awesome video

[Hack Goby]

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4TshFWSsrn8&vq=medium

[Pops]

That was a great video Paul! Thanks!!!!!

[SGT_MERC]

That was awesome. Thank you for sharing.

[MOTOWN]

sweet video bud!

[RacerX]

Repost! :) Awesome every time though!!!

[breeze]

thats crazy!

[Mr. Man]

Never gets old. It would be funny to see a cops and robbers version

[rayjay]

Holy feces ! Now I remember why I loved my Focus ZX3 so much. Built up small Fords are a hoot! The Evil Orb may be going bye bye for a new Focus or Fiesta as my winter rat.

[Mr. Man]

Holy feces ! Now I remember why I loved my Focus ZX3 so much. Built up small Fords are a hoot! The Evil Orb may be going bye bye for a new Focus or Fiesta as my winter rat.
Get the Focus. Fiesta will disappoint.

[Taemian]

I just don't get you guys.

He's all about brand image and marketing, and I guess that's what's hip with kids today? This video has nothing (as in zero) new from his others with the exception of the high bank tricks.

Compared to his peers (read:not me) he's alot of style, not tons of substance. Let's see how he does in the WRC against actual competitors. And spectators. And trees.
Take away his control of the situation, and he's really not that special.

Haven't any of you folks seen the killer "B" 's from back in the day? Or names like Ari Vatanen, Michelle Mouton, Hans Stuck, Walter Ruhol....et all? Hell, Parnelli Jones was 10x the driver this kid will ever be. (For the record, I grew up watching Nascar and the old Trans Am series. I'm not a rally snob.:P)

And while I can appreciate driving skill of any level (read:unlike mine) this kid seems really overrated compared to his peers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKgeCQGu_ug&feature=related
2:50 to 3:50 is a good representation of talent, not posturing.

Group B was ended nearly 30 years ago, and many of their records have just been recently broken mainly due to technological advances.

Sorry if I sound butt-hurt, but what's the big whoop about this guy? What am I missing? The whole "planting-the-nose-and-spinning" is what we used to do in snowy parking lots. The Segway was cool in his first video with Subaru the first time I saw it for sure, as was his jumping on the ski hills.

So I guess that if you're rating him on showmanship, he gets great marks. But compared to real talent (read:NOT ME) I don't see much that he has to offer.

Maybe I'm just missing the whole point of the gym-kana thing?:confused: WRC tried to have special "stadium" stages, perhaps this gymkana is just popular due to the power of viral videos and people's ignorance of true champions from the past.

Just trying to understand the hype....

[Taemian]

Holy feces ! Now I remember why I loved my Focus ZX3 so much. Built up small Fords are a hoot! The Evil Orb may be going bye bye for a new Focus or Fiesta as my winter rat.


Upgrade, anyone?

http://www.kugelkomponents.com/focus/focusv8.php

"....Q: Have you used any other engine for the conversion?
A: Yes, we now have a kit for the 4.6L 4-cam Cobra Mustang engine..."

Who wants to build the first Marauder-powered Focus?
Maybe not the best for a winter beater.:)

[rayjay]

Taemian, I could care less who the driver was actually. I enjoyed the car and what it appeared capable of. Before buying my MM I owned a 2000 ZX3 that I had considerably altered to suit my taste in driving. It didn't have giant wings or mantaray panels, well a small rear wing that was actually functional. Other than "light brows" and light weight wheels that was the only body work. All the rest was to make car faster or handle better. It was actually quite difficult to go from a car that handled like a go cart to the MM. I never saw the Focus as a drag racer, it was all about the handling and my suspension was completely aftermarket down to the smallest bushing. I was scheduled to go forced induction the year I bought the MM instead. I was waiting for them to work out the bugs on the turbo kits. Although she made really good power without it. I should have auto crossed that car, but no such thing out in the woods. :(

Right now my winter rat is 2008 Cheby Aveo 5 dr with a chronic CEL problem that appears to be gasahol related. No choice on the gasahol here. :censor: Cheby service can not seem to fix it. Only issue on trading it is that car is paid for and being on a fixed income I will not get back into car payments. Still waiting for 5 years of back pay...

FWIW, V8 conversion kits for the Focus were avialable from Ford Racing when I owned mine. I read it wasn't that bad a deal to do and they were using 5.0s

[Taemian]

Taemian, I could care less who the driver was actually. I enjoyed the car and what it appeared capable of. Before buying my MM I owned a 2000 ZX3 that I had considerably altered to suit my taste in driving. It didn't have giant wings or mantaray panels, well a small rear wing that was actually functional. Other than "light brows" and light weight wheels that was the only body work. All the rest was to make car faster or handle better. It was actually quite difficult to go from a car that handled like a go cart to the MM. I never saw the Focus as a drag racer, it was all about the handling and my suspension was completely aftermarket down to the smallest bushing. I was scheduled to go forced induction the year I bought the MM instead. I was waiting for them to work out the bugs on the turbo kits. Although she made really good power without it. I should have auto crossed that car, but no such thing out in the woods. :(

Right now my winter rat is 2008 Cheby Aveo 5 dr with a chronic CEL problem that appears to be gasahol related. No choice on the gasahol here. :censor: Cheby service can not seem to fix it. Only issue on trading it is that car is paid for and being on a fixed income I will not get back into car payments. Still waiting for 5 years of back pay...

FWIW, V8 conversion kits for the Focus were avialable from Ford Racing when I owned mine. I read it wasn't that bad a deal to do and they were using 5.0s

That's too bad you never had the chance to go auto-xing in your Focus, sounds like you'd have cleaned up! Sorry to hear about your CEL crap, that can also be very frustrating when you are forced to buy gas that throws codes.

