When you put Ken Block and Motley Crue legend Tommy Lee in the same room, you can expect that something crazy is about to go down. And true to their respective reputations, a lot of things did go down...and up again...and sideways...and, well, you get the idea.
The two icons of their respective industries decided to do a little seat swap with Lee getting to ride shotgun on Block’s MWRT Ford Fiesta Gymkhana World Tour Car and Block getting a seat on Lee’s "unique" - to say the least - 360-degree Drum Roller Coaster.
The ensuing video prepared by Monster Energy shows us exactly how the whole seat swap transpired, complete with shots of Lee getting his shriek on as Block went all Gymkhana on him and Block getting the treat of watching Lee do his drum solo upside down.
Trust us, we’re not making these things up. Check out the video and watch how the two managed to put new meaning to the phrase "bro-tastic!"
Just recently we showed you how Peugeot was using a painfully limber dancer to help sell its newest vehicle, the 208. Peugeot has now released that there has been a new model of the 208 that has been in production since it became a concept. This new model is the 208 R2 Rally Car.
What’s better is that Peugeot is not only using this model as the replacement for the 207 Super 2000, but the French automaker is also offering this FIA-approved rally car for sale to the general public. That’s right, if you are looking to get into rally racing, you can walk into a Peugeot dealership, actually the Peugeot Sport Racing Shop, lay down a large sum of money and walk out owning a “rally ready” hatchback.
With some certainty we can say that the chances of the 2013 208 R2 Rally Car having the exact same specifications as Peugeot’s actual rally model are very low. Having said that, this model comes already certified and you can jump into lower level rally races and possibly take home some cash prizes.
Click past the jump to read our full review.
Full story
Looks like Ken Block isn’t the only one that can drop Gymkhana at the drop of a hat.
German shoemaker Puma is entering the world of RallyCross as an official sponsor to the Subaru PUMA RallyCross Team and to commemorate this occasion, they’ve decided that a suitable introductory video on its new team would suffice.
So they went and produced a video featuring their drivers, Dave Mirra, Bucky Lasek, and Sverre Isachsen all getting down and smoky with their respective RallyCross vehicles. In the ensuing video, you’re going to see plenty of burning tires, extraordinary drifting, and sliding action, all in the ode of Block’s Gymkhana routine.
Check out the video and watch how PUMA is introducing itself to the world of RallyCross.
And while you’re at it, be sure to bump up the volume and put it on HD. High definition drifting never looked as good and as spectacular as the video you’re about to see.
25 years ago, Walter Rohl won the 1987 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb while driving the Audi Sport quattro S1. Fast forward to this year and the 2012 installment of the annual race in Colorado will ring nostalgic as Rohl is set to make his return race to Pikes Peak.
The car Rohl will be piloting? No other than the same 591-horsepower Audi Sport quattro S1 he raced to victory a quarter of a century ago.
In this video, Audi takes us on behind-the-scenes look at preparations being done on the Sport quattro S1 leading up to its Pikes Peak return. Fascinating is an understatement in trying to describe the video, especially when you take into account all the things that need to be done to ensure that a 25-year old race car can tackle Pikes Peak the same way it did during its lean years.
So if you have the time, spare the three minutes and change and watch the video.
The Lancia Stratos was once one of the most dominant forces in the World Rally Championship, as it took home the championship in three consecutive seasons – 1974, 1975 and 1976. After the 1976 campaign, however, the Stratos was pulled out of the WRC.
In 1979, the Stratos wound up with a private racing firm and dominated the 1979 Monte Carlo Rally. The legend of the Lancia Stratos continues amongst rally enthusiasts. The Stratos was not only a rally machine, as Lancia did manufacture a small number of street versions of its rally champ. Unfortunately, with its popularity in the Rally realm, many of the street-version, known as the “Straddles,” Stratos have been converted into rally cars or modified into replicas of the WRC Champion car.
Thanks to the folks at RM Auctions you may be able to own one of the few near-mint condition 1976 Lancia Stratos ’Straddles’ left in the world. This beautifully restored classic is set to go to auction on May 11th or 12th in Monaco.
You may be wondering how well restored is this classic car or maybe if it is worth its asking price? Maybe you haven’t even heard of this car and would like to know more about it before considering shoving off to Monaco.
Click past the jump to read our full review to get a better feel for this car.
Full story
We all love Ken Block and his series of high-action Gymkhana videos, but that’s on a real-life scale. On a more micro scale, we can enjoy piloting our very own Ford Fiesta - actually, it’s Block’s Fiesta - to do Gymkhana our way.
The only caveat is we have to do it with a Hot Wheels model. Recently, Hot Wheels released a pint-sized, RC replica of Ken Block’s world-famous Gymkhana Fiesta. Clearly, they think highly enough of their new toy that they even made a video of it running roughshod in Venice Beach, California.
More than just the video, the toy itself is pretty cool and it gives all of us frustrated drifters to live our drifting dreams vicariously through a toy. The only downside to this R/C is the non-existence of smoke that’s being generated by the tires.
In its place? A center-mounted wheel under the car that effectively does the drifting for us. Despite that, though, we’d still buy this toy for all the reasons we just said. And if you need further convincing, look no further than the video and you shall too be tempted to make the purchase.
