The Dallara Stradale is one of the most exciting, street-legal track cars to be launched in recent memory and for the latest episode of Top Gear, Chris Harris had the opportunity to drive it at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in the UK.
Unlike so many track cars that seemingly pop out of nowhere from newly-born firms, Dallara is a well-known chassis manufacturer with decades of experience in the world’s premiere racing series. The Stradale is its first road car and it has done a mighty fine job with it.
Dallara will sell you a Stradale (if you have the money) in a number of different guises, including one with a towering rear wing. When fitted with this wing, the car produces a monumental 820 kg (1808 lbs) of downforce at 174 mph (280 km/h), helping to stick it to the track through medium- and high-speed corners.
Powering the car is a Ford-sourced 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged four-cylinder engine pumping out 395 hp and 369 lb-ft (500 Nm) of torque. Buyers can have the car equipped with a six-speed manual transmission but the car driven by Harris had the sequential ‘box.
To see how fast the car is, The Stig took it for a hot lap. Interestingly, he drove the Stradale with its roof and windshield removed, likely upsetting the aerodynamics a little bit. Nevertheless, it was able to lap the Top Gear Test Track in just 1:12.8, placing it in second place in the all-time list of fastest laps at the circuit and just 0.1-seconds behind the Ferrari 488 Pista.