Thanks. I've done quite a bit of track time in the 458 Challenge and simply love it! Looking forward to a lot of track and test days this year
I am new to this series but not to racing. I can tell you the 488 Challenge is the first Challenge car that looks like it started from the GT race car and not the street car. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ferrari Challenge Europe. 19-21 may 2017 . V A L E N C I A Spain Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Just got back from Valencia racing with the new 488C. OK the car is amazingly fast and has unbelievable torque. Many corners that could be be done flat out gas with 458C cant be done with the new car. Gas should be very smooth out of corners or you will spin before you know it. Aero is very good compared to 458C but IMO not enough for a 670hp car. Some cars including mine have had serious rear brake problems. Brakes were getting very hot and eating the pads like crazy. Brembo and Ferrari engineers were all over the cars and we ended up replacing discs and pads. I think they will soon sort out the problem. It could have been my setup but I've had severe over-steer problems when turning into corners. So the use of brakes are very critical with these new cars. Either we have to adapt our driving skills and/or find better ways to setup the car correctly. But the setup alternatives and parts available are rather limited in Challenge series compared to other GT classes. So saying that it is a real race car is a bit far from truth. Better by far than the 458C for sure but still not very close to a GT3 car. But then the 488GT3 costs more than twice the 488C Lastly, the rear camera view is really a joke for a race car. It is so wide angle that it shows the car behind you as if it is 200mt in the back but when you look at the side mirrors, it is actually right behind your butt. I guess they have used the rear parking camera which is totally not fit for racing. I hope they will soon replace it with something usable. We will obviously know more in 2 weeks in Monza
Thanks for the above. I heard the same re the brakes and glad my 488CH is slightly delayed....looking fwd to Monza.....
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You're welcome. I must clarify that I'm not a seasoned pro-level racer who can analyze the car and make judgments after a few laps. These are my amateur racer opinions. I'm sure a good pro racer who had driven the car may make better and more reliable comments. Of course we have just done 2 days of testing, 2 qualis and 2 races. As an amateur we will have more feedback from Monza once we get used to the car a bit more. But one thing is for sure, they have to get rid of that rear view camera
I don't see too many F1 drivers on this chat board. Many of us are amateurs. Again, Great feedback. I would like to know some of the nuances of the new car. It is very helpful because it is a small group of people which drive these cars.