So if you were impressed by that Focus, have you watched his Subaru videos? And his long distance jumping? They are cool, but only in an Evel Kenival kind of way. I thought I read about Ken taking a stab at WRC, but I really don't follow him enough to know where that stands right now. All I know is that while his driving may be flashy, it's not really that amazing.

You nailed it on the head about the car's performance. WRC cars have incredible setups that make even a mediocre driver look good. I got the chance to drive 2 race prepped rally cars during "Race on the Rock", an unlimited stage rally on Vancouver Island. It's easy to be awed by acceleration, but the way they brake and drift around corners so predictably was an eye opener. And I was driving used rally cars that were about 6 seasons old! The newest ones would've been even more amazing.

I guess I just don't get the showmanship part. I also don't get "drifting" racing. When is getting points marked for "style" in competition ever a good thing? That's for figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics.:lol:

[rayjay]

I was amazed at the cars handling/braking. Could have been better in the traction dept, but he abused the tires pretty badly. I'm still not sure if that was all wheel drive or rear only??? I know that on some of those cars you could bias the amount of drive front-rear. I was also waiting for it to blow up as it seemed to keep hitting the limiter over and over and over... I wonder what was actually under the hood. Cosworth?

[Taemian]

I was amazed at the cars handling/braking. Could have been better in the traction dept, but he abused the tires pretty badly. I'm still not sure if that was all wheel drive or rear only??? I know that on some of those cars you could bias the amount of drive front-rear. I was also waiting for it to blow up as it seemed to keep hitting the limiter over and over and over... I wonder what was actually under the hood. Cosworth?

Car details as follows...:)

Built by Olsbergs Motorsport Evolution (MSE), the 2,425-pound Gymkhana THREE Fiesta sports a purpose-built Olsbergs engine capable of up to 850 brake horsepower, but is restricted to 650 horsepower in order to give Block the torque band he needs to control the car. Equipped with an Olsbergs MSE Maktrak (magnesium) six-speed paddle-shift sequential transmission, it is capable of 660 lb.-ft. of torque at 4000 rpm and needs a mere two seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph.

Entire article below...

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/04/21/ken-blocks-gymkhana-fiesta-revealed/

At least he's honest when he says "It's taking some of the best parts of rally racing and removing a bit of the stress that is involved with competing"

Since he's now actually joined the WRC, I'll be watching to see how he does. Should be very interesting!

[rayjay]

I am still amazed at what can be done with a 4 banger 2 liter engine. I'd have a smile like that too with the car, not to mention the four hotties around it. :coolman:

[fastblackmerc]

Nice video, but even with all the HP it still sounds line a buzz saw.

[rayjay]

Nice video, but even with all the HP it still sounds line a buzz saw.

Of course it sounds that way, its missing fours cylinders.

[Bluerauder]

I was amazed at the cars handling/braking. Could have been better in the traction dept, but he abused the tires pretty badly. I'm still not sure if that was all wheel drive or rear only??? I know that on some of those cars you could bias the amount of drive front-rear. I was also waiting for it to blow up as it seemed to keep hitting the limiter over and over and over... I wonder what was actually under the hood. Cosworth?

What tires??? At the end of the video, he was down to the rims..... and abused them too.

I was impressed with the 51* of banking. :D

Also liked the dashboard shift indicator.

[CRUZTAKER]

Get the Focus. Fiesta will disappoint.

He should hould have stuck with Subaru. WRC proven again and again.
STI's will run circles around the Fords this season.....as they always have.
Indeed he will be missed from the team.
Ford must have forked a ton of dough over to him to make the move.

The fiesta is lame.
The boxter motor sounds so much better as well.

[Taemian]

He should hould have stuck with Subaru. WRC proven again and again.
STI's will run circles around the Fords this season.....as they always have.


:confused::confused::confused: :confused:

Subaru hasn't ever beaten Ford since before 2005.

http://www.autoevolution.com/sport/wrc/standings/

Not sure where you're getting your info about Subaru's supposed dominance. Can you disprove the WRC manufacturer's championship results link above?

Subaru dropped out of WRC years ago, but even in their final years Ford was beating them. Perhaps you're thinking of some other form of racing?

[rayjay]

I got turned off by Subus when I learned about the $750 mandatory timing belt change at 60K that takes two people to do. Why would you build a car like that?

[CRUZTAKER]

:confused::confused::confused: :confused:

Subaru hasn't ever beaten Ford since before 2005.

http://www.autoevolution.com/sport/wrc/standings/

Not sure where you're getting your info about Subaru's supposed dominance. Can you disprove the WRC manufacturer's championship results link above?

Subaru dropped out of WRC years ago, but even in their final years Ford was beating them. Perhaps you're thinking of some other form of racing?

You are correct sir. I am living a dream....don't rain on my parade:P

2009 was a sad year.

[Taemian]

You are correct sir. I am living a dream....don't rain on my parade:P

2009 was a sad year.

Don't worry about it. I'm still mourning the complete lack of anything Audi being in WRC.:( The Quattros blew my mind when they first came out, and nothing else has been as game-changing in WRC as those first few seasons of Audi's "unfair advantage".

[rayjay]

Don't worry about it. I'm still mourning the complete lack of anything Audi being in WRC.:( The Quattros blew my mind when they first came out, and nothing else has been as game-changing in WRC as those first few seasons of Audi's "unfair advantage".
A friend of mine just bought a new Audi all wheel drive last fall. Amazing car is all I can say. Lucky bastage has a family connection.

[Jesse]

Lancia! Gimme a strotos!

[stryker]

:cool: Not just Awesome but... !! WAESOME !! too. :banana2::burnout:

[SILVERSURFER03]

Awsome vid

[Dj1]

Wow that video was crazy.


Sent from my iPhone4 using Tapatalk

[stryker]

:banana2: :burnout: