2004 Ferrari Challenge Stradale

For years, a favorite carmaker mantra has been, "direct racing involvement creates the ultimate laboratory environment in which to test and develop new technology that can be transferred to production street cars." In simple terms: "Win on Sunday; sell on Monday." It's a good marketing pitch, but legit examples of motorsport trickle-down theory still aren't as prevalent as the hype would indicate. Not so in the case of Ferrari's new Challenge Stradale, for which the link is both clear and genuine.

The Stradale, a steroid-injected adaptation of the already potent 360 Modena, employs direct technology and hardware transfer from Ferrari's FIA GT and Ferrari Challenge racing efforts. The result is a street-legal road racer that only 250 "preferred" North American clients can purchase at their local Ferrari dealership. The Stradale's methodology applies three basic elements of a successful race car to the standard Modena coupe package: Make it lighter; make it more powerful; and make it handle better.

To further reduce the Modena's 3064-pound curb weight, comfort items, like interior carpeting, leather door panels, center console, and radio, have been removed. In their place reside ribbed rubber floor matting and a carbon-fiber console and door panels. Even the revised instruments--the tach face is retina-scorching yellow with a bright-red indicator needle--are housed within a carbon-fiber panel.

A race-bred steering wheel carries longer F1-shifter paddles to aid in orchestrating the recalibrated six-speed electrohydraulic transmission. The Stradale-spec F1 tranny now executes gear changes in just 150 milliseconds, 40 percent quicker than a standard Modena. More rigid, yet lighter-weight seats are constructed of carbon fiber and come wrapped in your choice of leather or suede/fabric. A big arrivederci to the Modena's back glass; it's been replaced with a lightweight Lexan rear windscreen with carbon-fiber supports. Carbon-fiber side mirrors pirated from Ferrari's 360 GT are standard; fixed-position Lexan side windows with small slideback openings are optional. Weight drops by a total of 242 pounds.