is a 360 challenge a viable daily driver?

If you change to slightly softer springs (perhaps stradale units?) you should be fine if you can deal with the noise.

 

It'll be very bumpy

 

I'm not sure, although I would think they wouldn't.

 

They're not street legal. If you skipped that part, they're way too harsh. No noise insulation, roll cage to deal with, etc.

 

Cars in europe are easier to legalize than in the states.

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I'm not sure how an aircon works but i'm sure it'll be possible. The noise of the cars will make you feel tired after a while (some can deal with it better than others). Climbing over the cage can be tricky at first but I know plenty of people who have full on race spec roll cages in their daily drives (saying that, their cars don't have noise insulation either and deal with it too...). Once you're in, you're in and better hope that you won't have to get out often!

I would still advice to fit softer springs though since the car most likely won't see slicks and if i'm correct, the cars are setup for that normally.

 

You'd be better off with a 360CS

 

Better get some ear plugs. I'd say this is really a question of how much you are prepared to bare, a 360CH really is not very practical for the road if you need to park it in a garage and deal with ramps, clear speed bumps or deal with badly surfaced roads. If however you just want to drive it on decent roads it'd be hilarious. I have a friend with a road legal '95 355 CH with straight pipes, it is undriveable without ear defenders for any longer than about 5 minutes, but he's driven it up to Montreal and back from Boston, so if you are committed these things are possible If you want a very occasional track car, then as others have said the CS is a much better bet, put some slicks on it and you're almost as quick as a 360CH and its easier to drive on street tires than a CH car. A 430Scud is a better bet all round than either, but obviously rather a lot more money.

 

You should go drive a race car at a track before you even consider a 360 challenge car for the street. They are loud, harsh and nothing like a car you would want to drive around on a regular basis. I have 911 race car that still street legal(barely!), and it's way loud, harsh over bumps, stiff as heck, hard to get in and out of and..... a total blast. For a daily driver, no chance. For fun once a month to the office and back....sure, great fun and driving through town with your stickered up race car is kinda fun too.

If you really want a race car, then get it and take it to the track. But if you want a Ferrari to drive around and have fun, then get a regular 360 or a CS.
If you want both, then just get a cheap used older(very easy to work on!) 911 that's already been raced and you just have to get in and go.

Hunter

P.S. another thing to consider is that it's highly likely a Challenge car will need a lot more work to keep in tune. So, make sure you are very close to your Ferrari dealer, as you'll need them to work on it. From what I have researched, I have found that just about everyone that has a 360/430 Challenge car also has an SD2 diagnostic tool as well(they are like $25k USD), or they are very close friends with their local Ferrari Dealer. This has been the main reason I haven't bought a Challenge car as I live over 2hours from my nearest Ferrari dealer.

 

This is good advice - and on a 430CH its an SD3 you need! 430CH runs better "electrically" than a 360CH, a 360CH will have electrical gremlins relatively regularly, will leak if it rains etc.

 

this is not a daily driver, would you drive a nascar race car on the street? same thing

 

Ross - Most of the guys have hit the nail on the head although they were diplomatic about it. Listen carefully ...

1) It's not street legal in any way shape or form. Not on a dealer plate. Not in any case. You'll have alot of explaining to do if you get pulled over.
2) It's LOUD and ROUGH as hell. It rattles and creaks like the worst possible car you could ever ride in. Remember that you don't hear this when it's on the track since most tracks are smooth and you're wearing a helmet. On the street the car makes some obnoxious noises.
3) It doesn't turn worth a s**t. Because of it's track setup you cannot make anything amounting to a U-turn. Impossible. You can make normal left and right turns but if you had to make anything even close to a sharp turn or need to turn into a parking space - forget it. You won't be able to.
4) Transmission? Not even close to the street car. It does not engage with the same "soft" engagement of a street car. If you get caught in traffic you might as well pull over. You won't be able to "inch" forward with traffic. If you do it for too long you'll destroy the clutch. It's setup to be either fully engaged or not engaged. You don't often see race cars in rush hour traffic do you?

If those reasons aren't enough then I wish you the best of luck in your efforts. You'll laugh as you recall everything I've said here.

 

Although I agree with you on the other points (possible but why do it?), in europe laws regarding legalizing vehicles is somewhat more relaxed (through a few back roads, mind) than the states. There have been plenty different race cars registered for the road. I know of a guy who used to race in the benelux Vege series (tin top cars, no resemblance to any road car really) who actually had it registered on the road so he could pop down to the shops during a race weekend. And this was on Dutch plates, a country where it isnt easy registering any kind of unknown vehicle (ie race cars, kit cars).

 

Ross, I would go online, and looks a in-car videos of a 360C it really shows how much you have to turn the wheel to get it around a corner.

 

Can't wait to hear your feedback. As harsh as you imagine it ... it will be more so than you expect. As I mentioned you don't hear everything under track conditions (helmet on and on a smooth track). Take your test drive on regular streets that have some bumps and you'll know what I mean. Report back! We're all anxious to see what you think (at least I am)!

 

I would say it is impossible to drive even to a track only. To loud, to stiff, to low. Ch cars runs on slicks. With regular tires it´s not that much faster then a CS.

It is however VERY cool.

 

nice for track use but this is why the CS exists