2004 Ferrari Challenge Stradale vs. 2004 Porsche GT3 Ferrari Drive Analysis

On the Road
Away from the track and onto our favorite coastal mountain roads, we learned more about the personality differences between this fiercely competent German and the wildly emotional Italian.

Thumb the Challenge Stradale's console-mounted starter button, and you'll think you're on the GT grid at Le Mans. This must be among the loudest OEM exhaust systems known to man. It whoops and wails as you drive up and down the tach and will encourage you to find canyons and tunnels to drive through, just so you can hear its siren song bounce back at your ears. Ferrari's placement of the engine's intake duct just over your left shoulder, with its reedy induction howl, only adds to the effect.

Every driver input is x-Acto sharp: The steering reacts right now, with excellent feel and turn-in, but no kickback. As discussed, the brakes reward pedal smoothness with hard, dive-free (if a bit squeaky) stops. The CS is supremely neutral, right up to its high cornering limits, and always tells you what it's doing. There's minimal body roll, and its high-speed stability is faultless. The ride quality isn't as bad as you might expect, though it is noisy inside, given the minimum of sound deadening and maximum engine noise. The Ferrari's biggest suspension foible is a hard, audible clack through the chassis when encountering sharp road inclusions, as with Bott's dots.

We love a well-done conventional stick shift as much as anyone, but there's no denying the value of the CS's race-derived smg box on a race track or when slicing up your favorite canyon road. This one is the best behaved of any we've driven and allows the driver to further concentrate on cornering and braking. Part throttle upshifts are gentle; pulling the paddle on a full-throttle 2-3 shift is like chambering a round in a .375 Holland & Holland bolt-action rifle. Every downshift gets a blip of the gas and computer-perfected rev-matching. The aforementioned sport seats hold you firmly in place, tying your chassis to the car's, yet they prove comfy on a long haul. And the driving position, with the engine at your back and a clear view of the road ahead, further conveys the Challenge Stradale's racing connection.