How does the 488 challenge evo drive? Considering purchasing for HPDE use

only two races left for the 488 anyway.

296 is a fresh design. well balanced car. It has the built in IMSA flag system. It does not work perfectly yet, but very cool.

 

Having done Club Challenge several times over the last 2 years, I really do not advise taking the 488 out for a high performance track day unless you already know car well. The car really takes a full support team to run appropriately. If you are already familiar with the car, I suppose you could get by - but if the car is new to you, it's going to be difficult to figure it all out.

I would consider running at least 1 or 2 Club Challenge events to get an idea of what the car does, and what sort of support is involved. Club Challenge is a great experience anyway, and you are able to rent the car from a team with full support.

One stipulation is that you must have a coach for Club Challenge - which you can coordinate with your Ferrari team to help setup. The estimated costs for a weekend are close to what has been mentioned - but be aware that damages can be very expensive at this level.

Another consideration would be to go through the Corso Pilota program - and you'll have full training on the Challenge 296 at the race level of the program.

There are only 2 North American races left for the 488 in the Challenge series, then next year will be all 296's. The 488 will be able to be used for Club Challenge, but no longer for the racing series. The 488 Evo is fantastic - great handling and power. The 296 is even faster - but much more expensive as well.

 

That’s a good point about the 488 only having two races left. Will there be a ton of cars coming to market? Would love to pick up a minty fresh 488 evo!

 

This is what I'm hoping

 

Right now there are 4 groups running the 296, and one running the 488.
Likely there will be more 488s on the market soon - but many of them came on the market last year.
I suspect prices will drop somewhat, but I'm not sure if you'll see significant drops at this point.
At this point, not sure how many will be "minty fresh" - lots of wear and tear on the ones that have been used. But they do hold up well in general.

 

Historically the challenge cars plummet at the end of the final season during a transition year. The spike in availability doesn’t happen until a few months after the final race and it seems driven by space and clearing out cars more than anything. Of course some cars trickle out early as guys jump to the new car in the half season but even then many teams hold cars as spares or to sell amongst other teams who are still in old equipment. Then come the main cars, spare cars, and test cars all at once. The prices seem to go down initially until the best cars clear out then bottom out as only bent or I’ll kept cars flush out before prices stabilize and then rebound some. Things then seem to stay stagnate several years until becoming collectible. I base this opinion on currently owing multiple copies of each challenge car from 348 through 488. It seems to happen the same way each time there’s a change and has for each model change.

 

Very helpful information. Thank you for posting.

 

where do you recommend looking for challenge cars? I follow bringatrailer, ferrari cop, and racecarsforyou. Dealer pricing seems very high.

 

Many of my challenge cars came from Ferrari dealers and brokers (I can send you a PM for a couple I’d recommend if you’d like). A few cars also came directly from owners including members here and through FCA that I had perused because I wanted their specific car. If you’re looking for a 458/488 they’re somewhat readily available. If you want an early car or one with excellent history you’re going to need to be aggressive and expect to pay up because there’s very few and they don’t trade as often.

 

Please PM those contacts. Thanks so much.

 

Ferrari of San Antonio have a nice red 488 Challenge parked out front right now

 

I personally found it difficult to find a good 488. A lot of them have been rode hard for some reason. I know of a racing school out west went through a bunch of them. I would steer clear of those cars.
You can find a cheap one, but it is not worth it. You will go to the track and watch your mechanic work on the car.