360 Challenge Car for the street ???

Can you realistically buy a used, semi-thrashed 360 Challenge Car for sub $100k, and drive it on the street? You might look a bit strange with #'s and Logo's, but it would be cool.

Does anyone know if the 360 Challenge cars are "streetable" ?

 

They are not streetable. There is no vin#, no OBD computer so will not pass smog. If caught will be confiscated and crushed. Even if you could get away with it, that car needs a perfectly smooth road surface and would be intolerable on typical public roads. Look for a stradale.

 

I've had the EXACT same thoughts! However, everyone I've mentioned it to say the same thing: not suitable for the street. Too noisy, hard riding, uncomfortable, and the roll cage presents safety issues when driving without a helmet. No doubt, these are very valid concerns! Here in Aus, the fact that it is LHD (and thus not registrable) presents further complications, but in the US, I'm guessing the pollution and other registration requirements would be difficult to surmount.


I’ve wondered whether one possible way around some of these issues might be to add some standard 360 hardware to the CH to tone it down, especially in regards to the exhaust system. For eg, that would go some way in resolving the pollution issue and making the car less noisy, wouldn’t it? Also, in regards to the harshness of the ride, couldn't the suspension be modified or adjusted to offer some (read: minimal) compliance for the public road? Also, the roll cage could be removed for street use. If it were I, I’d want to modify it in such a way that the car would be barely usable (but still usable), and that the non-standard parts facilitating that use could be removed, and the car could be returned to original race spec.

 

Its racing clutch will be impossibly harsh for street use.

 

All the concerns mentioned herein are legitimate. The car is in no way legal to drive on the streets. Some have done so with a dealer plate but that is a gray area at best and depending on the situation (and the law enforcement officer's mood) the car could be confiscated.

Aside from the legal aspect the car is NOT made for the streets from a set up standpoint. The suspension is so stiff that it feels like there is no suspension at all. Without any kind of noise dampening the car sounds (and feels) like a rattle trap. I even have one of my Challenge cars set up to Stradale specs which raises it a good two inches from race height setup. It still rides like crap on the road (just moving it around the local streets around my office and warehouse ). Furthermore, cwwhk is correct in his assessment of the race clutch. You have to turn the ASR off and start out in 2nd gear to have any chance of a semi-normal start from a light. The race clutch is either full "on" or off. There is no in between or "feathering" like the street cars.

All in all it is simply not usable on the street in any way. If you wanted to risk it you could run it on a dealer plate, change the suspension to that of a regular 360, and just keep the ASR off and start in 2nd gear. However, I think it would get old real fast!

On the track there is nothing like it. That's where it's at home.

 

Not legal, but they Do have VINs.
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