Ken Block is at it again. Gymkhana V

[bmcnut]

Id never been a fan of gymkhana, tho Mr Block has always been highly watchable, this video is amazing to watch. The massive grin on his face just says 'living the dream'

Now, what id like to see is a few british drifters drifting around the houses of parliment. 8)

[MiataMark]

The fact that it's staged in San Francisco makes it for me, as well as the sideways bit, lots of confidence/skill/practice to do the stuff on the raft(boat) in the bay at the end.

Need to watch Bullitt now as a comparison....

[damien4884]

Jul 10, 2012 13:53:38 GMT EmDee said:

Jolly good show.

Jul 9, 2012 20:47:54 GMT blackdog said:

yep hes done it again... I like the idea of him useing a european ford, puts a twist on it gets the yanks wanting, top vid

True, except most Americans would say that Ford is American - since it's American and all. I'm sure he gets lauded as a hero for "buying domestic"

Although his doesn't have chrome foglight surrounds

I may be wrong but i'm pretty sure the car was built for him in the UK (the car he used in the rally new zealand was built in cockermouth)

I also know a chap nearby who designed and produced the gears to go in a gearbox, I remember talking to him and the spec's being 700ish hp in a 4wd ford fiesta.

Last time I saw him they had made a few and they were being tested, but hadn't got very far as the engines were not holding up. That was a few years ago now though, so I don't know what happened. It was something to do with Ford getting into some sort of rallycross style racing, I don't think it went ahead though, as ford UK hit some trouble and made quite a few people redundant.

[AverageH]

Is the European Ford Fiesta 4wd? I'm always jealous and a little mad with the lousy cars we get in the states compared to you guys. Especially when it's a Ford! We only get fwd Focuses out here for instance, and slow ones at that.
Loved the vid BTW!

-Hamid

[loudandproud205]

We don't get 4WD Fords unless we have deep pockets like Ken Block.

Don't worry you get much better Fords over there, and at least they tend to be fitted with real engines not the sub standard under powered dribble we get

[crazymonkey]

only just had a chance to watch this. flamin' nutter thats all I can say. bet that caused havoc on the roads closing off an area that big. damn impressive though, I'll give him that.

[EmDee]

Jul 11, 2012 5:43:59 GMT damien4884 said:

I may be wrong but i'm pretty sure the car was built for him in the UK

You are 100% correct good Sir, If you read my post over i was saying that most Americans will view it as an American car because it wears a Ford badge.

They do sell Fiestas over there now but as per my pic they have horrible chrome foglights and they've likely ruined the suspension to boot. Certainly won't be very similar to Ken's!

[Dez]

the driving is pretty good (not that there isnt plenty of other people out there who are just as good, but don't have the corporate sponsorship/exposure that block does, and lets face it, after that many practice runs most people could pull something out of the bag!), but is anyone really stupid enough to go out and buy a fiesta, which tbh, is quite a wibblepoo, underpowered shopping trolley at the best of times, just cos ken blocks purpose built, state of the art 700+hp competition car has got some bits of plastic hung on it to make it look a bit like one?

oh wait, were talking about americans arent we.....

[cianha]

The HPHV (High Powered Hoon Vehicle) is build bt M-Sport, alongside the WRC cars in the UK. Only it doesn't have restrictors, so they can turn up the boost to 11.

It's a great video. I hope it helps inspire another generation of kids to get into cars.

[dbizzle]

Jul 11, 2012 13:04:57 GMT Dez said:

is anyone really stupid enough to go out and buy a fiesta, which tbh, is quite a wibblepoo, underpowered shopping trolley at the best of times, just cos ken blocks purpose built, state of the art 700+hp competition car has got some bits of plastic hung on it to make it look a bit like one?

You're asking quite a big question about advertising and branding there. And the answer is an emphatic 'yes'. That's why car manufacturers get involved in motorsport - to shift units.

[jrevillug]

"If you win on Sunday, people will buy the car on Monday."

Or something like that.

[Deleted]

Ken Block Shopping Trip!

[Deleted]

Fantastic video editing, amazing what clever angles and editing can hide!

[MiataMark]

Jul 11, 2012 13:21:13 GMT dbizzle said:

Jul 11, 2012 13:04:57 GMT Dez said:

is anyone really stupid enough to go out and buy a fiesta, which tbh, is quite a wibblepoo, underpowered shopping trolley at the best of times, just cos ken blocks purpose built, state of the art 700+hp competition car has got some bits of plastic hung on it to make it look a bit like one?

You're asking quite a big question about advertising and branding there. And the answer is an emphatic 'yes'. That's why car manufacturers get involved in motorsport - to shift units.

and it's probably as much to do with promoting the other sponsors (monster etc) as raising awareness (not necessarily selling more Fiestas) of Ford.

[buzby]

He uses 3 different Fiestas for different events. For the new Gymkhna video, US Rally Championship and Global Rallycross Championship (where all the events are in the USA...) he uses the HFHV (Hybrid Function Hoon Vehicle):

It is based on a modified M-Sport Fiesta WRC shell, specifically one that was crashed by Mikko Hirvonen during testing for the 2011 Rally Sweden. It was taken to Norway where WRC (and part-time rallycross) driver Henning Solberg's team modified it and completed the build (it is basically a rallycross car that can be reconfigured for rallying). The engine is based on the 2.0 Duratec turbo that was used in the last generation Focus RS WRC rally car (the current Fiesta WRC uses a 1.6 turbo derived from the Ecoboost production unit). The transmission is a Sadev rallycross-spec system (it's cheaper and stronger than the exotic XTrac system used on the Fiesta WRC).

The car would normally not be eligble for rallying as it is far from the homolgated spec of the Fiesta WRC, but fortunately the US Rally Championship is not run to FIA regs. For the few WRC rounds he is doing this year, he will be using a works-spec M-Sport Fiesta WRC.

There is also have a third car that he will be using on his 5-stop Gymkhana World Tour events. This is the 4-door rallycross car built by Olsbergs MSE in Sweden that he used in the 'Gymkhana 3' video:

[g40jon]

Jul 11, 2012 13:21:13 GMT dbizzle said:

7]
That's why car manufacturers get involved in motorsport - to shift units.

That and the huge amount of technical development that gets passed down to road cars

great vid, don't really understand why so many people get all funny over ken block, yes he may not be the best rally driver in the world, but his videos ain't half bad!

[ScORTED]

despite everything else Mr Block does make damn cool videos

[wagoneer]

Jul 11, 2012 13:12:36 GMT cianha said:

The HPHV (High Powered Hoon Vehicle) is build bt M-Sport, alongside the WRC cars in the UK. Only it doesn't have restrictors, so they can turn up the boost to 11.

It's a great video. I hope it helps inspire another generation of kids to get into cars.

My guitar amp goes up to 11.......

Cracking video, superb Top Gear style editing and angles too, I suspect we might see some of this on the telly when they're back on.

Anyone who jumps a car sideways and makes me grin is worth watching. Thanks Mr Block, good entertainment, now, where's the nearest Ford dealer?

[dan]

Yeah it's a pearoast but I've only just seen it and it made me chuckle