Gymkhana GRID

Most of you have seen those three amazing gymkhana videos where Ken Block slides, spins and does more mind-blowing things with his Monster Energy Drink Subaru Impreza STI and Ford Fiesta.

With over 70 million views, these viral videos have been one of the greatest motorsports videos on the Net. If you are one of the few who haven't seen them, here they are. If you have already seen them, it never hurts to see these amazing videos one more time:

Gymkhana Practice -

Gymkhana 2, the Infomercial -

Gymkhana 3, Ultimate Playground -

Well it so happens that the king of the gymkhana felt a little bit alone in his motorsport and decided to launch Gymkhana GRID, in December 2010.

Gymkhana GRID was founded by Christopher Willard (the co-founder of the Redline Time Attack Series) and with Ken Block in to design the track, the rules and regulations and promote the sport, we can expect nothing less than a new motorsport discipline that is planned to grow the way Formula Drift has.

Gymkhana GRID is open to all types of RWD and AWD cars, and for the launch event, the Gymkhana GRID Ken Block Invitational that took place on December 3rd and 4th 2010, some of the greatest motorsports drivers were invited to compete against Ken Block himself, such as rally drivers like Dave Mira and pro drifters like Vaughn Grittin Jr, Daijiro Yoshihara and Tanner Foust.

To promote the Gymkhana GRID Ken Block Invitational, a rather fun video was released on the net, giving a first view of what's to expect, along with featured drivers (excluding Travis Pastrana because he moved to NASCAR, as teased about in the video).

The concept of Gymkhana GRID is Close to Formula Drift as it sees competitors running in duo around a "small size" course. The limitation in size of the course is practical as spectators can see most, if not all, of the action from any place around the track. The competitors are pitted against each other in two rounds, once again like Formula Drift. But that's where the similarities stop. In Gymkhana GRID, the drivers compete against the clock and are not sharing the same track, but are competing on "mirror" courses that not only require driving skills, but also a lot of mental work on the drivers as they must compete both in precision but also in speed.

The layout, designed by Ken Block, includes a high speed start, figure eights, boxed donuts, and a lot of power sliding.

The Gymkhana GRID Ken Block Invitational's final round saw Ken Block and Tanner Foust going head-to-head in similar 600+hp, AWD Ford Fiesta, and even though Ken Block blazed around the course, Tanner Foust showed superior car control skills and won both rounds to claim the first ever Gymkhana GRID trophy.

Here's the final round of AWD Gymkhana GRID pitting Ken Block and Tanner Foust -

Who said Ken Block, the founder of this motorsport, would have an easy win?

Test Drives: Subaru Forester 2.5XT, Impreza 2.0 & Impreza WRX STI A-Line

On the day of the Subaru’s hunt for a female stunt driver I got the opportunity to test-drive three cars: The Forester 2.5XT, Impreza 2.0 & Impreza WRX STI A-Line.

The Forester has grown a reputation mainly thanks to its mod friendliness, and its STI version. Picture this: an “ugly” space wagon on the outside that doesn’t attract unwanted attention, but that is hiding a 2.5 litre turbo’ed flat four on a sports chassis. Yes, it is sporting a bit more weight than an Impreza, but in STI trim, this bulldog will boil quite a few unsuspecting contenders out of the water with a melodious grunt of the boxer engine.

Better still, the Forester is one of the few cars with which you can drive to the track with a change of racing rubber in the boot and extra space in the back. Wicked? I think so!

The latest generation of the Forester is actually much better looking than its predecessors, and the high sitting position was rather enjoyable. The car feels sturdy and the torquish boxer responds well, too bad the exhaust doesn’t let it sing like a flat four should do. Unfortunately, the testing grounds were too small for the turbo to spool, but I was nicely surprised at how the bulky Forester handled in the sharp turns, with much less body roll than I expected.

Surely a tad lower and stiffer suspension would give more confidence to tackle the twisties, but as it is, it does more than its job in its target market as a family car.

Following the Forester came the Impreza 2.0R. When Subaru first launched the latest Impreza, that came only as a hatch, the market’s response was mitigated, and many people declared war on the brand that killed the traditional sedan Impreza. Personally, after the initial surprise, I grew to like it. The hatch has a better weight distribution and looks quicker too. Only recently did Subaru release the sedan version, and honestly, I believe they should have kept this version out of production. As much as the hatch still looks decent in basic stock trim, the sedan looks plain and unattractive.

Last but definitely not least, the WRX STI A-Line.

Looking very similar to its manual counterpart (other than the 17 inch rims and the absence of Brembo brakes, they are identical from the outside), the STI A-Line is the gentleman version of the manual transmission warrior due to its automatic box.

Yes, you read it properly: if one day Ken Block looses a leg, he’ll still be able to amaze us with his gymkhana thanks to the A-Line. Well almost…

It actually is a gentleman’s car in more than just the transmission: the comfy seats front and back and the gradual power delivery make this Subaru an option for families with kids. Seating at the wheel, you will be greeted by half bucket seats that will make long drives more enjoyable all the while still keeping hold of you in the twisties. The steering feels much heavier than the regular Impreza, but this gives you a much better feel as to where the car is on the road.

