Edmunds tests Ken Blocks Gymkhana 2 car

[sirwilliam]

ARTICLE LINKY

Gotta love the neon look!

[zaxrex]

Hmm, must be looking at a different picture, the block and heads look normal to me.

[sirwilliam]

Hmm, must be looking at a different picture, the block and heads look normal to me.

Yeah, yeah...Mr. Technical.

I love the look of the Neon "Intake" portion of the car (FMIC pipes, intake manifold, etc). Happy?

[thermobox]

Hmm, must be looking at a different picture, the block and heads look normal to me.

how can you tell cosworth from stock except for the little stamp?
i could stare at the engine pics all day long.

[supasixfo]

I love reading these kind of articles as much as i enjoy making fun of them. I think for the most part, besides being a "Ken Block owns this car", the numbers/specs being put down here serve only to impress the most casual of sports car fans... Well yeah, if i had someone stroke my engine out to 2.65L, a GT35R, E85, and an unlimited budget...yeah, i bet i could get 550whp too! One thing is for sure, if i got some seat time w Ken motha-uppin' Block, i'd rather spend it on the rally course, than some road tests.

"Skipping 5th gear, the car still manages a 10.8-second pass through the quarter-mile at 123.7 mph. For reference, that's 0.7-second quicker than the Corvette ZR1 and 1.0-second quicker than a Dodge Viper. It's even quicker than the limited-production 2007 Noble M400, which hammered through the quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds. "

Why are car mags so obsessed with the 1/4 mile. Yeah, the car is faster to the quarter than a ZR1, but no sh!t, rally cars are also geared stupid short. Tell me that this car beats a ZR1 to Viper to 180, with the same gear set... now that, would be impressive.

A Bosch fuel pump and injectors provide ample flow of E85, a fuel chosen because Block likes the environmentally friendly message it sends.

That or... E85 allows you to crank the boost higher and is less prone to detonation...

The Ken Block 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI doesn't stop quite as quickly as a stock STI...We managed to bring the car to a halt without flat-spotting its tires, but couldn't do so without a few small wheel locks. Brake bias is also adjustable...During our test, the bias was set such that the front wheels locked first, which favors stability — something we value highly when driving somebody else's expensive, high-profile car. We left it alone.

This whole section could have been replaced with -> we don't know how to brake without ABS and, we don't know how to drive cars cept in a straight line... maybe if the bias wasn't set 100% front, they'd get a bit more balance out of the car instead of just having it plow continuously...

[Cereb Daithi]

It's pretty obvious that article was written by a truly ignorant person.

[Sabre]

A Bosch fuel pump and injectors provide ample flow of E85, a fuel chosen because Block likes the environmentally friendly message it sends.

That or... E85 allows you to crank the boost higher and is less prone to detonation...

The Ken Block 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI doesn't stop quite as quickly as a stock STI...We managed to bring the car to a halt without flat-spotting its tires, but couldn't do so without a few small wheel locks. Brake bias is also adjustable...During our test, the bias was set such that the front wheels locked first, which favors stability — something we value highly when driving somebody else's expensive, high-profile car. We left it alone.

This whole section could have been replaced with -> we don't know how to brake without ABS and, we don't know how to drive cars cept in a straight line... maybe if the bias wasn't set 100% front, they'd get a bit more balance out of the car instead of just having it plow continuously...

I had to laugh at the E85 thing as well. This car is DUMPING fuel... it is not eco-friendly... E85 allows exactly what you said, so there is an obvious reason to run that instead of dino.

The braking hit home as well. I'm driving a car without ABS and it really teaches you how to brake to the limit. If these guys didn't have more than a day with it, they wouldn't be prepared to do a test like this.