Spotted at Bombay Cargo - Ferrari 458 Challenge (GT racecar)

[dominator]

184 laps !!! Time for a break. Will come back with more Challenges.

[n_aditya]

I'm interested to know if Mr. GS is also passionate about 2 wheeled machines. If yes, could you share what bikes he owns in his garage and if he has any track time on them? His experiences would be interesting to read.

[Super Car Club]

A lot of people have been asking me what has been the experience of driving the 458 Challenge car. Having driven a whole variety of racing cars over my life, at the onset I would like to say, the 458 Challenge is one of the most outstanding track cars that I have ever driven.

The 458 Challenge is the conversion of the 458 Italia, into a pure track car. This car is made by Ferrari factory and production happens typically once a year in the month of April. These cars are generally made to order and done in one lot.

Apart from the car being lighter, by about a 160 pounds, it is truly purpose built track car. It has a roll cage, racing seats, harness system, harness safety belts, intercom for driver passenger communication, and a completely different dash set up. Apart from all the engine parameters and RPM gauge that is on the dash board, it also has a full telemetry system. Once you have installed the beacon on the start finish line, as you go past it lap after lap, it indicates to you, your lap time, in real time. If the track is so set up, you can also get the split times at intermediate 1 and intermediate 2. This tremendously helps the driver, as he can know immediately, as to what he has done wrong or right in the previous lap, and then correct upon the same.

I had the privilege of testing this car at Buddh International Circuit which is a fantastic circuit to drive on. Having done 185 laps, and consumed two sets of tyres and one set of brakes, apart from 600 litres of fuel, I can only say it was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. As far as the handling of the car is concerned, it’s pretty much as though the car is on rails. What is the most amazing aspect is the carbon ceramics that gives you phenomenal braking. On the back straight, you are running up to 260 kms an hour, and into the right hander, you only start braking once the curbstone starts. Effectively you are getting down from about 260 kms an hour to 80 kms an hour in less than 100 meters. This is absolute phenomenal braking.

On the back straight, because of the aero kit, I think I am sacrificing about 30 km an hour in top end speed, this is because the aero is acting aggressively and giving a tremendous amount of downfall. However, I more than make up for that through all the corners as that extra down force gives me much higher cornering speed.

One of the areas where you feel tremendous down force is on the parabolic. And the subsequent corners after, where you can pretty much keep your foot back down.

All in all I can say that the 458 Challenge has been an incredible experience, and living up to its legend is going to be tough for Ferrari. But knowing Ferrari, I am sure they will come out with something which is truly more incredible. I can only wait and watch, and look forward to the same.

If any of u have questions, please tweet me at singhaniagautam, and I will be happy to answer.

[Super Car Club]

Differences between the 458 italia and challenge car.
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1.Modifications have been made to the gear ratios and calibration of its dual-clutch F1 gearbox to guarantee higher torque at lower revs.

2.Significant work has also gone into cutting the car’s weight. This focused on both the exterior and interior with Ferrari’s engineers concentrating in particular on reducing the thickness of the bodyshell panels and on using lightweight materials, such as carbon-fibre as well as polycarbonate for the front and rear windscreens and side windows.

3.Has a specific suspension set-up with steel uniball joints, stiffer springs, single-rate alloy dampers, centre-nut 19” forged rims, larger dimension Pirelli slicks and a ride height lowered by 50mm all round.

4.Equipped with the new generation Brembo CCM2 brakes integrated with the latest ABS system which debuted on the 599XX, Ferrari’s extreme experimental laboratory car.

5.Another first for a Ferrari Challenge model is the adoption of the F1-Trac traction control system, the most sophisticated of its kind. The F1-Trac is completely integrated with the E-Diff to guarantee maximum stability and acceleration both into and out of corners.

6.Includes a racing cockpit.

7.Windows which only open through small slots.

8.It has an Air-jack mounting on the rear to lift the car up.

9.It includes racing fuel filler cap and racing rims.

10.Has hooks on the front and rear to drag the car out of the sandtraps.

If any of u have questions, please tweet me at singhaniagautam, and I will be happy to answer.

Gautam Singhania
Founder chairman – Super car club - India

[dominator]

Is this the sign of a new beginning ?

[muditgrover]

Originally Posted by dominator

Is this the sign of a new beginning ?

I noticed that :P

How about spilling the beans?

Really happy to all this happening in India, Sir GS You are making India proud.

Thanks
Mudit Grover

[aditya.bhardwaj]

Doing 184 laps is just superb. I doubt if i can manage 10 laps in my car without damaging my car to the core

Hats off Mr. Singhania

[dominator]

He Came ! He Drove !! He Conquered !!!

[muditgrover]

official video of the event..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vth6ySd0xN4

Found on twitter

[Super Car Club]

Winning alone isn’t enough for Mr. Gautam Singhania, breaking new ground is what satisfies him. Watch Mr. Gautam Singhania set the record for the fastest lap at the Buddh International Circuit in a brand new Ferrari 458 Challenge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vth6y...ature=youtu.be

[r0ckstar.1]

Wow!! that's amazing feat I should say. Way to go Mr. GS. Making india proud once again.

[latentpotential]

Probably the Ultimate Motorhead in India? Maybe needs a Poll...

[D33-PAC]

Originally Posted by latentpotential

Probably the Ultimate Motorhead in India? Maybe needs a Poll...

How can people be judged or ranked for their interest in motorsport and automobiles? I'm sure there are tons in India who'd be doing what he's doing if they had a similar background, forget India, I'm sure every guy on TBHP would.


Also, there were a couple guys doing this in Sholavaram with F1/other open wheel race cars, Vijay Mallya included. And this was in the 70s and 80s with the worst motorsport infra available - some of them even engineered the cars themselves. Karthikeyan, Chandhok and others like Armaan Ebrahim are the offsprings of such events, as their fathers were actively involved with it.

Also, Chandok's family has had to sell/mortgage assets for him to follow his dream - what should be said of these guys then ?


The parameters cannot be applied to everyone, but Kudos to GS for his interest and passion though, hopefully he does India proud in his endeavors !

[raul]

This is an auto-enthusiasts forum and that's the reason we are here. If some random teambhp member had done the same there would be equal attention on him or her.

Nobody is interested about their personal circumstances, rich or poor etc, That's what makes teambhp teambhp. Its only enthusiasm that counts!

Its about breaking a record. So I don't think this is about him per se but whats he's done. Most of the threads have been about the car, drifting or this kind of thing, not about him, some folks do tend to get carried away but I have not seen that too much.

If I had the resources I too would want to do stuff and share it with a community of folks who are as mad as me and understand and appreciate the passion.

[speedy]

It is an achievement in itself but there also is no competiotion to the 458 challenge in India. If you hold this time as a record breaker, its against production cars that have driven at B.I.C. and not Pure Circuit cars as the 458 Challange is. I guess the 458 Challange would be beating its own time as Mr.Gautam. Singhania. gets used to the car and the track with every run he does and also the different tunes that the car would be set up with.