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DNA
FULL
CIRCLE
DNA’s 360 replica climbs another rung on the ladder towards an ever
more convincing physical copy of one of the world’s most exclusive sports
cars. It may look a million dollars or around £80,000 as the going rate
for a used right hooker, but does it press the right buttons from behind the
wheel? Ian Hyne finds out.
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DNA 360
A blank canvas. Rather than an exciting glimpse of
Ferrari’s glorious 3,586 cc quad-cam, 32-valve normally
aspirated 400 bhp V8, the DNA offers a black mesh grille.
F
errari was on a high in the wake of the
355. Universally endorsed as one of the
prettiest and most competent handling
Ferraris ever, as well as one of the most useable which owners didn’t have to suffer both
to own and to drive, its successor would
have to be nothing short of brilliant – and it
was. The 360 arrived in coupe form in
1999 with the Spyder following in 2000.
Not only was it an instant hit on the car catwalk, it also boasted Ferrari’s stiffest ever
chassis and its most powerful ever normallyaspirated 3,586 cc V8 developing over
400 bhp. With its computer-controlled electronic suspension system and choice of standard manual or electro-hydraulic sequential
six-speed gearbox, it was also a real blast to
drive and hailed, especially in track spec, as
among the finest Ferraris ever made. Throw
in exclusivity, fine hand-stitched leather trim,
the smell, the noise and the sense of occasion that comes as a no cost option with the
Prancing Horse logo on the bonnet and you
begin to appreciate the aura that surrounds
the marque.
It’s a long way from Modena to Brum
with an equal gulf between Ferrari’s clinical
facilities and those available in the corner of
a Birmingham factory unit. But that’s where
DNA has spent the last four years working
long, hard and exhausting hours up to their
ankles in GRP, body filler and dust producing
the car that they hope has captured the aura
of the 360 even if its mechanical base will
never rival the Ferrari’s blissful performance.
Even from a short distance, the car looks
right, correctly proportioned and cosmetically convincing. The bodywork is smooth, lustrous and carries a deep expensive looking
shine that adds to the impression of expense.
But get really close and the details that just
couldn’t be convincingly copied reveal kitform compromise. Look through the perspex
cover on the rear deck and instead of
Ferrari’s alluring aluminium V8, there’s nothing. Instead there’s a mesh under the rear
deck screen to conceal the lesser allure of a
transverse four-cylinder 1,800. Look inside
and instead of acres of Italian leather, artistic switchgear, the hallmark polished alloy
gear lever gate, and a speedometer reading
up to 200 mph, there’s a mix of leather covered MR2 panels and Toyota’s textured plastics though DNA are currently working on
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enhanced interior details. The genuine 360
18” alloys are the right size but the discs
look lost within them. Again, DNA is currently working on a package to increase both
the size of discs and callipers to look 100%
convincing rather than fitting the dummies
that look detrimentally cheap and nasty on
some other replicas. And then there are the
small, slightly imperfect details that betray
this car’s status as one of the first out of DNA
but there are better things to come – often an
ultimately empty promise but in this case, I
have seen the improvements that will benefit
production kits.
So it’s never going to fool anyone who
gets a close look at it, nor is it going to allow
the driver the happy reverie that he’s sitting in
an exquisitely crafted cockpit with 400 bhp
at his command. But then few replicas ever
get anywhere near recreating the look, feel
and especially the performance of their collective inspirations. But there’s something else
that’s high on the list of necessary supercar
credentials – the way the car makes you
feel, and I have to say that, though the mental sensations fall short of those generated by
the pukka job, those that accompany this
pretender create a real buzz. It provokes
huge enthusiasm wherever it goes, camera
phones appear en masse every time it stops
and, even when you tell admiring onlookers
DNA F
possibilities for convincing copies in the several well-executed 355 copies that graced
the Toyota MR2 Mk2. When the 360
appeared, DNA had a really good look at
it and reckoned a good copy was feasible,
a view cemented when the MR2 Mk3 came
along. The wheelbase is only 4” shorter than
that of the 360 while hand sculpted panel
sizes mean the finished DNA is only fractionally (2.4%) shorter while the track is bang on
due to the use of four to five stud wheel spacers . OK, the 1800 VVT only produces 145
bhp @ 6,500 rpm but DNA has a plan for
a turbo and replacement ECU to boost output to around 240 bhp.
