Pondering: Challenge Stradale vs 360 Challenge?

may i suggest a perusal of my marathon thread along similar lines but coming from the other direction...

personally i think, IF you are able to transform the challenge car into being street legal, that is a better starting point for your objective. if this is NOT possible, then that answers the question right away - you will be forced to start with a storied strad.

but look at my thread and you will see what the fellow did to make it street legal in switzerland.

 

Easy decision. Race car!

 

As a result of a host of relatively economical challenge support teams (CFC, Speedworks), the ownership experience of a 360 challenge has changed. I had one for years and never used it until I got involvedwith these teams. For btw 300-500 per day they will fully support your car. They will store it for free and deliver it directly to track for transport costs. Arrive and drive bliss. Plus they keep u safe.

Additionally with the new areo GT mods the grip of the 360 GT is mind boggling.

With this new support system, the market for the 360C is very very strong. And at an average event there are now 20-40 challenge cars showing up.

360c all the way. You are not safe at speed in a Stradale with just a roll bar in a crash. Do yourself a favor and try a 360C like this.

 

dont think roll cage is good idea in street car since cant use harness/helmet and will cause major neuro trauma if accident

 

I happen to have both a Challenge Stradale and a 360 Challenge Car so I feel well qualified to address your question.
I can absolutely tell you that the Stradale is NOT a race car. It is a very taught visceral street car but once on a track the suspension becomes very soft and without the safety features of a racecar such as roll cage, fire system and emergency cutoff you are compromising your enjoyment and well being. Plus all the electronics will be difficult to disable if you so desire. If you are looking for a car to just do DE events a Stradale will suffice. If you want a racecar buy a 360 Challenge. Once you start to modify a Stradale to race prep you will entirely lose the audience that may want to buy that car in the future while the CHallenge Car, being a factory racecar, could only appreciate in value

 

if you can get the race car for less, get the race car.

 

It really comes don to chat you want.

In Europe, at least, mots of the CS suspension parts are off a Challenge car. A proper front end set up (takes some work to get it right) and a good set of slicks and the CS is a great track car, but not a racing car. It is, however, a rare beast and while Challenge cars are a dime a dozen, literally, a CS continues to be a collector.

The issue of electronic mentioned above is a non issue as both cars are equipped with ABS and ASR - the latter being disconnectable.

I have owned a 430 Challenge and still have a CS. The CS still puts a smile on my face and will do a 1min 30 around mythical Dijon ( versus 1, 28.3 in a Challenge car)....

 

Get the Stradale. A cage is cheap to buy and install, add the proper padding to the cage and it becomes street compatible, a padded cage is as soft as the roof, a-pillar, b-pillar. Fire extinguisher, cut-off switch, easy and cheap mods as well. Do not use a bare naked cage on a street car.

There are direct replacement steel rotors for the Stradale, you don't want to run CCB. The Ferrari dealer can change the Stradale ECU configuration to steel brakes (once steel brakes are installed) to disable the wear-out algorithm from cars with CCB.

Suspension is an easy mod as well, I went with Moton 3-way in my Scuderia, and I'm still playing with spring rates. I ran 1200#/1500# springs, and the car is still comfortable on the streets.

The Stradale would be around 200 lbs heavier than the 360 Challenge. So, you need to decide if you want top performance (go with the Challenge), or less performance but street legal car.

You can run 19" 8.5/10 wheels with the Pirelli race slicks from the F430 Challenge, or run R6 in many sizes depending on wheel width. The stock 360 can handle 10" front wheels and 13" rear wheels with the stock fenders, I would go with 9"/11"x19" and run 235/295 R6. You can also downside the brakes, and run 18" wheels, more options for tires.