On his way to the visit Olsbergs MSE in Sweden, the company that prepares his Ford Fiesta for the Rally America Series, Ken Block decided to have a quick detour on a local ice track to test out the capabilities of the all-wheel drive Hayabusa-powered mini Ford Fiesta.
While it seemed like a regular day in the office for Block, he did admit that he had some fun with the mini Fiesta and seemed genuinely surprised that it packed that much torque and horsepower in such a little frame.
Check out this video to see Block’s exploits in a car that really did seem a little too small for him. Nevertheless, he seemed to handle the maneuvering of the car with relative ease.
The Japanese all wheel drive automaker Subaru unveiled the latest addition to the Subaru Road Racing Team this past weekend with their entry in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series at the Daytona Speedway as a precursor to the acclaimed Rolex 24 hour race at Daytona. The race ready Subaru ImprezaWRX STI is a wide body version of the standard five door STI powered by a boosted flat four and features a driver selectable power train and dynamic handling controls to ensure world class performance for the Japanese sport compact.
The SRRT STI-R is motivated by a high output version of Subaru’s 2.5 Liter turbocharged and intercooled four cylinder Boxer engine that produces a maximum output of 305 HP and is mated to a six speed manual transmission that features Subaru’s advanced Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD) version of Subaru Symmetrical All Wheel Drive that allows the torque to be manually split between the front and rear axle. The SRRT Impreza WRX STI also features a lightweight suspension made up of lots of aluminum pieces to ensure that the road racing STI is light on its feet with as little unsprung mass as possible and a Brembo Performance Brake System to ensure that their drivers don’t encounter brake fade no matter how many times they run deep into the turns.
Ford revealed today the official details on the Ken Block’s Monster Ford Fiesta that will campaign seven rally events in North America in 2010 for Ford, including the Summer X Games in August.
The Monster Ford Fiesta is powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that is capable to deliver a total of 490 hp at 8,000 rpm, but due to a required turbo-inlet restrictor by the series, the Fiesta will be running in the range of 330 hp.
"I am very excited to finally be in the Fiesta," said Block. "The Fiesta is the car that beat me last summer at X Games. Ford has a great platform with the Fiesta, and I can’t wait to see what I can do in the Rally America championship and at the X Games later this year."
You’ve probably seen this video a thousand times dubbed countless other times; but still, you probably can’t help watching it over and over again, especially if it comes out with some new material.
The Adolf Hitler ‘Downfall parodies’ have been nothing short of hilarious and the latest one, which involves Hitler’s reaction when he finds out that rally car driver Ken Block has switched from his beloved Subaru to Ford is arguably one of the best versions we’ve seen. We don’t know who to feel worse for; Hitler for seeing Subaru lose its driver to the ‘enemy’ or Subaru for having Hitler as a fan.
But hey, at least Travis Pastrana has a new fan now.
Trust us; the video is a must-watch and if you’ve got a few minutes to spare, we invite you to check it out; it’s worth the laughs.
Although the Japanese automaker Subaru pulled out of their factory backed World Rally Championship efforts, the company that built those iconic blue WRC competitors, Prodrive, are still working hard on new versions of the purpose built rally car for privateer racers. Prodrive has just released details about the 2010 Group N Subaru Impreza that will compete in 2010, priced at just under $200,000 the Prodrive Subaru Impreza N2010 WRC is sure to deliver for those willing to take the risk on the stages of the World Rally Championship.
The Impreza N2010 utilizes a new larger 33 mm air restrictor connected to the turbocharged. The new piece was introduced by the FIA in order to help balance the performance between the Group N and unrestricted Super2000 rally cars. Simply by increasing the size of the opening by only one millimeter, fitting a set of high flow fuel injectors and recalibrating the ECU to make everything work harmoniously gives the Scooby a 20 HP bump while beefing up the torque curve and increasing throttle response throughout the entire RPM band while the new Ohlins suspension ensures that the all wheel drive rally car stays on course until the end of the stage.
