This is a question that has long been through enthusiasts’ mind; what it is like to drive a race car on the road?
By race car, I am not referring to heavily-modified street cars with a roll-cage and straight-piped exhaust. But a proper full-fledged race car, that is built to be driven on racing circuits, next to other race cars, in a regulated racing series.
Apparently, Doug DeMuro of Autotrader.com managed to figure out the answer to the question above. He did so by taking a Ferrari F430 Challenge to the street, a car that is developed to compete in the Ferrari Challenge, Ferrari’s one-make racing series that take place in racing circuits around the world.
I rather not spoil it by revealing how the drive turns out, but since you can see the video title, let’s go through what differs the F430 Challenge from a factory F430, and what makes driving it on the streets horrible.
Doug walked through the elements and parts that has been changed or upgraded to make the F430 a Challenge-spec. There are plastic windows, air-jack system, elevated-exhaust outlets, interior door handles, windshield washer reservoir, fuel filler on both sides with no fuel cap, engine kill switch and fire suppression system. Other than for weight-saving measures, the upgrades are mainly due to safety requirements.
After struggling to get into the F430 Challenge, Doug then showed the absence of luxury equipment in the interior such as carpeting, air-cond, sat-nav and leather-wrapped steering wheel. Instead, its driver will be assisted by a sea of FIA-mandated buttons and toggles as well as removable steering wheel. And as you would expect, a full roll-cage is present, too.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y4d1ozlN_Z8" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="700"></iframe>
Driving the F430 Challenge for some time, Doug said that his own Ferrari (a 360 Modena) feels like a Lexus GS350 Hybrid compared to the noisy, bone-shattering race car. Watch the video to see how he deals with the heat, bumps and noise from the car on city streets.
By race car, I am not referring to heavily-modified street cars with a roll-cage and straight-piped exhaust. But a proper full-fledged race car, that is built to be driven on racing circuits, next to other race cars, in a regulated racing series.
Apparently, Doug DeMuro of Autotrader.com managed to figure out the answer to the question above. He did so by taking a Ferrari F430 Challenge to the street, a car that is developed to compete in the Ferrari Challenge, Ferrari’s one-make racing series that take place in racing circuits around the world.
I rather not spoil it by revealing how the drive turns out, but since you can see the video title, let’s go through what differs the F430 Challenge from a factory F430, and what makes driving it on the streets horrible.
Doug walked through the elements and parts that has been changed or upgraded to make the F430 a Challenge-spec. There are plastic windows, air-jack system, elevated-exhaust outlets, interior door handles, windshield washer reservoir, fuel filler on both sides with no fuel cap, engine kill switch and fire suppression system. Other than for weight-saving measures, the upgrades are mainly due to safety requirements.
After struggling to get into the F430 Challenge, Doug then showed the absence of luxury equipment in the interior such as carpeting, air-cond, sat-nav and leather-wrapped steering wheel. Instead, its driver will be assisted by a sea of FIA-mandated buttons and toggles as well as removable steering wheel. And as you would expect, a full roll-cage is present, too.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y4d1ozlN_Z8" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="700"></iframe>
Driving the F430 Challenge for some time, Doug said that his own Ferrari (a 360 Modena) feels like a Lexus GS350 Hybrid compared to the noisy, bone-shattering race car. Watch the video to see how he deals with the heat, bumps and noise from the car on city streets.
