Check out this crazy Gymkhana!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_popout&v=4TshFWSsrn8 

It's pretty entertaining stuff, although he has now attracted his fair share of knockers, most of whom have probably never pulled a handbrake turn. You wonder how much Ford paid him to give up his Subaru.

I just don't get why you'd just keep spinning it around until the tyres were gone and you were destroying your rims. Also, early in the vid did he touch the wall with the rear of the car??

Could do that in my sleep..............................whilst dreaming!!

Ive neva owned an awd to play with that kinda stuff... not yet anyways lol.

When u rip up the handbrake though in an awd, have u gotta pump the clutch in first? or does the rear diff let all just compensate for the sudden stop while letting the rest of the awd system do its stuff? I could imagine it would be a serious shock to the system if it didn't lol.

Talented bloke by far

awd have a centre diff, so you can do handbrake turns....while still driving

I really strongly dislike Ken Block and his publicist/management staff. He's just way too over-hyped, constantly trying to enlarge his ego and show off by doing slick highly-edited videos of extremely risky driving, editing out the dozens of crashes and mistakes involved. Now that he's dared to enter the actual WRC, it's obvious that, no he isn't the world's best rally driver, not by a long shot. Of course he can probably drive much better than me, and the videos are very impressive, but I'm just disappointed that he's been made into a rockstar somehow when there are better drivers in rallying, drifting and all sorts of racing formats who don't get anywhere near as much credit or money.

Also, Ford's decision to use the Fiesta as their WRC car is bizarre.

OMG ken has gone to Ford thats it no ej swap for me

Well said Steff. Ken Block is just having piles of fun and getting paid, no different to the pilots of the Red Bull Air Race (may it live to thrill another day), the Metal Mulisha maniacs or any of the other "extreme" sports stars, even Jackass is just people doing dumb things for our entertainment/distraction (and stacks of cash). Does it make them bad people?

Haters gonna hate...

waveman - I work in advertising, this is viral advertising. look at how many hits it is getting. you could take out the biggest billboard in any major city and not get a result like his movies do. I would be pretty sure that Ken would have lots of fun doing these and be a part of the process but would not be the major driver behind these. Ford, monster energy drinks etc etc would be paying for this stuff. These are so produced do you think anyone thinks these clips are a one take run. These would be flimed just like top gear is. I have done a lot of car stuff and you wouldn't believe what you have to go through to get results like top gear and these clips. Weeks of work not to mention massive dollars.
T54

I definitely agree with you there T54. I don't really believe that this sort of advertising is effective though. It may get fantastic viewer numbers, but I don't really see that translating into sales. You even forgot to mention DC shoes as the major sponsor of the whole thing, which shows how the sponsor messages don't get through to the viewer. Playing through the computer game Dirt 2 and having to listen to Ken Block talking in over-excited exclamations all the way through it has sent me slightly insane, but it didn't make me want to drink Monster or buy DC shoes.

It's not meant to make you go and buy, more like brand awareness and ingrain so next time you go to the fridge and look at redbull (market leader) you just may try Monster. This is all they need - the first hook. too try something different. I buy DC shoes but not because of Ken Block, because I have been wearing them since skating days and some other pro skaters back then. Everywhere does it, surfing, skating, Bmx, car racing, it is all there to imitate your heros and buy product to be like them. It is not a new idea. I would take the Ken clips as a bit of fun, nothing more or less.
T54

Quote:

Originally posted by bajachris88 Ive neva owned an awd to play with that kinda stuff... not yet anyways lol. When u rip up the handbrake though in an awd, have u gotta pump the clutch in first? or does the rear diff let all just compensate for the sudden stop while letting the rest of the awd system do its stuff? I could imagine it would be a serious shock to the system if it didn't lol. Talented bloke by far

Waveman, I'm not impressed by Ken's WRC efforts thus far, but I beg to differ on the clip. It's amazing.

Do you race?
Do you know how hard it is to get your car round a hairpin/witch's hat that tight even ONCE at full tilt?
I do khanas and it's VERY hard.
Watch one round of rally testing in the alps and see how the top WRC drivers go. They slightly misjudge every second hairpin. Add another 300hp to that and the stakes go up irrationally. Then there is the hairpins on the bank...

I could live with out some of the burnouts and the tyre smoking drifts on every corner, but even they take a LOT of skill to get right even once. And then there are the little faults they left in, like him clipping the bank in the first minute or so. He is RIGHT on the edge. How many engines, turbos and gearboxes do you think went BANG during filming? Are there any other drivers taking the risks he is for his sponsors, business and sport? I don't think so.

Even if you don't like Ken as a driver, as a businessman and entreprenuer he is second to none. Sit back and learn some lessons my friend.

