Ferrari 458 Challenge - for road use.

[AmoCS]

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/f...

"Please note it is possible for Prindiville to convert this car as a road going car, which will allow you to drive it to and from the track and up & down the kings road."

Hmm.. I thought this was not possible?

[Pixel-Snapper]

Nice way of chopping 140K off your tax bill!

[DB89]

Maff on here has one, and has used his out on the road.

http://youtu.be/t5YhYXtFfaM

[Pixel-Snapper]

Looks like a busy private road that.

[AmoCS]

What would it cost to make road legal?
I assume the F430 challenge can be made road legal too?

[arcamalpha]

Dick Lovett have two 458 challenges for sale. If they could be made road legal for sensible(isn) money, I'd be very tempted :-)

[AmoCS]

seems all challenge cars are lhd

[MDL111]

thought I'd have a go at reviving this - anybody got a clue if somebody has converted a 430 Challenge to road use (UK or Germany) and who to speak to / what the costs were / what changes were made to the car?

I have seen a supposedly road registered 430 Challenge for sale in Germany (bit pricey though)

any info appreciated

[traxx]

MDL111 said:

thought I'd have a go at reviving this - anybody got a clue if somebody has converted a 430 Challenge to road use (UK or Germany) and who to speak to / what the costs were / what changes were made to the car?

I have seen a supposedly road registered 430 Challenge for sale in Germany (bit pricey though)

any info appreciated

I asked about making a 458Ch car road legal and was told it was possible and cost would be 20-30k
Be a lot cheaper than a Speciale for a better car

but guess it would be near impossible to sell

Perhaps if a few of us did it together we could get the cost down further

[100 IAN]

MDL111 & Traxx, are either of you buying the one at The Ferrari Centre?

I was looking at it last week (out of idle curiosity) whilst my F355 was in their workshop. Talking to their used car sales guy he said it'd been on sale for a few months and other than one tentative bite there had been no interest, but now on the website it says 'Deposit Taken'

I'd hypothetically wondered how much to get it road legal.

Lanzante do all the McLaren F1 & P1 GTR road conversions, whether they'd do a Fezza...?

[I think i also saw an ad for one down in Poole(?) for £70k not long ago and thought it was a lot of car for the money]

Edited by 100 IAN on Thursday 4th August 06:21

[WCZ]

typically one of the issues is no locking mechanisms on the doors

[Bo_apex]

If you like your teeth and a functioning lower back a CH car should be fine if you either swap out the springs and shocks, or use only on billiard table smooth roads. Otherwise short journeys will quickly become the norm. I spent time in a PMFC spec 308 and that was "interesting" enough on average roads, and the ride height / front clearance was a little higher than the 458 CH. What does the road conversion consist of ?

[FrankAbagnale]

DB89 said:

Maff on here has one, and has used his out on the road.

http://youtu.be/t5YhYXtFfaM

Saw Maff driving through town in his La Ferrari yesterday. As irresponsible as it was, I stopped my car in the road alongside it to take a better look. What a machine.

[paulmnz]

some parts of getting it technically 'road legal' would be quite easy and cheap:
- indicators
- horn
- wind screen wipe/wash
- reverse light / fog light
- road legal tyres
- brake pads that work from cold

rumour has it you need glass windows, but I'm not sure that's true - one of my track cars is MOT'd as a 'rally car' and a lot of the usual rules don't apply.

The bits that might be more difficult
- aero will need to be modified as you're not allowed sharp edges and protruding bits
- glass if it's needed could be expensive
- emissions - the race cats might not be enough for road use
- noise - although a 458 challenge is likely to be fairly quiet with current race track regs
- fuel cap if it's got a race tank

some creature comfort issues:
- aircon will probably be needed - no insulation means lots of heat-soak
- ride height and steering lock issues

I looked into a F355 challenge car a few years back - much easier as those cars where road cars you bought and then bought a 'kit' to convert them, so quite a few are still road legal and you can pick and choose the bits you want to keep.

Still love the idea of a 430 or 458 challenge car, properly hardcore rather than the scud/spec halfway houses ;-)

[AmoCS]

I believe Ferrari also need to approve if a Challenge car can be made road legal.

