The 35th edition of the Bologna Motor Show in Italy, which runs for the public from December 4 to 12, saw Ferrari lifting the covers off the 458 Challenge, a track-only version of the automakers fiery -no pun intended- supercar. The 458 Challenge boasts a host of upgrades over its road-legal sibling to make it race worthy when it hits the grid in Ferrari's one-make race series from 2011.
While the Challenge keeps the 458 Italia's direct injection 4.5-liter V8 with an output of 570 hp at 9,000 rpm intact, Ferrari's engineers have made modifications to the gear ratios and calibration of its dual-clutch F1 gearbox to further improve torque at lower revs. The 458 Challenge is equipped with the E-Diff electronic differential already employed on the road-going version, a first for Ferrari's track-only cars. Another first for a Ferrari Challenge model is the adoption of the firm's F1-Trac traction control system.
The race-spec model also gets a specific suspension set-up with steel uniball joints, stiffer springs, single-rate alloy dampers and a ride height lowered by 50mm all round. Stopping power is provided by the new generation Brembo CCM2 brakes integrated with the latest ABS system which debuted on the 599XX, Ferrari�s experimental laboratory car, while it rides on centre-nut 19-inch forged rims wrapped in larger dimension Pirelli slicks.
Ferrari says significant work has gone into cutting down the car�s weight with the company's engineers concentrating on reducing the thickness of the bodyshell panels and on using lightweight materials, such as carbon-fibre and Lexan.
The combined result of all these measures is the improvement of the car�s lap time at Fiorano by two seconds over that of its predecessor, resulting in a new record of just 1�16.5�. According to the Italian company, the amount of lateral grip the new car generates is 1.6G.
Along with the 458 Challenge, Ferrari is also displaying a variety of other racing models from the past and present at its Bologna Motor Show stand, including a 430 GTC owned by the AF Corse team Ferrari and an F1 model.
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