[Dr. Bob]

I'm not sure where to post this, but it's all a bit technical so I'll put it here

Reaction on another thread asking about some body modification:
Ferrari spends 100's of hours in the windtunnel to optimize body underflow for downforce. As you all know there are these bodykits like this one: http://www.ferrariforum.net/forum/download.php?id=1114

I don't think this is very good for that downforce, the whole front is different, and so is the airflow. How does this affect the handling at high speeds?

 

[Stradale]

I've seen this being advertised in Forza magazine for almost a year now. It is very nice. I must admit. I would be tempted to install one if I wre in the US.

The main difference with the front bumper is the air intake. The 360 has very ugly air intakes and the after market one looks so much nicer. Whether the cooling is sufficent with the smaller opening, I am not sure but it has a centre opening and I think the design would take care of channeling additional air from the centre. I know thw 360 is ver sensitive to cooling. A friend fitted the bra on his 360 Spyder and the car was in the red when we went for a long drive. He then removed the netting that's designed over the intake holes and now the car is perfect.

By designing the centre opening on the bumper, the "splitter" effect of cahneeling the iar into the centre of the underside is greatly affected. This certainly will affect the high speed stbility of the front end. This similar design on the F355 is it's weakness. At high speed say 260 to 280 kph, the front end feels "light". Whereas the front of the 360 "sticks" to the road.

So DrBob, you're quite right in having doubts about the effect on downforce with the after market fronts. But it's pretty, though. :wink:

 

[Rosso]

Ah, interesting.

Thanks for all that info, Stradale! Insightful post. I assume that the Stradale has even more "stickiness" on the front end at high speeds due to it's "lips" on the intakes than the normal 360, and from your description, esp. the 355?