Official FERRARI CHALLENGE cars and racing thread | FerrariChat

Official FERRARI CHALLENGE cars and racing thread

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by roma1280, Apr 12, 2019.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    I bought a 488 challenge car last year and am doing a few races this season.

    It is amazing fun and just wanted to start a thread about the challenge cars (of all types - 348, 355, 360, 430, 458 and 488) and about the races.

    Also can answer questions about Ferrari challenge for drivers wanting to get into it. Have a good handle on what is needed, logistics, how to train etc.
     
    GuyIncognito likes this.
  2. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    First let’s start with the car. Buying it wasn’t difficult, I told the dealer if he could find me a car I would buy one. The next day I got a text saying “your car has arrived!”
     
    carguyjohn350 likes this.
  3. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    The cars only come in a few colors. Red obviously, white, yellow and that might be it.
    You need a couple of sets of wheels and you need to install the VBOX system which I find amazing. It records video from a small thumb sized camera in the middle of the dash and additionally registers a whole host of parameters for you to review with the software like brake position, throttle position and literally dozens of others. E.g. g force, steering angle, speed etc.
     
    vdettore likes this.
  4. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    For those that want to buy a car and just drive the car and practice, there is an amazing new program which is extremely inexpensive that allows you to run your car at all the Ferrari challenge weekends in dedicated sessions. It is called club challenge.
     
  5. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    So what do you wear?
    This is a proper racecar, so you need the proper gear, which is part of the fun.
    You need fireproof undergarments, a suit, driving shoes, gloves, HANS device and an 8860 spec helmet, which is the same as the F1 standard.
     
  6. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    The first time I drove the car was st Road Atlanta, a pretty epic track. Certainly not the easiest and of relatively old design. It was amazing fun.

    So what is the car like to drive. Forget driving it for a second, how do you get in? I quickly realized you can’t get into it like a normal car. The only way I can get in is by reaching through the door and grabbing the roll bar by the roof of the car, standing on the seat, sliding my legs into the footwell and then sliding sideways into the seat. I have the hang of it now but I can’t say I’m particularly graceful.

    Once you are inside the cockpit is snug and the car disappears around you and it’s surprisingly comfortable. I have recently had a moulded seat insert made and that really adds to the comfort. Expandable foam is out in a bag, the excess is cut away and the insert is taped up. This pic was while the foam was setting.



    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  7. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    Back to the driving. The car is fantastic, it’s a monster, it’s intoxicating, it’s direct, it’s loud, it’s responsive. The acceleration is impressive. The gearing is much shorter than the road car and you can redline the first 4 gears in 6 seconds. Like a motorbike. The first time you rifle through the gears it is literally laugh out loud fun. Whohoo!!!!
     
  8. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    As impressive as the acceleration is, the braking is in a different league. You can throw out the anchors at 160 and get to 60 in a little over a second. You feel the g force from behind your eyeballs. It’s AMAZING. And addictive. As I have been working on my driving, braking is something I am doing well. It is so important for going quickly as you can gun it to the very last second and gain all that time until you brake.
     
  9. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    Here I am with my coach at Road Atlanta. Yes you need a coach. These guys are amazing. Many professional racing drivers coach on the side. It is impossible to progress without someone to help you gradually and safely progress. My coach is the guy that looks like a racecar driver. I am the one that looks like a middle aged guy in a driving suit.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
    tomc and carguyjohn350 like this.
  10. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    Since last summer I have tried to drive when I can, always with the coach and am doing a few races this season. I raced at COTA which was amazing. I finished both races which is was thrilled with. Prior to them I had never raced, not even in a tricycle race.
     
    carguyjohn350 likes this.
  11. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
  12. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    NürScud likes this.
  13. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    gt4me and NürScud like this.
  14. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    tomc likes this.
  15. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 30, 2007
    91,702
    very cool Mark! thanks for sharing.

    good luck this year :)
     
  16. Challenge64

    Challenge64 F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Jul 28, 2004
    6,299
    Full Name:
    Ron
    Wait what? extremely inexpensive & Ferrari Challenge in the same sentence?! Please explain. Club Challenge? Never heard of it. All Challenge cars or just the 488?
     
  17. stokpro

    stokpro F1 Rookie
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Jun 25, 2003
    4,383
    Himalayas
    Mark, super cool that you went head first into Challenge series having never previously raced. Go big or go home! And it appears you're doing pretty well in class, too!

    There's a specific forum on here dedicated to Challenge/GT cars - might get more action with this thread in that forum... https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/forums/challenge-gt-cars.185/

    In addition to the colors you mentioned, the 488C also comes in silver (argento nurburgring) and I think possibly grigio titanio as well.
     
  18. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    Oh thanks I couldn’t find an active thread. Mods please move this thread if it’s in the wrong place.
     
  19. roma1280

    roma1280 F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 2, 2010
    4,207
    Palm Beach, Roma
    Yes inexpensive! The club challenge gives you 2 hours of track time per day at 5 Ferrari challenge weekends and I think it’s $9,000 to join the program and do 2 events for you to try, if you want to add the remaining 3 I think it’s just another $10,000. Compared to doing a Challenge season that is very inexpensive. Actually the first time I drove my challenge car (at Road Atlanta) last year it was under a similar program and it was a BLAST.
     
    carguyjohn350 likes this.

Share This Page