Ken Block: How ridiculous can he get?

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
12/19/2018 at 16:18 • Filed to: None

DISCUSSION (8)

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/19/2018 at 16:46

They haven’t called me yet, so not that ridiculous.

Basically imagine the Hoonicorn. But with a full interior. And sound deadening. And leather, real milled aluminum, and real wood. I just can’t decide if I’d leather wrap or paint the cage.

And no, you don’t get to judge me. :P

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks
12/19/2018 at 17:16

More than Block’s driving, I geek on the epic fabrication that goes into those rides. And the engine building. 914 HP in the truck thing. 367 HP in the little Ford Escort. Levers that apply braking on certain wheels while disconnecting the power to that wheel(s). Craziness. And a budget to destroy tires that probably cost $1,000 apiece and are made custom just for him. Child turns to parent: “I wanna be that when I grow up? How do I do that?”

Inconceivable.

Tristan > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/19/2018 at 18:02

My God that ‘77 Ford pickup is incredible... Except for the noise. Is there any way to make an Ecopoop sound even half decent?!

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/19/2018 at 18:37

Eh, most of the engine work is farmed out to Ford Performance who hands it to their F1 guys though. The truck basically is in a state of tune where the engine requires a complete teardown and rebuild after just a few hours of use. It’s what I call an “undrivable tune.”

Sure, it’s got awesome power. Sure, it’s got a usable power band. But you can’t use it. In wringing every single pony out of it, they have made it a ticking time bomb.

The Cossie at 367HP is actually in a state of SIGNIFICANT detune and serves to illustrate my point brilliantly . In WRC GrN trim, the YBT can make 550HP . Think about that. 550HP out of 2 liters using 80's tech (it was Magnetti-Marelli ignition.) But if they DO turn it up to full chat? They’d be constantly tearing it down and trying to source increasingly rare parts plus an irreplaceable cylinder head. 367HP is basically a warranty tune - ‘lots’ of power but not enough to risk anything breaking within 24k-36k miles. In fact, 367HP is not far from the actual factory output (~300HP at the crank.)

MOST of the engineering, in other words, is pretty much old hat and boring as shit. None of the cars actually has any axle disconnect either. It’s full-lock hydraulic handbrake. (And of course, it bears noting that Ken’s crew doesn’t build any of these.) It’s a permanent AWD system in all t hem, versus something like the SSJ which uses a modified Dana 30 and actually can do partial-disconnect, even if it’s service mode only . It’s just engaging the clutch for the front drive in the center differential. Very different thing.

Tires aren’t all THAT special either. It’s decals slapped on because sponsors, but, just shaved 315/35R20's on the Hoonitruck. That’s actually a stock size for certain 911 rears, so you can get new Falken Azenis for about $230 a shot. Pirelli P Zero Corsa PZC4's are the top end at about $490 a shot.

What is interesting is the chassis engineering in making these actually fit an AWD system. That is NOT a physically small setup by any stretch, especially not when you’re putting power through it. My C4GTS gives up a significant chunk of frunk for the front drive components. And you can see how absurdly high the Hoonitruck’s engine is mounted. But considering the total height of the car, it’s goddamn amazing . It’s even more amazing in the Hoonicorn, where there isn’t any room . There isn’t any vertical, and they’re out of horizontal. The oil pan’s already got to be as shallow as it can safely be, so notching it isn’t an option.

And somehow, they got the damn thing to fit. In a package that is not only shorter than my C4GTS (which is actually pretty tall at 51.5" ,) but even shorter than my Daytona which is a whole 48". And they managed to pack two driven axles into that front end. That is NOT easy. And using an SC90-24 at that. Which is NOT a small transaxle . Seriously. NOT. SMALL.

Kinja'd!!!

All the disconnect happens in that monster of a center differential, with the front axle diff offset so far that it’s literally riding the passenger side subframe rail. Which means they have to also cope with cutting a tunnel into the oil pan (which isn’t the big hunk of aluminum attached to the transmission. That’s the bell housing . The black lines are oil lines.) PLUS the steering rack (the red anodized aluminum part.)

Just completely insane packaging.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Tristan
12/19/2018 at 22:56

I have nothing to say about that.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks
12/19/2018 at 23:02

Wow. Shows you what I (don’t) know. What I do know is that when I watch Ken Block ruin tires, is that I am watching something absolutely ridiculous and, I assume, unparalleled.

But if I’m honest, I’m perfectly happy with his earlier videos with a little less car and a little more driving. All this whizbangery distracts a bit from stick-and-rudder driving. But I’m just a mouth-breathing onlooker...

Thanks for the block of instruction!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks
12/19/2018 at 23:03

And your post leaves me with lots of questions... Where are you located?

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/20/2018 at 00:09

Oh god no, you are completely spot on. The current crop of cars are all computer-controlled joystick machines. Literally any idiot can light off the tires, or light up the fronts alone, simply because of all the computer trickery going on.

But let’s be honest at the same time: it’s stunt driving where a single pass took half a dozen takes to get one where he didn’t wipe out, a tire didn’t shred to bits, the sponsor logos weren’t completely obscured, the director was satisfied, etcetera. It’s not competitive driving. Ken’s competitive driving record, well, it speaks for itself. Mostly it says ‘DNF.’ But goddamn can that man put on a stunt show, and he does a MUCH better job of it without uncontrollable death machines.

But I’m positive that they overstate the horsepower. Not only is 1400HP / 1250ft/lbs well beyond human-controllable in that style of driving, those cars would need to be doing the standing quarter in less than 6.5 seconds. It’s firmly in the NHRA Pro Stock class - under 500ci, at least 2350lbs. That’s 60 feet in less than 1 second and 170MPH in 660ft . Yes, gearing matters significantly, but you’re still faced with the fundamental physics of ‘holy FUCK that is close to th e torque of a semi pulling 80 ,000lbs .’ If you stop spinning tires for half a second, you just impacted a wall 50 feet away.

You know the saying - horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how hard you hit it. According to their claimed numbers, every time Ken stuffs it into a wall, it should register on the Richter scale. I could be wrong there, but, I kinda doubt it. I expect the ‘custom Ken Block compound’ tires are an inch of the least-grippy rubber they can come up with coupled to some completely absurd gearing where bouncing the limiter in first is only 20-30MPH. (Somebody else do the math for time to travel the length of a 53' container at various speeds.)

To answer at least one of those other questions though, I’m in Cleveland, OH. This is the kind of madness I analyze, math, and intuit for shits and giggles. Especially since I’m getting back into racing myself next year. (Still undecided if I want to attempt C4GT3 conversion on my GTS - I’m rusty and my own worst enemy. But damnit, 408HP and <300ft/lbs torque is the opposite of what I’m used to.)