2004 Ferrari Challenge Stradale vs. 2004 Porsche GT3 Braking & Acceloration Comparison

At the Track
Simply put, these are among the quickest, best-handling, and best-stopping street-legal cars we've ever tested.

Porsche claims the GT3 will run 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds. We're here to tell you that's just so much braunschweiger: Try 3.9, barely slower than the almighty all-wheel-drive Turbo. The GT3 storms ahead to a 12.07-second quarter mile at 116.04 mph. What amazes is how torquey this engine feels. Its 284-pound-foot rating doesn't sound all that impressive, but it certainly gets to the ground. And the power curve is as wide as Montana, too: strong at the bottom, yet revvy and powerful right to its sonorous 8200-rpm redline.

The Ferrari screamed (more about that later) its way from launch to 60 in 4.3 seconds on to a quarter-mile run of 12.53 at 114.14 mph. Although it has a special button dubbed "Launch Control," Senior Road Test Editor Chris Walton still had to work it a bit to get just the right combination of revs and wheel spin at sendoff. These are road racers, not dragsters; the Porsche's slick-shifting six-speed manual and the Ferrari's race-inspired F1 box are more suited for a road course than a quarter-mile's bleach box. It's also worth mentioning that we've tested standard 360 Modenas to slightly quicker times than this and suspect that this well-abused, early-build example's clutch was well on its way to heaven. We're confident that if all were right, this is a 3.9-4.0-second car.

In the braking department, the GT3 managed a 60-to-0 stop in a commendable 113 feet; 100 to 0 took 318. The pedal is firm and easy to modulate, and a modicum of fade crept in after a few of those high-speed decels. This tester was equipped with the standard cast-iron rotors, as opposed to the optional PCCBs.

The Challenge Stradale used its high-tech high-buck composite units to great effect for a 60-to-0 stopping distance of 107 feet, with the 100-to-0 stop taking 298. But numbers can't convey the feeling of these binders. They respond quickly and grab hard. Due to their heat-dispelling nature, they're virtually fadeproof however much you abuse them, although modulation takes a little getting used to.