2500 miles in a Stradale

This years Supercar Run gave me an opportunity to drive my Challenge Stradale for 2500 miles over 5 days and to get a really good impression of what this car is like as a drivers car.

While I won't say how fast we went, it wasn’t slow. We drove to altitudes of around 3000m (nearly 10000ft), with no decline in capability, on a variety of roads with up to 10hours in the seat each day. The trip was not without incident, the result of which is that we also drove a nearly new 360 Modena (F1 gearbox) for a day so I can make a direct comparison with that car too.

The seats in the CS are far more comfortable than the standard 360 sports seats. It's difficult to say why as they look the same, but they fit me, and my good lady, far better. This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of the car when doing long distance driving. The noise in the cabin (with the glass windows up) is generally similar in volume, if not tone, to the Modena, unless the exhaust valves open when the CS is noticeable noisier. The exhaust valves do not open all of the time, only doing so when pushing the car either during acceleration or at high speed. The sound when they do is just fantastic and some of the greatest fun moments were getting the car to open up while in long tunnels. When this happens, not only is the noise incredible, but the car vibrates and the reverberation caused is so strong it can be significantly felt through the seat - a real thrill.

The CS is quicker than the Modena. From standstill this is quite hard to notice but as the speed increases the difference between the two cars really shows. The CS, being lighter is also far more easy to drive into corners, it maintains stability for longer, is not skittish and to be honest can be driven to my limits very easily without any sense that the car is struggling at all.

The gearbox in the CS is a leap forward when compared to the F1 fitted to the Modena. The gear changes are smooth and quick with no real sign of any jerking, something certainly noticeable on the Modena. Having been a fan of the 6 speed in my last 360 I have to say I wouldn’t swap the CS gearbox for anything, especially when tackling mountain corner after mountain corner where control is improved by keeping both hands on the wheel and where gear changes can be done really quickly.

The ride on the CS is certainly a bit firmer than the Modena but it’s hard to say in just what sort of way this is felt when in the car. Some hard suspensions in other cars can cause the car to hit you with each bump in the road, this just doesn’t happen with the CS. It’s just more subtle than that. Perhaps the easiest thing to say is that the Modena perhaps feels a little bit more as though it rolls and for those of you who have driven or own a Modena to say they roll is ridiculous.

The brakes are fantastic and, if anything, better now than when the car was new. They make a slight ‘rushing’ noise but showed no sign at all of any wear or weakness in any way. They also stop the car like nothing else.

For ‘normal’ driving RACE mode does all the things it says in the book but for the driver the most noticeable changes are the improved speed of gear change and a loss of what I can only describe as little bit of breathlessness. The car is just better, and louder, so it’s tempting to keep the RACE mode on all of the time, although this is not what we did.

In the end the question is whether the CS is a car that can be used on the road – most defiantly the answer is yes. It may be more ‘raw’ and you can hear every stone that hits the underside of the car. However, it is comfortable, no more noisy in real terms than the Modena and the driving experience it offers is so much of a step above the Modena that they are hard to compare.

 

One of the cars on the Supercar Run was a GT2. It really needs the turbo blowing hard to do eveything it can do so at times it too doesn't deliver quite what the driver would like. All cars have their stengths and weeaknesses, the CS is, in my opinion, one very, very capable car and one I'm even more impressed with as it hasn't lost very good normal road behaviour to its great track capabilities

 

Not at all, and I'm honestly trying to give as objective a view as possible. The GT3 thoughts came from the owner of the GT2 which is an awsome piece of kit but perhaps not quite such an all round useful car as I have found the CS to be.

I'd love to fault the CS and so far my biggest grip is a slight hesitation/breathlessness when not in RACE mode with the car nearing opening of the exhaust values.

As you may all have read I also had a problem with the cat but this has been shown to be have been due to a faulty air flow sensor so not something I would hold againt the car as such.