For all speed freaks out there

Newportnobby · February 22, 2012, 01:01:54 PM

How long do your car tyres last? Incredible control

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4TshFWSsrn8&vq=medium#t=35

moogle · February 22, 2012, 01:22:42 PM

Was that the Stig in disguise?

Hope mine last a wee bit longer....

Sprintex · February 22, 2012, 01:56:06 PM

The man's an idiot

All his driving is stupid showing off, but put him on a proper rally stage with mixed surfaces, tight timing and trees to hit and he's not so clever as he has proved numerous times!

Better car control is demonstrated by PROPER rally drivers all year throughout the WRC season

Paul

4x2 · February 22, 2012, 02:30:08 PM

Quote from: Sprintex on February 22, 2012, 01:56:06 PM
The man's an idiot

All his driving is stupid showing off, but put him on a proper rally stage with mixed surfaces, tight timing and trees to hit and he's not so clever as he has proved numerous times!

Better car control is demonstrated by PROPER rally drivers all year throughout the WRC season

Paul

I'll second that !

Don't get me wrong, he clearly has a talent - but if he was that good - why isn't he playing with the big boys instead of wasting tyres in the local ASDA carpark...

Fratton · February 22, 2012, 02:39:57 PM

theres a similar video to this promoting one of the latest rally games on consoles but doing all this in the battersy powerstation site, some great control

Calnefoxile · February 22, 2012, 04:38:44 PM

Quote from: Sprintex on February 22, 2012, 01:56:06 PM
The man's an idiot

All his driving is stupid showing off, but put him on a proper rally stage with mixed surfaces, tight timing and trees to hit and he's not so clever as he has proved numerous times!

Better car control is demonstrated by PROPER rally drivers all year throughout the WRC season

Paul

Paul,

Sorry to disappoint you mate, but Ken Block is a PROPER rally driver!!!

Here's the Top Gear footage of him on different surfaces, albeit in a Scoobie rather than the Fiesta he now drives.

Top Gear - Ken Block Airfield Rallying

Regards

Neal.

galway · February 22, 2012, 05:16:10 PM

Great bit of driving! Very similar to me in the Iveco today.

tim-pelican · February 22, 2012, 05:35:02 PM

Quote from: Sprintex on February 22, 2012, 01:56:06 PM
Better car control is demonstrated by PROPER rally drivers all year throughout the WRC season

I've done a "rally driving for dummies" session at Silverstone (separate mud-bath from the regular track). Respect is due, it's madness. Having done it ourselves with the instructor shouting a lot to go faster, turn harder, etc, we then did a few laps in the navigator's seat - how they follow a map under those conditions amazes me too!

Greybeema · February 22, 2012, 06:38:59 PM

I'm with Neal, Ken Block is a proper Rally Driver. And yes that is terrific car control which the vast majority of us could never hope to come close to.

polo2k · February 22, 2012, 07:01:42 PM

Heres some more you might like

http://youtu.be/PDGfzYiDEpI

http://youtu.be/gRg6qZzUXaM

http://youtu.be/VYpOFimB7ZA

http://youtu.be/Te0V71sGoxA

http://youtu.be/24GRfPH73Hw

Mustermark · February 23, 2012, 12:17:57 PM

Nobby, that is a very cool video. I think that is a fantastic display, very cool exhibition driving. What a great place to have fun like that. I have done a bit of rally training and i can only imagine the delicate level of control required. Plus the mental strength to not actually want to run over that Seguay!

Thanks for posting.

When i get more time i will also warch Polo's truck vids.

Sprintex · February 23, 2012, 12:34:15 PM

Quote from: Calnefoxile on February 22, 2012, 04:38:44 PM
Sorry to disappoint you mate, but Ken Block is a PROPER rally driver!!!

I respectfully beg to differ - how many rallies last year did he actually score points on?

As shown HERE he scored points on just two of the eight rounds he entered, finishing outside the points on 5 and retiring from one. Yes he's a verygood driver, but there are much better drivers out there at the top of that table

Speaking as someone who did a fair amount of road-rallying in my teens/twenties the proof as always is in the results

Ash - don't get me started on 'Drifting', the most pointless form of competition ever devised !!

Since when did driving like a "mammary appendage" for no apparent reason become a sport? Just sums up the current trend in everything of "image over function" to me

Paul

Mustermark · February 23, 2012, 12:48:35 PM

Paul, are you saying that competing and scoring points in the world's premier rally competition doesn't qualify him as a bone fide rally driver? Seriously?

Sprintex · February 23, 2012, 02:16:37 PM

Not for one minute, just pointing out that there are much better drivers out there that don't feel the need to make "demonstration" videos to big themselves up

Paul

polo2k · February 23, 2012, 03:22:29 PM

Hold on a moment guys,

Ken Block is not a WRC Driver (He does that mainly for a bit of fun)
Ken Block is a world renound Gymkhana driver.

Gymkhana is not a widely acknowledged sport and is often bundled with rallying

Ken block actually started in fashion, where him and a friend started a shoe company (DC Shoes). As the comapny progressed they became popular within the extreme sports field. At this time Mr Block was probably sat at home lighting cigars with "Fiddys" and decided to do some driving. Turns out hes epic at it! Now he has started another career as a driver, where he is also using it as a marketing platform for several other vendors, Smart bloke overall!

As for drifting, I see your point. However it is again a situation where the sport is often not fully understood.
Drifting originally started as Togue driving, where a convoy of cars drove fast through the japenese canyons (not competitively, just for a blat). Over time the restriction of not passing, promoted "ego stretching" in the corners. Over time these guys wanted to show off a bit more, but not in the canyons, so they did it is cordoned off areas (This eventually evolved into gymkhana).
Drifting is not an attempt at speed, it is purely for looks. As an example, one of the highest ranked UK cars is an impretza that has had its 4wd removed and replaced with a RWD setup and a Skyline engine. Not as fast on a rally stage but~:

It does what its designed for VERY WELL!

The competitions are scored based on the extremeness of the drifts and placement is not considered important.
A perfect illustration of the "just for looks" is that you can buy tyres that do different coloured smoke!

So I Agree, pointless as far as speed is concerned*, in the same way that rowing boats are pointless on motorways.

(* if you have a couple of spare hours, watch a film called "Initial D" and this explains how it is actually faster and smoother to drift)

Now if we want to redirect some anger and want a new pointless competition... I present ...

Concourse du rupteur!!

http://youtu.be/4nTWak8JDho?t=25s

http://youtu.be/9na9HTAHPRA?t=35s

Literally, Limiter competition!

Yours Truely,

A petrolhead

[Devils advocate] Im sure they would say that playing with little trains is pointless too! [/devils advocate]