Cost to run a 488 Challenge or challenge car

Thanks!

For “fly and drive” programs for SCCA, NASA and International GT, what are some recommended companies (with Ferrari’s only!) who provide these fly and drive services?


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Did you get the answers you needed? I have done lots of Ferrari Challenge weekends and I run the 488 challenge EVO at a track by myself and do club races.

 

Thank you very much!


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Anyone have any options for tires besides the Pirelli?

 

I run Hankooks all the time on the 458 Ch. I like them.

Pirelli’s are a bit stickier at first, but fall off faster.

I’m getting about 2-1/2 hard track days on a set, depending on how aggressively the camber is set in the front.

 

Full slicks. I was also running Hankook RS4s back and forth with the slicks (I’d planned to use them primarily as rain tires) but had a catastrophic failure at Sebring last week, I was extremely lucky the car didn’t hit wall, but a lesson learned. - combination tires don’t have the necessary sidewall strength or stamina,

I plan to run slicks only from now on.
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We joke about the 458 challenge. It was designed by Pirelli not Ferrari because the car works so well on the Pzero challenge slicks and eats them so fast. You cannot run this car without the Pzero's.
He is lucky the tire did not blow off the rim. There would be nothing left of the rear corner.

 

I remember those days.

 

The RS4s are not full slicks, although I do run the Hankook Ventus 200s (full slicks). Yes I was extremely lucky it happened just after the bridge (T6) at Sebring.

I’ve yet to learn whether it was a sidewall failure or the tire picked up something on track.

Lesson learned, and yeah it could’ve been a lot worse all the way around.

A shame one cannot buy one cycle Pirellis for the 458 any longer from vendors that collect them from Ferrari race teams. They’re 600 a set of four for the 488.

 

The Pzero tire's width, circumference and depth is already been used to program the traction control systems (E-diff, braking ECU, Traction control, etc) by Ferrari. When you start to change the tire size just a little bit the car will under perform. You have a lot of computers working together to maximize the handling at the edge of adhesion.

When you run anything but the challenge Pzero's it's not going to work. It might even throw error codes i.e. TCU error.

I never complain about the cost of tires. It is cheap insurance.

 

We ran our 458CH Evo in 8-9hr endurance races which require 180TW tires. We've raced on MPSC2s, MP4S, Potenza RE71Rs, and a couple other "R" spec street tires. Never had an issue with any of them, they needed a bit of setup work to get the balance right and the TC would intervene earlier than I'd like in setting 1 but was fine in setting 0. Won plenty of races on those tires.

 

The point of owning a Challenge car is ease of use. Out of the box they are safe and fast.

Challenge cars are setup already from the factory with minor adjustments. Most people owning these cars do not have a race team with an engineer. They are designed to run the factory tire for maximum benefit with little adjustment. These cars were designed for a factory series.

You can change tires sizes, but you should just go to the next level which would be a GT3 or GT4 car which are full adjustable. Most people don't want the cost and the hassles associated with GT3 cars.

 

Got it about the Pzeros. There was a time you couldn’t even get them.

I may be getting some compromise in performance by running Hankooks, they’re a slightly different size.

I haven’t had TC or ABS issues, but I generally run with everything off.

Funny comment about Pirelli designing the car. Waycon is the co designer…..

Still, it’s a great car.

 

Post mortem indicates tire picked up debris on track which punctured lower inside tire wall.

 

Sascosports.com will ship the Ferrari challenge tires to your door or to the track. Order them and put them on your rims. Start at 17 psi.
First lap, stay off all curbs. Get them up to temperature. Third lap is your fastest of the day. I have spoken.

 

This is spot on, I would add don’t brake hard on the first lap or so as the tires will slip around on the rim and lose balance.

 

I run Hankooks and use an alternate universe theory, slightly over inflating to about 24 psi for a few laps, then pitting to release pressure back to their recommended 22 psi. I found this move (and dragging brakes a bit the first few laps) really helps prevent tire-rim rotation. No curbs either.

It’s all about tire pressure management, and I’m letting out the most air after the first few hot sessions. It gradually subsides as the day goes on.

I’m getting about thirteen heat cycles out of a set of Kooks - that’s 2-3 tracking days. Slightly less if I dial in more camber up front.

 

It's just a shame because you have not even reached the potential of the 458 challenge. I ran a 2:07 at Sebring with the right setup and track conditions in a standard 458 CH.

 

Could I get more out of the car? Absolutely. A 2:07 is plain fast, and a testimony to your track skills.

Track conditions would obviously play a role, I get it. You’re looking at a few low humidity, cool months a year at Sebring at best.

Other than alignment, what is there to set up? Camber, toe in….both front and rear…..,,what’s left?

 

There is also a safety factor too. With the right setup and balance it is not only about speed, it is also about safety. We say, new tires is cheap insurance.
I cringe when I see blown up tires coming off the rim. It tells me, wrong tire and unsafe conditions. The 458 is a very fast machine. I have seen this car fly off the track and into the infield at Sebring at 150 mph then cartwheel 4 or 5 times.
At Daytona a 458 lost a tire into turn one and ended up in the parking lot. It hit the fence so hard the engine came out of the car rolled into the truck parking.
Road America a 458 flew for150 yards and 30 feet up in the air.

This car is no joke.

 

No, not a joke, the car is fast and certainly capable of hurting someone. I saw the RA video - nauseating.

Although unlucky to lose a rear tire, it was due to a puncture on the inner tire wall -bad luck, but fortunate it didn’t turn out to be a major catastrophe.

The next set of tires I put on will be Pirellis, and I’ll see how much of a difference it’ll make. FWIW the Hankooks haven’t caused any issues with TCS (which I generally turn off) or ABS.

Currently getting about two track days, some tracks being harder on tires than others.

 

I can relate to punctured inner tire wall. I punctured a rear (DH) tire at COTA - got a bit aggressive over the rumble strips through the esses before tires were fully warmed up. Luckily I caught it in T17 and limped into pits for a new tire and immediately went back out. This last time I ran COTA in DHB tires on 488 CH EVO, the sidewall construction seemed much improved over DH tires.
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