Climbkhana TWO | Time for Coffee?
Ken Block has been to China with the Hoonitruck. Cue 9mins of you know what...
Obviously we all know what we're getting when a video is fronted by Mr K. Block. Skids, mostly. However, the so-called Climbkhana offshoot has slightly tweaked the old formula by having Kenny B negotiate actual roads rather than knocking over traffic cones in the middle of nowhere.
It's fair to say the last effort (the first), was the best thing KB has done in yonks because it was up Pikes Peak, which, as you will doubtless know, is rather treacherous if you happen to come off. Which our American friend very nearly did.
Consequently the video got many million views, and you rather suspect that his team has been scratching around for another challenge of similar scale (along with becoming famous all over again on Amazon Prime). To find one, Hoonigan visited China with the intention of sending the Blockster and his 914hp Hoonitruck up 'China's Most Dangerous Road'.
The stretch of tarmac in question is the one which runs up Tianmen Mountain - the one which you might recall the Volkswagen ID.R sprinting up a couple of months ago. Naturally, Ken, 51, is not in the People's Republic to challenge that time - but rather to go slithering up the road in his own inimitable style with our entertainment being his only real target. (Although, like Volkswagen, he's probably more interested in China's 1.5bn consumers this time around than he is in us.)
Quite what the world's most populous Communist state made of the Head Hoonigan In Charge is anyone's guess. But he clearly got exclusive use of the road - and put it to good use. His film crew are certainly handier with a drone than Volkswagen's lot, and there's plenty of opportunities to see how the road ended up with a fearsome reputation. Fair play too to HHIC; he may not ever be going that fast, but he's a good egg and a sheer drop to certain death is a sheer drop to certain death. One more for the road, eh Blocky...
You just know exactly what it is. The camera angle change every second is tiring plus multiple replays I just find a bit... contrived.
Great achievement though for those involved, just not my cuppa tea.
If I want to watch a hill climb, I’m heading to the raw and crude 1980s footage from Ari Vatanen.
https://youtu.be/UEuZG37gFdM
I look forward to the videos of the above posters efforts on the same stretch of tarmac.
He's not the best driver around, as seen by genuine rallying attempts but doing that takes balls, so fair play to him.
I didn’t say I could do better or knock his driving in any way.
Anyway, both of the climb ones have been a nice change from the usual Gymkhana which got a bit boring.
I'd also be giggling and te watching for weeks if I got a clip of me drifting a corner like pretty much any corner in that compilation but it's just not blowing my socks off anymore. It's a shame, I love to see driving, the thing I love attracting wider appreciation in the way a good snow boarding video makes everyone under 90 want to get out to a mountain.
It just doesn't have that sense of fun that comes with a natural moment. A moment of driving perfection caught on a run of imperfect fun with friends is worth 10 polished videos like this.
These crazy drives were amusing at the start, but there’s only so many times I can be wowed by seeing a purpose built car/truck slide round corners.
Show me the out takes, they may make better viewing.
I'd agree it's become somewhat samey in recent times, which is a shame, because the Hoonitruck is a cracking bit of kit, and the shear size of it caught Ken out numerous times on the last Gymkhana.
Yeah, they've probably set up each corner and he's done multiple runs rather than doing the whole mountain in one go, which isn't as impressive as a complete start to finish run would be, but he's not rallying, he's doing a choreographed dance I suppose. Also, to capture that whole mountain road in a single run would need an awful lot of cameras to capture the same quality of footage. If they don't have those, then they need to set up each corner as a set anyway.
I think the Gymkhana ones are getting a bit stale, but these ones have given the format a boost. The road looks absolutely incredible, and I'm not sure how anyone can complain about someone drifting a 900bhp pick-up truck. It won't be quite the same when it sounds like an RC car.
As for the multiple take thing; I'm not sure it would have quite the same positive PR effect if the video had only lasted 30 seconds and then Block had been killed as he went off a cliff
I think the Gymkhana ones are getting a bit stale, but these ones have given the format a boost. The road looks absolutely incredible, and I'm not sure how anyone can complain about someone drifting a 900bhp pick-up truck. It won't be quite the same when it sounds like an RC car.
As for the multiple take thing; I'm not sure it would have quite the same positive PR effect if the video had only lasted 30 seconds and then Block had been killed as he went off a cliff
Scotto wasn't happy, nor was Ken, it simply wasn't full beans enough for the video. "Try again, go for it". Ken setup a pile of rocks as a guide as the corner apex is somewhat unsighted. Take 2...
Nobody really wanted to try a 3rd take on that particular corner
Scotto wasn't happy, nor was Ken, it simply wasn't full beans enough for the video. "Try again, go for it". Ken setup a pile of rocks as a guide as the corner apex is somewhat unsighted. Take 2...
Nobody really wanted to try a 3rd take on that particular corner
Epic drive, no matter what posters say: try to shave a wall in a 900 brake truck like ken does: it's not going to happen.
Epic drive, no matter what posters say: try to shave a wall in a 900 brake truck like ken does: it's not going to happen.
But it gets a bit samey when you watch 9mins of sliding round corners.
You just know exactly what it is. The camera angle change every second is tiring plus multiple replays I just find a bit... contrived.
Great achievement though for those involved, just not my cuppa tea.
If I want to watch a hill climb, I’m heading to the raw and crude 1980s footage from Ari Vatanen.
https://youtu.be/UEuZG37gFdM
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