The Ferrari F430 Challenge is a production-based race car built by Ferrari. The car is directly based on the standard F430 and uses the same 4.3L V8 engine. It was introduced at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show to succeed the Ferrari 360 Challenge in the Ferrari Challenge and the Rolex Sports Car racing series.
Overview
The F430 Challenge is a non-road legal variant of the road-going Ferrari F430, it has been extensively modified by Ferrari to boost its on circuit performance with extensive weight reduction and suspension changes. Just like in previous Ferrari Challenge cars the engine has largely remained the same as on the production road cars except for some enhanced breathing by means of a racing exhaust system and some engine management tweaks and fine blueprinting. Furthermore, the body styling has received very few styling changes with the Formula One inspired single central nut (slick shod) BBS wheels hiding enormous carbon brakes.
The transmission is derived from Ferrari's Formula One program and offers the same 60 ms shift times versus 150 ms in a standard Ferrari F430 with no option of a manual H-gate gearshift. Fifth and sixth gears have been tweaked, as well as the final drive ratio, specifically for the Challenge car. Weight saving efforts have affected all areas of the car, the most noticeable of which is the cockpit.