During the 2016 Finali Mondiali, Ferrari’s season-ending race for its Ferrari Challenge, XX, and customer-raced F1 cars, the company pulled the wraps from the latest iteration of its turbocharged, mid-engined 488: the 488 Challenge. Celebrating the upcoming 25th anniversary of its single-marque, gentleman-racer series, the 488 Challenge builds on the previous Challenge car, the 458, by adopting lessons learned from Maranello’s GTE program.
Side by side with its 458 predecessor, the new Challenge unveiled at Daytona International Speedway looks more like one of Ferrari’s top-rank, 2016 World Endurance Championship–winning racers than the previous car, which more closely resembled a roadgoing 458, albeit one with a stonking wing bolted to its tail. While the Challenge retains a stock 488 powerplant—the 3.9-liter turbo V-8 spinning Ferrari’s customary flat-plane crank is plenty healthy at 670 horsepower and 561 lb-ft of torque—it features a gutted and race-prepped interior, plexiglass side glazing with sliding windows, and a host of other deletions of parts deemed nonessential for on-track performance.
What was deemed essential? Improved aero. To that end, the 488’s schnoz has been significantly rejiggered, its front-mounted radiators tilted rearward to route warm air in a boundary layer across the car’s fender wells, using the hot gases as a skirt to direct cooler air around the wheels. In short, they’re using hot air to make invisible fender spats. Ferrari claims the new front splitter and dive planes increase front downforce, while the larger rear wing cribs much of its design from 2016’s GTE cars.
The intakes below the quarter-windows—the holes that necessitated the 488’s 308-style body-line scoop—now feed cool air to the brakes, while the engine breathes through new intakes under the wing, which, by its presence, creates a high-pressure area that forces air down into the engine.
The interior, much like the Pentagon or a Whataburger kitchen, is a place of work. A functional, somewhat inartful console carries an array of switches, lights, and dials, including one of Ferrari’s signature manettino knobs. We say “one of” because, unlike the 458 Challenge, the 458 is equipped with three of the things. The console knob controls the ABS, while a pair on the steering wheel manage the traction control. The left-hand manettino manages the intensity of the intervention, while the right dictates how early or late the TC intervenes. Ferrari says most drivers only use four combinations of the settings but that the knobs allow for more effective and granular management of grip based on the state of the racing surface and the tires’ degree of wear. On paper, at least, it seems like an elegant and sensible way for the driver to engage with the car’s electronic systems.
Looking at the lineup of Challenge cars that Ferrari brought along to celebrate the series’ anniversary, the evolution of the automobiles was clear. The 348 was barely more than a stripped-out road car; each generation gained a measure of raciness until the 458 Challenge Evo finally went and sprouted a high-mounted wing in 2014. The 488 is the closest thing to a legit GT contender the series has yet to field, and as such, we’d suggest that even though the 458 is eligible for one more year of competition, Challenge intenders should get their orders in posthaste. If looks and specs are any indication, the first turbocharged Ferrari Challenge car seems to be a helluva thing. We can’t wait to see how much of the racing machine makes it into the road car that’s sure to follow.
from Car and Driver BlogCar and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/2h6H8w2
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment