Driving crazy

[greatbear]

Rally car driver Ken Block is back with "GYMKHANA 4", his latest crazy-assed showcase of unbelievable driving skill, humor and destruction of tires. This time around, it's a full-on Hollywood-style production, the only thing not done with special effects is the driving. Maximize the frame, crank up the sound, and enjoy this hoon-fest.

Comments

[cop4cbt.livejournal.com]

Fun!

[cpj.livejournal.com]

It looks good, but I would have been impressed without the cheesy digital effects.

[tibortiger.livejournal.com]

Pretty cool! I wanna know what they did to that ford focus to make it run like that :-)
The in car audio makes it sound like an RC car.

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

Giant engine, big turbos, no (real) silencer, and a blow-off valve.

Gods I miss going sideways (I used to race Group N rally cars ages ago).

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

It's actually a Fiesta, and it only looks like one on the outside. X-D

The slot-car sounds are courtesy of a straight-cut gear transmission, clutchless and slap-shifting (though the last iteration of this car had paddle shifters on the steering column). I so love the sound of a straight-cut trans, but would not want to live with one on the street. It would be like working in a sawmill.

The crackling exhaust is actually by design. By making the timing such that raw fuel ends up in the exhaust headers and lighting it off there, the afterburning spools the turbo up and keeps it there even at part throttle. At the start you can hear the engine at mid-rpm with the exhaust machine-gunning. The engine controller allows this in neutral to spool up the turbo so there is absolutely no lag once the hammer falls. The beauty of all this is the engine can idle like a stocker. Not sure what is under the hood now, I think it was some sort of Cosworth 4-banger at around 600-some HP before. I didn't look it up this time, but it looks like the car is totally different now.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

That's what made Gymkhana 3 my favorite.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I need to resurrect my big-block '69 Dart. That thing would put these modern day Doriftos to shame. X-D

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

But only in a straight line ;-)

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Actually, no. Lowered, 1 1/8 front and 7/8" rear sway bars, KYB shocks, 12" front disks, 11" rear drums and 245/60s, plus rear mounted batteries and five Alpine amps made for a delightfully neutral, tossable car that really surprised unsuspecting folk. Especially the poor sop in the BMW 5-series that failed to in chasing me through an on-ramp. =D

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

That was amazaballs fun to watch. Cheesy special effects, tongue-in-cheek hilarity, amazing driving and dudes in gorilla suits. I. Love. It.

[bigmacbear]

I gotta check out the dude from Epic Mealtime about 4:15 in, the one with the Expos cap cooking with Jack.

And thanks for the explanation on the exhaust -- I was wondering why a brand-spankin'-new car that's obviously tuned for racing would backfire so much. ;-)

[dan4behr.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the details on the Fiesta!

This guy has been in another video or two you've posted, right?
The one where they debut the fiesta at a track somewhere in England?

Bonus points for the Gorilla suit....