Thus the starting point is the requisite
MR2 which will cost you around £3,500 for
a lightly panel damaged car up to around
£5,000 for a good condition early model.
With the car in the workshop, you need the
spanners to remove the bumper panels, bonnet, boot lid and front and rear wings. Now
comes the only nerve-jangling aspect of the
job as you have to trim 2” from the top of the
outer skins of the doors so that the new panels can achieve the correct profile.
Alternatively, if you really don’t like angle
grinders, then simply unpicking the tops of
the door skins and bending and filling will
achieve the same result but will take rather
longer. Naturally all the door furniture and
Rather than a V8 filling all the available space, the Toyota
1,800 is hidden deep in the bowels of the bay but it’s certainly got some pep with the option of a good deal more.
that it’s a pale imitation, it fails to curb their
eagerness and interest. And, as ever with kit
cars, it won’t cost you anywhere near
£80,000. DNA will build you a car for
around £27,000 or sell you a kit to do the
job yourself for £6,500 inc for the body
complete with all hinges, locks and fixings.
And if you doubt your ability to fit the body,
DNA will do that for you in exchange for an
additional £1,800 inc. So where do you
start?
Like many companies that have a
healthy proportion of Italian automotive
blood in their collective veins, DNA saw the
anti-intrusion beams stay in place, thus the
MR2’s structural integrity remains intact.
With the car now pretty much prepared,
DNA’s replacement bottom wishbone conversion can be fitted. It offers a wider track
with camber and castor adjustment while the
springs and dampers remain unaltered even
though the car is lowered by 80mm at the
rear.
You can now fit the 360 size wheels
and tyres – just to see what they look like but
you’d better take them off again or they’ll get
covered in muck. They’re big and I mean
BIG. Fronts are 8” x 18” fitted with
215/35s and the rears are 10” x 18” fitted
with 255/35s. Bolted straight on, they’d
foul the front wheel arches and have too narrow a track, hence the wider track a-arms
and the spacers, 35mm at the front and
75mm at the back, which additionally incorporate a four to five stud conversion. Regular
readers who caught Nigel Dean’s piece on
spacers in our October issue will know that
just bolting on a spacer can cause all sorts
of problems but these ones, despite their
size, have been properly engineered and
the suspension geometry has been correctly
maintained.
With the car prepared, it’s time for the
body panels. DNA say they can fit a body
in a week. After the practice they have had,
they probably can but doing it yourself will
probably take a bit longer. There are twenty
three panels in all, some being bonded and
bolted in place, others just bolted but perfect
panel alignment is crucial to the look of the
completed 360 so you need to take your
time. At the time of my visit, I was shown the
production panels in white gel-coat and the
surface quality is excellent so DNA’s claim of
no requirement for filler is well founded but
you still need to take your time to line them
up perfectly with minimal panel gaps.
On initial reflection the financial chasm
between £6,500 for a body kit and
£27,000 for a completed car, even
allowing for the cost
of a suitable donor
seems vast. But of
course, you need a
bit more than the
body kit. The kit itself
provides the body
with all hinges, locks
and
catches.
Additionally supplied
are the necessary
bonding agents, the
roll bar hoops, mirrors and mirror glass,
light shrouds, lenses and support assemblies,
ABS wheel arch liners and the underbody
kit. You then need the mohair hood in a
choice of colours at £525 after which the
extras list beckons. Here you find the engine
cover window panel at £120, the wheel
hub extension kit at £350, the front lower
wishbone conversion at £280, the front light
pack with side repeaters at £320 and the
grille set at £420. On top of that you’ve got
the wheels and tyres at around £1,000,
however much leather you want to spread
around the cockpit and that all important
paint. Tot that up and your self-build bill has
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DNA 360
risen from £6,500 to about £9,500 without
the donor or paint. Whether or not it’s good
value rather depends on how much you
desire a car that looks like this but certainly
it’s a competitive price that is still several
grand cheaper than the cost of a completed
car.
But does it press the right buttons?
