95 Berlinetta weight reduction and modifications.

The logo is embroidered. It lets me know which way is up.

 

Some tape on the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock position isn't a bad idea on the drag strip, Jim. El Gato has some yellow tape there...






[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNwMaOBOPIU[/ame]






3:30

 

Classic Coach is lucky indeed to have Felix around when it comes to engine modification, electrical systems and ECUs. He also fabricates custom exhausts. He's brilliant!

 

His twin turbo F355 Challenge cars...

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isn't the twin turbo 355c solly's car? Isn't that car sold to a guy in cali?

 

Yes, FBB. The yellow one.

 

which firm built actual carbon back bumper F355? Superperformance only built the front bumper. Thanks Tim

 

Who is the fleix guy and does his ECU do? or how do I get one lol

 

Felix Medina...Gato Tuning

 

Hi there. Here in the UK, one can road-register a 355 Challenge 10 years after it was made by simply adding Lights, a horn and a handbrake. I did precisely that and the weight went up from the stock 1320 KG to about 1360 KG. It's a full road-going Challenge-car (RHD, one of 14 RHD factory challenge cars).

I was at the Festival-Italia run by the UK Ferrari owners club at Brands Hatch yesterday and found that all the front-running Challenge cars had the following mods: Carbon Doors with Lexan Windows (complete replacement of original doors), which saves about 50 KG (110 lbs). Carbon front-hood cover, Carbon rear-engine cover (this does not save that much). Not sure about the bumpers but overall weight savings are over 70 KG from these changes.

Add to the above a custom exhaust system : 4x1x1 for each bank (modified headers, each bank going into a separate exhaust canister), which makes the engine sound like two 4-cyl engines up to about 4K RPM, but sound is great above 6.5K RPM where one normally is in the challenge car). The exhaust saves another 12-15 KG if not more.

The cars had normal bumpers and all had a MOTEC or other ignition system which bumps the power to about 420-430 HP.

I've got the modified exhaust, MOTEC and a Gruppe-M airbox on my car and will likely do the other mods above (doors, hood cover).

All of the above parts are manufactured by RNR Performance cars here in the Uk (www.rnrperformancecars.com) and the contact/owner is Richard Dougal ([email protected]) This guy manages all the top-running 355 challenge cars here in the UK and seems to know what he's doing. A good way to reduce weight!

Need to find the Carbon Bumpers somewhere. Not sure if RNR makes them but I'll ask them.

Cheers, -- Atul

 

Turns out that RNR also makes the bumpers. Here's the link to ALL their parts:

https://www.rnrperformancecars.com/parts/

No wonder their cars consistently place at the top of the grid .

-- Atul

 

This thread needs a revival . I am installing my genuine euro-spec challenge front and rear bumpers for the first time. I am noticing things I never knew before so was sifting through this thread for more info. I might start a new thread on the differences between a challenge bumper vs an OE bumper.

A few things:

1. Safetech composites threw away their 355 challenge molds, so they no longer offer these parts. That’s a shame as from the research I’ve gathered, it appears they are the only ones who ever pulled a mold off a genuine challenge front bumper, while other companies are merely offering light-weight front bumpers.

2. RNR and Superformance are offering light-weight standard spec bumpers, NOT challenge spec bumpers.


Here’s one dead giveaway:

1. Challenge bumpers have bigger brake duct openings. It’s obvious if you put the bumpers side by side, however, when the area is painted black with a front grille blocking the way, it is less obvious and actually hard to tell.

2. Challenge bumpers have a wider mouth. About an inch total (.5 inch wider on each side). This, I never knew and never noticed. There are also a ton of genuine 355 challenge cars out there running RNR or Superformance replica bumpers, which were not accurate to begin with, making it even harder to notice. In short, the challenge bumpers have a wider smile. After noticing it, I like it more. The mouth is also sitting .5 inch closer to the turn signals. The OE grille also sits short on a challenge bumper.


There are more differences, but I’ll probably start a new thread once I discover them all.

 

OE bumper.


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Challenge bumper


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A few samples of genuine challenge cars with most likely RNR/Superformance bumpers.



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Genuine challenge bumpers. Notice how thin the distance between the mouth and turn signals are?


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The challenge bumper appears to be slightly wider as well. I’m not sure why. I’m still having a hard time getting it all the way in as the brake ducts are hitting something. I need to shave where it hits, slide it all the way in and bolt it down. Then I’ll know with certainty if it is wider or not. As of right now, it does look a bit wider.


I see no reason why it needs to be wider. By design? Bad mold? Who knows.



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I don't know much about aero but is it possible it's wider to push the air around the the front wheel to reduce turbulence? Definitely looks wider in that last picture.

 

Could be as you want to cover the front tires as much as possible. However, the standard bumper does that just fine already.

 

Safetech moved to a smaller facility and tossed old "useless" molds in the process. Molds are large, heavy, and take up valuable floor space, so if customers aren't ordering often enough, a decision has to be made to keep or toss unfortunately. I would've gladly stored those molds if he was just gonna throw them away, but apparently, I'm a month too late.


I'd say half of the challenge cars out there are using some reproduction front bumper and understandably so as racing has plenty of "oops." It would have been nice to see manufacturers correctly label their re-productions as light-weight standard bumpers vs labeling them as "challenge style" bumpers and confuse the public (including myself). How many surviving challenge bumpers are out there? Who knows, but the differences in design was intentionally done by Ferrari and it should be recorded properly that challenge bumpers do have a slight but unique design differences outside of lighter weight construction. Now I feel lucky to have this NOS in my possession although I did primer it.

Having looked at thousands of pics of 355's over the past decade, I still can't believe this one went pass me. I consider myself pretty honed in to stuff like this. Not many things get passed me . Not easy to know the difference unless you have the two bumpers side by side and even then it is still difficult to tell the differences. I knew something was different when I put on the challenge bumper, but I could not pin point it. Thought it was all in my head. Once I installed the standard grille and realized it was quite a bit short on each side, it was a big WTF moment .