[MDL111]

traxx said:

MDL111 said:

thought I'd have a go at reviving this - anybody got a clue if somebody has converted a 430 Challenge to road use (UK or Germany) and who to speak to / what the costs were / what changes were made to the car?

I have seen a supposedly road registered 430 Challenge for sale in Germany (bit pricey though)

any info appreciated

I asked about making a 458Ch car road legal and was told it was possible and cost would be 20-30k
Be a lot cheaper than a Speciale for a better car

but guess it would be near impossible to sell

Perhaps if a few of us did it together we could get the cost down further

458 would certainly be tempting, but would want to wait until more 488 Challenge cars are out and about as I suspect then the 458 prices will collapse (ala 430 and 360 before them).

I do think having a Challenge car that can be driven on the road would be quite an attractive proposition for drivers (esp guys who want to occasionally track the car but not trailer it everywhere), but do agree that it might not be sellable. If I can pick it up for 70k plus conversion cost, I might never want to sell it again anyway.

[MDL111]

100 IAN said:

MDL111 & Traxx, are either of you buying the one at The Ferrari Centre?

I was looking at it last week (out of idle curiosity) whilst my F355 was in their workshop. Talking to their used car sales guy he said it'd been on sale for a few months and other than one tentative bite there had been no interest, but now on the website it says 'Deposit Taken'

I'd hypothetically wondered how much to get it road legal.

Lanzante do all the McLaren F1 & P1 GTR road conversions, whether they'd do a Fezza...?

[I think i also saw an ad for one down in Poole(?) for £70k not long ago and thought it was a lot of car for the money]

Edited by 100 IAN on Thursday 4th August 06:21

Not me, I am just running through ideas - I did see that a deposit was taken on that one very recently. Good looking car.

I started out thinking about 997 Cup cars (as I think 997 GT3 prices are not sustainable), but once I understood the rebuild cycles/lifing of components on those, I figured - for probably the first time - running the Ferrari option might be a little cheaper than the Porsche option as long as you do not crash the car as it is closer related to the road car

[MDL111]

Bo_apex said:

If you like your teeth and a functioning lower back a CH car should be fine if you either swap out the springs and shocks, or use only on billiard table smooth roads. Otherwise short journeys will quickly become the norm. I spent time in a PMFC spec 308 and that was "interesting" enough on average roads, and the ride height / front clearance was a little higher than the 458 CH. What does the road conversion consist of ?

I spend a lot of time in Germany and Austria - the roads are much better than in the UK, which should hopefully make it a little more manageable. I do think that it is not a car you take into town for a coffee etc, stick to open country roads and track days

[MDL111]

paulmnz said:

some parts of getting it technically 'road legal' would be quite easy and cheap:
- indicators
- horn
- wind screen wipe/wash
- reverse light / fog light
- road legal tyres
- brake pads that work from cold

rumour has it you need glass windows, but I'm not sure that's true - one of my track cars is MOT'd as a 'rally car' and a lot of the usual rules don't apply.

The bits that might be more difficult
- aero will need to be modified as you're not allowed sharp edges and protruding bits
- glass if it's needed could be expensive
- emissions - the race cats might not be enough for road use
- noise - although a 458 challenge is likely to be fairly quiet with current race track regs
- fuel cap if it's got a race tank

some creature comfort issues:
- aircon will probably be needed - no insulation means lots of heat-soak
- ride height and steering lock issues

I looked into a F355 challenge car a few years back - much easier as those cars where road cars you bought and then bought a 'kit' to convert them, so quite a few are still road legal and you can pick and choose the bits you want to keep.

Still love the idea of a 430 or 458 challenge car, properly hardcore rather than the scud/spec halfway houses ;-)

I do wonder how the guys who drive GT3 Cup cars on rallys etc manage to do it. Maybe need to speak to Tuthill about their RGT car, which has a number plate (I think it is for sale if one of you guys has 170k spare ...). Possibly there is some kind of excemption for motorsport cars

[MDL111]

AmoCS said:

I believe Ferrari also need to approve if a Challenge car can be made road legal.

that sounds like a pain / expensive if the case