For those who are used to the regular STI’s kick-in-the-butt acceleration, the gradual power delivery of this model will leave you wanting for more. Sure, you can feel the turbo spooling and kicking in at around 4,500 RPM, but it won’t slam you in your seat; it comes in smoothly and once again, you’ll notice how comfortable of a ride the A-line gives. I’m not saying it’s not a quick car, for when needed it can zoom through traffic, but it’s just not as nervous as STIs usually are. A good point for some, a bad point for others.

Gear-wise, the automatic semi-manual “Sportshift” 5 speed transmission does its job smoothly, giving you the option to shift either in fully automatic mode, on the stick with a +/- selector, or at the wheel with paddle shifts mounted on the steering column. As I don’t like the car to decide for me which gear to drive in, I had some fun with the paddles, which give you quasi-instant, precise shifts with auto-rev match on downshifts. A good alternative for those who can’t bare the heavy clutch pedal of the manual WRX STI.

The 2.5l turbocharged boxer engine on this model has the same 296bhp as the manual version, but its torque has been lowered to 350Nm compared to 407Nm for the regular WRX STI, in order to preserve the auto gearbox.

Another feature that was downgraded from the manual version is the Brembo brakes, that have disappeared from behind the rims. Not to worry though, the A-Line still provides a safe and efficient braking which proved to be more than enough for street use.

Overall, the Subaru STI A-Line is a fun, powerful yet comfortable perfect for family guys (or girls) with or without kids, who want to look fast without breaking their backs on hard springs. It still delivers some fun at the wheel and the STI badge at the rear will make sure people know what they’re dealing with without telling them you’re only driving with one leg.

Note: single people can also drive it if they don’t know how to use a clutch…

Who’s to blame?

Here we go again, Toyota is recalling a whole bunch of cars around the world.

The problem this time is a brake fluid leak at the master brake cylinder, resulting in a spongy or soft brake pedal feel and, logically, a loss of braking performance as the level of brake fluid gets lower.
Now this kinda kicks people back to the controversial Toyota recall in 2009 concerning the “sticky” accelerator pedal flaw. The controversy then was that, apparently, Toyota had known about this defect but had kept it under wraps, and deaths occurred because of it.

Most people have heard that phone call that was put up on Youtube, where the passenger of a defective Toyota calls the highway patrol, saying the car’s accelerator is stuck. The phone call tragically ends when they reach an intersection and crash.
Now as much as the defect caused this accident, the question is: couldn’t the driver had done anything to prevent it?

I believe so. In order to prevent an accident in such a situation, all you need is some very basic car knowledge:
All cars, whether manual or automatic, have a neutral gear (“N” on automatic cars). When in neutral, no gear is engaged, meaning that the engine does not power the wheels anymore. You can rev up to the red line as much as you want, the car will not move.
Putting this in the sticky pedal situation, when you realize that the car keeps on accelerating on its own, push the gear selector to “N” in an automatic car, or clutch in and disengage the stick shift from a gear for manual transmissions – it’s better to bring it to neutral instead of keeping the clutch in because you don’t want to release inadvertently the pedal when the engine is in full rev, it won’t help you stopping.
At this point, the engine will probably “yell” all it can at the red line; let it be, in this situations, the engine is the least of your worries. You can now coast to the road shoulder, come to a stop safely and finally turn the engine off.
It is better to cut the ignition only once the car is stopped as doing this before stopping the car will rid you of power steering and more importantly, braking assistance such as ABS.

Today’s brake leak flaw is, to me, a lesser issue than a sticky accelerator pedal as it is a problem that happens over a longer period of time. As much as having the accelerator pedal stuck is an instant problem that requires immediate action, the brake fluid leak will manifest itself over a few months, and the driver will feel the difference in the pedal feel, as he or she will have to press gradually more and more to come to a stop. By then, common sense, more than education (I hope), will get the driver to talk to his or her reseller or garage, and one quick check on the brake fluid level (part of the basic routine check at any garage) will reveal the problem, leading to the discovery of the leak. As said during their press release, Toyota will bear the repair costs, so if your car is one of the recalled models (you’ll receive an official letter from Toyota inviting you to send your car for repair), you won’t event have to fork out a cent.

The reason why 13 different models are being recalled today is simply because all of them share the same brake system.
Recalls are a common thing in the car industry, and every manufacturer faces, sooner or later, the need to recall certain models to fix issues that have not been found during the car’s development. Most recalls go by unnoticed as the problems are usually fixed during the car’s normal maintenance as they are judged to not compromise the safety of the passengers. Others issues that can put lives at risk have an official recall campaign for safety.

My opinion is that this recall might not have needed an official recall campaign, as it leads to a slow and gradual problem, and can very probably be fixed during normal car maintenance, but Toyota decided to make it a campaign to prevent a situation like last year. At least it shows that the Japanese manufacturer has learnt his lesson and will make sure to put people’s safety first, at their own costs.

To finish this lesson, I would say that, yes, manufacturers can be blamed, but everybody makes mistakes, and defects can never fully be detected, we’re all humans in the end. But if people were more properly educated about cars, as in if driving schools taught people at least the basics of what to do in emergency situations, instead of pummeling driving student’s heads because they are driving at 53kph instead of 50kph, we could save some lives that were taken during accidents that could have been prevented through basic car knowledge.