Why the Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale Is the Best — Some of the Time

The 360 Challenge Stradale has a God-tier status amongst petrolheads, especially those who were around at the time of its release back in 2003. Back then, with 420hp, a flappy-paddle gearbox just like in Michael Schumacher’s F1 car, E-Diff and clever F1-Trac traction control system, it was the cutting edge of track-focused performance.

Now, over two decades later, it is not that. An Audi RS3 would take care of it in a drag race, using the paddles is more like communicating with the gearbox via carrier pigeon through turbulent airspace, and traction control systems have become so unbelievably slick that even the very best from 20 years ago is a bit like going back to Windows XP.

But, as you already know, that is not the point. The Challenge Stradale isn’t idolised for being fast or technically advanced. It’s idolised because of what it stands for, how it makes you feel, and, most of all, the way it sounds.

I still remember the first time I drove a Challenge Stradale, in convoy with a selection of other lightweight special models, and it was just intoxicating. I then drove one for a YouTube video, again on some nice empty roads, and the experience was no less special. 

Then, recently, the incredibly generous Paul Pearce was storing his ‘Strad’ at the office, and insisted I must take it out sometime, and because he was so insistent, I didn’t want to be rude. Before I collected it, I already had reels playing in my head of the theatre when the exhaust valves open up, the way it barks up to redline — I couldn’t wait.

But, what I soon realised I had never done before, is drive a Challenge Stradale on anything other than perfect, empty roads. I had never sat in stop-start traffic when it is stone cold, and that is a whole other reality. To get to any properly decent roads from our office requires traversing Sheffield, which meant a lot of stopping and starting, which, in a Strad, translates to a lot of lurching, jerking, and knowing full well people around you are making jokes, wondering how that plonker in the bright red Ferrari ever passed his driving test. 

And that’s before you even select second gear, which is a rude awakening compared to the seamless dual-clutch transmissions we’ve become so spoiled by. Hill starts? You’d better get your left foot on the brake or use the good old-fashioned hand brake, a bit like you would in a manual, except you have to anticipate when the clutch will bite (and I do mean bite). 

Frankly, by the time you emerge from city traffic, you’ll probably be a little fed up and wondering what all the fuss is about. I was. But then...

Then, on a stretch I love dearly heading towards Bakewell, there was no more traffic, no more traffic lights, and a winding ribbon of empty tarmac ahead. So, Race mode it is (engaged by a button on the centre console, as this was pre-Manettino), and within five seconds, I’m smiling to myself. I get it again.

First off, the noise. Get it above 4,000 rpm, and the valves open up like someone placed a megaphone behind the exhausts. It doesn’t scream like a V10, it doesn’t growl like a cross-plane V8, but it is biblically loud, and makes you feel like you’re driving an old racecar through the heart of the Peak District. What it isn’t is fast. I daily a BMW 440i which feels like it would be an easy match for the Strad in a straight line, but not only is that not the point, it’s one of the very traits that makes the Strad so darn good — you can drive it like you stole it.

With 700, 800 or even more ponies to tame with your right foot, opportunities to whip them all into action are few and far between on today’s roads. Admittedly, that makes it feel like an almighty occasion when you actually can, but 90% of the time, you’re tickling it along with as much vigour as filling in your tax return, with a mere whisper from the engine as you short shift at 4,000 rpm to avoid doubling the speed limit. In the Strad, you can come out of a corner and absolutely mash it right up to its 8,500 rpm redline before pulling for the next gear, and keeping it mashed again! It sounds like you’re going a thousand miles per hour, you feel like you’re going a thousand miles per hour, but you’re not a split second from an instant ban or an almighty accident.

Then, there’s the way it handles. Driving it back to back with our 981 Cayman GT4 really did expose its age in terms of stability and outright pace over a road, but it just feels so light. The front end is eager to turn in, the steering isn’t hyper-sensitive or artificial, and the balance is alive. You have to think about what you’re doing because it does like to rotate at the rear off throttle, but again, it involves you more in the process of driving, rather than four-wheel steering, enormous tyres and traction control from NASA sorting everything out. 

The brakes are a bit of a weakness these days. I’ve never had much confidence in old ceramics in any car other than a Carrera GT, and they’re not the quietest of stoppers either. I guess I could take the positive spin that it only enhances the racecar experience, but I can see why Adam put a set of Surface Transforms discs on his Scud. That said, it’s a light car and they do their job, and because the car gives so much at lower speeds, I wasn’t pushing to the point where I needed to haul it down from big speeds.

Even the size of the car by today’s standards means it isn’t intimidating to thread down a British B road, and it just looks so darn good too — so simple, but so purposeful. It gets a lot of attention, as you’d imagine. It’s probably a 75:25 split between people saying, “Ooh, a red Ferrari!”, and those who actually know what it is, losing their marbles and scrambling for their phone to take a photograph.

So that is why the 360 Challenge Stradale is so good, some of the time. How much of the time it is good for entirely depends on how much normal driving you have to endure to get to your road of choice, but when you get there, the cult status and the values these things command will all start to make sense.

Huge thanks to Paul for trusting me with his epic Strad, he's welcome to borrow my sales manager spec BMW in return any time.