I immediately liked this car because it
wasn’t smothered in badges proclaiming it to
be what it obviously wasn’t. Hook a finger
into the doortop flap that serves as the handle and it swings out on a cabinet door
hinge. It works faultlessly but whether it can
hold up when subjected to the effects of rain
and muck only time will tell. Climb aboard
and the interior of the Mk3 MR2 is sufficiently unfamiliar to many people to create the
novelty impact and while you’re aware that
textured plastics aren’t Modena’s first choice
as trim materials, it’s still a pleasant and modern cabin that’s been enhanced by DNA’s
application of a bit more leather which will
very soon extend to replica inner door panels. In respect of the interior, the sky’s the limit
in respect of what you do to it but over and
above the décor is the fact that it remains an
eminently practical, ergonomic and comfort-
The MR2 cockpit is well
laid out and quite classy
on its own but a bit more
leather always elevates the
decor to a far classier level
of opulence.
able place to be with
all the convenience
of any modern car.
Does it feel special? Well even
though you’re sitting
in a modified MR2,
yes it does. It’s a
snug sports car cockpit on its own and
knowing what the
car looks like from
the outside enhances
the appeal from within. And you can see
it through the screen over that sloping valley
between the bulbous wings, through the
overtaking mirrors which reflect the air
intakes above the rear wings and in shop
windows that reflect the whole car as it rolls
past. I’ve never been a poser, ie driving a
car purely in order to make others think of
you in a certain way. However, deriving personal pleasure from the way a car looks and
the way it makes you feel is something completely different and others enjoy it too. You
can see it in people’s faces as you cruise
past, feel eyes upon you as you sit at the
lights and they’re not eyes of envy or jeal-
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ousy but rather of a resounding thumbs up.
Though it’s not what it appears to be, the
DNA 360 is still a pretty neat performer as
one would naturally expect of a modern
sports car. Indeed Toyota’s Mk3 has attracted high praise for ability, handling, roadholding and performance. Vital statistics are
145 bhp @ 6,500 and 126 lbs ft @
3,500. It weighs in at 970 kgs which is pretty light and though DNA hasn’t weighed the
360, chiefly because this car is significantly
heavier than production cars will turn out to
be, DNA reckons it will only be marginally
heavier than the standard car. We’ll wait for
confirmation but certainly the 360 is a nippy
and pacey car as we zip round Birmingham
looking for wide open spaces.
Off the mark it feels quicker than its quoted figures of 0 – 60 in 7.2 seconds but we
didn’t get as far as confirming its top speed
of 140. But if it’s less than scorching off the
blocks, it packs a real punch in the midrange where its variable valve timing chimes
DNA
in at higher rpm to get it really rocking. But
while I enjoyed its poke, I was more
impressed by its poise. Even lowered and on
large diameter, rubber band tyres, it rode
very smoothly over Birmingham’s less than
perfect pave, skipped over speed bumps
without cracking its skirts and proved highly
manoeuvrable, responsive and confidence
inspiring in the cut and thrust of city traffic.
Come the wider spaces it really picked
up pace with enthusiasm and a great
exhaust note and took to the bends like a
duck to water displaying real grip and fine
balance when pushed into a turn. Add effective all-wheel disc brakes, fluid and responsive steering and a great little five-speed that
doesn’t seem to be detrimentally affected by
the 18” rims and it adds up to a package
that puts a real smile on your face as much
for the driving pleasure of the MR2 as for the
new panels that disguise its shape. Add
them together and the DNA 360 exerts a
magnetic attraction for Ferrari fans.
Performance? Well it’s never going to be
in the 400 bhp V8 bracket but DNA is working on it. Toyota has been working on it too
and, to capitalise on its F1 involvement, the
company has had its German engineers
come up with an enhanced performance
package for the car. A Garrett turbo, air to air
intercooler and a freer flowing stainless steel
exhaust boost power to 195 bhp @ 6,000
with torque up to 184 lbs ft @ 3,500. There’s
a 20 kg weight penalty for the additional
ironmongery but it knocks two seconds off the
0 – 60 time. The only slight snag is the price
tag or around £4,000.
You could argue that the cost of a DNA
with the new performance upgrade is getting
quite close to used prices for older Ferraris
but the clincher, as ever, lies in much lower
running costs, around 30 mpg and one of the
DNA guys’s fully comprehensive insurance
premium of just £350. I liked it.
Further information:
DNA Automotive
1180 Aldridge Road
Great Bar
Birmingham
B44 8PE
Tel: 0121 360 1930
Web: www.dnaautomotive.com
Email: [email protected]
The hood is excellent, well made and fits beautifully, largely due to
Toyota’s provision of the upper screen finish and hood fixings.
There are 23 panels in the body kit and all need to be perfectly aligned to lend credence to the cosmetic deception.
This one’s pretty good.
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