Spy Shots: Ferrari 430 Challenge Stradale
Sports car aficionados don't appreciate that features like leather trim, sound deadening material and power everything add weight to a car, and that weight is the enemy of speed. After decades of trimming mere ounces off its race cars, nobody knows this better than Ferrari. As if its aluminum F430 wasn't light enough, the Maranello marque is preparing to, in the words of Jeremy Clarkson, "add lightness" to its high-revving screamer with the highly-anticipated F430 Challenge Stradale.
Stradale is Italian for "street", and like the previous 360 Challenge Stradale, the upcoming F430 CS takes the formula from the car prepared
for the Ferrari Challenge race series and adapts it to street use, shedding unneeded pounds and picking up a few tricks along the way. The new CS gets an uptick in horsepower over stock thanks to a freer-flowing exhaust system (with outlets placed higher up in the rear grille) and a remapped engine management system. The anticipated boost in power to 525 prancing horses will be a helpful feature when gunning for the latest Gallardo from arch-rival Lamborghini. Larger brakes will be hidden behind bigger, lightweight alloys. The new wheels will also provide an easy way to differentiate the CS from its standard F430 sibling.
Ferrari's been keeping us on our toes about what the new rolling stock will look like. Previous spy shots snapped in Germany showed a yellow test mule fitted with the stock five split-spoke wheels at the back and the 360 Challenge Stradale's multi-spoke rims up front. This black test mule, spotted in Italy, has the same stock wheels in the back, but with chunkier Speedline-style five spoke units in the forward wheel wells This shot also shows the window rolled down, indicating that the new CS likely won't be ditching the retractable glass for a sliding Perspex window like its predecessor – expect the replacement of certain stock body panels with
carbon fiber to help shed pounds and join the extra horses in the eternal pursuit of improved performance.
