Dallara has an impressive résumé. The Italian company builds race cars, including the current IndyCar design. Founder Giampaolo Dallara worked for Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, and De Tomaso before starting the company in 1972. Dallara has now put all of that expertise to work on a road-going sports car.
The Dallara Stradale is the company’s first vehicle intended for mere mortals rather than racers. The name is appropriate, since “stradale” is Italian for “road.” It may be road legal but, like a race car, the Stradale was designed with a fanatical focus on weight savings.
Dallara will offer multiple configurations, the most basic of which sacrifices doors, windshield, and roof in the name of lightness. Buyers can also specify a more conventional roadster setup with a windshield, a Targa-style T-roof with removable panels, or a coupe with Gullwing doors.
The basic body shell weighs just 855 kilograms (1,885 pounds), thanks to extensive use of carbon fiber. Just like a race car, the Stradale is built around a carbon-fiber tub, with suspension components bolted directly to it. The sports car also features unassisted steering for an old-school feel.
Aerodynamics are another important area of race-car engineering, and Dallara applied its expertise to the Stradale. With the optional rear wing mounted, the car generates a staggering 1,800 pounds of downforce. That downforce also for cornering at up to 2g, according to Dallara, meaning your organs will probably give out before the car loses grip.
The engine is a 2.3-liter supercharged four-cylinder developing 400 horsepower. A six-speed manual transmission is standard, but Dallara will also offer an automated paddle-shift option. Dallara says the Stradale will do 0 to 62 mph in 3.45 seconds and reach a top speed of 174 mph without the rear wing installed. The wing lowers the top speed by 10 mph, but that’s a reasonable trade-off for all of the downforce it generates.
Dallara will build just 600 Stradales, and almost 100 have already been spoken for, according to Automotive News. Even before it had shown the car to potential customers, the company sold 45 “simply by word of mouth,” Dallara CEO Andrea Pontremoli told the industry trade journal. Pricing starts at 155,000 euros ($177,000) in Italy, but it’s unclear whether any cars will be imported to the United States.
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