F355 Challenge conversion for sale

[AdvocatusD]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2201384.htm

All the ad says "Rosso Corsa with Nero leather trim and black carpets. This is an ex-challenge car, supplied by us to its current owner."

Interesting car. Pictures seem to indicate good cosmetic condition.

Does this mean this car was brutally tracked and this all of it's 15,000 miles on a track.

A good buy for someone who know's what they're buying perhaps?

Interested to know more about it and what might have been done to convert it "back" to pure road use? I

Is it going to be quicker than a non ex-challenge car (whatever that means!)

[davidpn]

I saw this and wondered the same thing. It is very competitively priced though. I discussed with a fellow petrolhead friend who thought that from a servicing perspective it will have been cared for and well maintained by race mechanics. However I wonder how much of it has been documented? That would make it extremely hard to sell, hence the knock down price...

[MalcQV]

It looks good from the pictures. If it was me I would go take a look because apart from a few quid on petrol what else do you have to loose?

[Mroad]

The vacuum pipe missing from the exhaust bypass valve would give me cause for concern.

[MalcQV]

Mroad said:

The vacuum pipe missing from the exhaust bypass valve would give me cause for concern.

Maybe it had just been wired open?

[khooni]

Mroad said:

The vacuum pipe missing from the exhaust bypass valve would give me cause for concern.

why is that?

[Mr_C]

I'd rather it still had the roll cage, Recaro's, Speedlines, race suspension etc personally. Race car with a number plate

[Mroad]

MalcQV said:

Mroad said:

The vacuum pipe missing from the exhaust bypass valve would give me cause for concern.

Maybe it had just been wired open?

Which is not the way it's designed to run.
I will bow to Capristro's expert research into the standard system. Wiring the valve open is potentially damaging to the Cats and manifolds due to heat build up from recirculating of the exhaust gases when the valve is open.
There's a long thread on it on Fchat.com with explanations by Capristro, a brief explanation is on the Capristo web site:
http://www.capristo.de/en/exhaustsystems/ferrari/f...

Also if the valve has potentially failed they have wired it open rather than fix it? What else has been bodged rather than repaired? Hence why it instantly puts my guard up.
Of course it could be totally innocent and the pipe has fallen off and I'm not knocking the dealer either as I believe they have a good reputation (but don't take my word for it).

With any F355, if you're buying make sure you do your research and get a proper inspection. Even small faults can be expensive to sort, that exhaust by-pass valve? A quick check shows a new one from Ferrari will be £459+VAT.