Rhys Millen Racing will be entering a new season of the Global RallyCross Championship with a new partner in tow. Oh, and they’re also bringing along the Hyundai Veloster with them to build on last year’s fourth place finish.
RMR is building on a new partnership with Disney for the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship and they’re set to compete this season with a unique Veloster Rally Car that comes with a specially wrapped livery featuring Disney’s new racing-themed TV series, Motorcity.
Just in case you don’t know, Disney scored huge on the Cars franchise and they’re branching out with a spin-off TV series. So what better way to promote a racing themed TV series than to have it promoted on an actual race car. That’s exactly what RMR and Disney were looking for when they tied up to plaster the Veloster rally car with the Motorcity livery.
As far as the car itself is concerned, the number 12 Veloster will be powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine that delivers an impressive 500 horsepower and is mated to an Xtrac six-speed sequential transmission. In addition, the car will also carry a new custom suspension and a new set of 18" HRE wheels wrapped in 245/40-18 Hankook Racing tires. Stopping power comes from 14" Alcon brake rotors and six piston Alcon calipers.
The Motorcity-wrapped RMR Veloster Rally Car will be driven by Stephan Verdier, who is personally looking to improve on last year’s fourth place finish. Despite having one of the coolest cars on the grid, Verdier will have his hands full this season competing against some pretty staunch rally heavyweights, including Tanner Foust, Ken Block, and Travis Pastrana.
At the very least, though, he’s going to have an entire demographic of kids rooting him on.
Just a few short years ago, the World Rally Championship (WRC) was in crisis after both Mitsubishi and Subaru left the sport in quick succession. However, since then, newcomers Mini and Volkswagen have confirmed they’ll compete in the WRC in the next few years and if reports are to be believed, yet another historic racing manufacturer may make a return.
Toyota originally competed in the WRC from 1973 to 1999 and wrapped up three WRC titles and came home with 43 victories. A good enough record to warrant staying in the sport, you say? Well, it is a fairly illustrious record, but Toyota left WRC to instead focus on Formula One and we all know how that turned out. Not very well.
The Toyota Celica WRC rally car was one of the most recognizable cars Toyota entered into the sport, but despite the GT 86 and Scion FR-S recently being launched by the brand, Toyota has confirmed that neither will enter the WRC.
While discussing the topic, a Toyota spokesman said, “We’re leaning towards an S2000-style of car which would be available for customers first. This is a development project, but it’s very early days—the engine only fired up for the first time a few weeks ago. At the very earliest, a car won’t be available until next year. Obviously, this being a Global Race Engine, it could go in any car, but the Yaris seems to make sense.”
The Yaris may not seem like the obvious choice, but look at it this way; it’s a lightweight city car with an extremely short wheelbase, the ideal combination for rallying. And with the original Mini Cooper having such a successful WRC career with those same ingredients, Toyota could be on to a winner here.
At this stage, it’s very unlikely that we will see the Yaris competing in the WRC until 2014 or beyond, but either way, we’re still excited to see how having five manufacturers will spice up the sport.
The Toyota GT 86, the Scion FR-S, and the Subaru BRZ may all be intertwined, but ever since they were all introduced late last year, each of the Japanese sports coupes have branched out into different fields of motor racing.
The BRZ, for one, has joined the ranks of the Japan’s Super GT300 series, while the Scion FR-S will soon be making its debut in the 2012 Formula Drift season. As for the Toyota GT 86, it appears to be heading over to Germany to compete in one of the world’s toughest endurance races, the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
Toyota, together with its racing amigos over at Gazoo Racing, recently announced that they were bringing a specially modified GT 86 coupe to the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. Full details behind the race-spec GT 86 have yet to be announced, but the Japanese automaker did divulge the list of drivers that will be driving the car in the day-long endurance race, including Masahiko Kageyama, Hisami Sato, Yoshinobu Katsumata, Hiroaki Ishiura, Kazuya Oshima, Takuto Iguchi, and Minoru Takaki.
In addition to the 24 Hours of Nurburgring, the GT 86 will also be entered in a number of other series races in Japan, particularly the Super Taikyu Endurance Series and the All-Japan Rally Championship.
Looks like the three sister sports cars are all set to begin their racing careers. Only time will tell which of these three will be most successful.
It’s not everyday that an individual is able to drive a Porsche 911. With its predecessors dating back more than half a century, the 911 is one of the most iconic sports cars ever produced. What’s even rarer than a standard Porsche 911 is a 911 tuned and customized for rallying, and Chris Harris was lucky enough to take a spin in this insane sports car for the Drive network.
The Porsche 911 had a hugely successful rallying career when it competed heavily in the sport in the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Throughout those 30-odd years, the 911 went home with not one, not two, but three historic victories at the Monte Carlo Rally, all of which helped cement the 911 into rallying folklore.
So what do you think will happen when you combine a legend like the Porsche 911, with our very favorite automotive journalist Chris Harris? Well you get a very informative and enjoyable video, as you’ll see when you watch it.
The particular car driven features a 3.5-liter engine delivering an impressive 365 horsepower. However, the most impressive upgrade, or should we say downgrade on this car, is its feather light weight of just 2200 pounds, and as you can imagine, it’s an absolute beast off the line. Combine that prospect with a racing inspired dog-gearbox, and you have a car so unique it would put Ferrari 250 GTO’s to shame.
In hindsight, that may not be true, but you get the picture! Check out the video above.