Ha ha I agree with you all the way Pete except one thing, no-one will learn any of those lessons by sitting back, you have to get out there and do it do it do it, firstly get good enough to make the sponsors sit up and take notice, then get that good in the machinery the sponsors supply. (yeah, I know you didn't mean it litteraly )

Pete, I have done a bit of khanacross and motorkhana, and I did state in my first post on this subject that he is clearly a better driver than me! The driving or quality thereof really isn't what I take issue with, it's the American style self-promotion and ego-stroking. Just not really my thing, I'd rather go out and achieve quietly (winning some actual rallies) than go for self-promotion first and become a superstar before I've really done anything. No offence to Ken, he does his job well and is an excellent driver, but I personally would respond to the ad 100% more positively if the featured driver was someone who has earnt it, perhaps an old legend like Stig Blomqvist, Jackie Stewart or Mika Hakkinen out there stutting their stuff.

If it makes any difference to you I respond negatively to a lot of mass marketing. I especially hate the way that the Von Dutch name has been turned into a cheap, shallow fashion label by his daughters. Von Dutch himself was a true artist, who intentionally lived on the poverty line and focused on his art rather than commercialising his success. He did make a few T-shirts but they were all individually hand-painted and sold largely to pay for his drinking habit, not mass-produced to drag in the millions. Based on everything I've read, he was much more interested in knife-smithing, gunsmitihing and painting motorcycles and hot-rods than fashion.

Quote:

Originally posted by pete wood Even if you don't like Ken as a driver, as a businessman and entreprenuer he is second to none. Sit back and learn some lessons my friend.

Have to admit I'd never heard of Ken Block until I read this post. Looks like he's quite a successful driver in the US Rally America competition (two seconds, a third and two fourths overall in six years, 10 rally wins), but has yet to taste any success in the World Rally Championship - an 18th and a 24th this year and two retirements, and no points yet in three years. From that video he looks like a very skilled driver, but then I guess ALL the WRC drivers would be. I wonder how he'd go with a 'reasonably priced car' on the Top Gear track? Would be beat the Stig's time? He's also 42 years of age; might be a getting on a bit for the WRC now. Six-time world champion Sebastien Loeb is only 36 and I'd love to see him do something like this.

I guess the WRC needs something to boost its profile, as it's stagnated a lot since the glory days of the Group B supercars of the '80s. Nearly all the big makers have pulled out, and in 2010 only Ford and Citroen compete. Something like these who hoo stunts might capture people's interest.

BTW, the film exaggerates the power output of the Fiesta. Current World Rally Car specifications demand a 34mm air restrictor to limit output to 300 hp - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Focus_WRC 

It's the old Group B supercars like the Audi quattro S1 that made over 650 hp - they were MUCH quicker than today's little rally cars. The most awesome production car-based rally car ever, with a glorious 5-cyl engine note that makes your hair stand on end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R65pZz9rrM8&feature=related 

Today's rally cars are actually faster with 300hp than the Group B cars, because of the improvements in tyres, suspension, brakes, etc.

Pete, did I compare Block to Von Dutch? I was just saying that they're both mass-market brands which I respond negatively to, that's all. I have the greatest respect for Von Dutch the man, but very little for Von Dutch Originals the brand. If I'm not allowed to dislike or reject any of the thousands of brands and marketing images which I'm constantly bombarded with, then we may as well break out the Victory Gin and do some morning exercises in front of the Telescreen.

Nonsense. Focus/C4 suspensions and brakes are little better, if at all, than Audi's expensive unlimited rally gear. Tyres probably yes. But even so they can't make up for more than twice the power that the Group Bs had. In the video you can actually see the Audi wheelstand under acceleration at one point. The Today's cars are production-based, with a 300-hp restricted limit. They can't even begin to compare with the unlimited Group B supercars that were banned for being too fast and dangerous. One reason why the WRC has declined from the most watched motor sport category in the world to something that barely registers now.

Audi ran the same S1 Sport quattro at Pikes Peak, where Walter Rohl set the course record in 1987 (and Michelle Mouton the year before - still the Pikes holder of the fastest woman ever). This has only been beaten (by a matter of only a few seconds) by the modern custom-built mid-engined Peugeots, Tacomas and Suzuki specials. They do run a WRC-style class at Pikes Peak today and their times are not even close to Audi's performance 25 years ago.

Yes that demo car might be de-restricted for the drifts, in which case it's not legal for WRC. The Audi S1 could do smoking drifts in the WRC though! True Pete, they were set up primarily for the unsealed surfaces of the WRC then, and the Audi does use the nose-heavy Passat-style longitudinal front engine layout. But they were also famous for winning the World Rally Championship four times (maker twice, driver twice).

Carlos Sainz is my fav

celica pride!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSpQ5vnE5D0&feature=related 

Carloz Sainz saw the light - he has graduated from Toyotas and drives for Volkswagen now. Dakar winner this year in the Race Touareg...

Lol, I have unintentionally followed in his foot steps

Makes ya wonder how many spectators got bowled