I was looking exactly for this type of owner comparison as I also have a Porsche Spyder (but of the 981 generation). I love the ethos of the Spyder (engagement and joy on the road rather than track performance). I wondered which other car had the same feel, but maybe a bit more raw, and it sounds like the manual 360 spider is just the one.

Have you driven the manual 430 spider? How does that compare?