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Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
12/8/20 10:28 a.m.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/32I0Qso4sDg

Active aerodynamics, 862 horsepower, 50 pounds of boost and a body made entirely of carbon are just a few of the highlights of the latest machine to take on the unique automotive challenge known as Gymkhana. The biggest difference this time around? It’s not a Ford, and Gymkhana pioneer Ken Block isn’t behind the wheel.

Instead, it’s the most extreme Subaru WRX STI …

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Vajingo
Vajingo Reader
12/8/20 10:32 a.m.

There was good, there was interesting, there was boredom. 
 

instead of talking about the negative, I'll express that I found interesting the massive (150mph?) jump on a wet public two lane highway. It was toward the end before Pastramiland. That was nutso. 

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa SuperDork
12/8/20 10:33 a.m.

God, that sound inside.  What is that?  Is it just the cameras not being able to pick up the engine sound properly?

NOT A TA
NOT A TA SuperDork
12/8/20 10:38 a.m.

Just when we think the videos can't get any better............

Edit: First ever intentional railslide in a car? Active aero for use WHILE AIRBORNE?

captdownshift (Forum Supporter)
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
12/8/20 10:41 a.m.

In reply to Vajingo :

There's also history regarding that location, Pastrana and Tommy. Knowing the history, seeing him do that, then seeing his daughters do Pastrana things back at the house, it's dusty. It's an incredible Easter egg for a gymkhana film, and this one is full of easter eggs, Crabs holding footballs, That's what Maryland does. 

 

Brief article that connects the location of that jump to the accident in 03.

Mr_Asa
Mr_Asa SuperDork
12/8/20 10:41 a.m.

In reply to Vajingo :

Same.  That was a huge amount of air.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin MegaDork
12/8/20 11:00 a.m.

I wonder how they prepped for safety for this one.  The water features seem to be a unique challenge.  What do you do when your rally car ends up upside down in murky water and you are wearing a helmet, 5pt harness, etc.

captdownshift (Forum Supporter)
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
12/8/20 12:43 p.m.

In reply to ProDarwin :

The vertical pilings were the biggest concern. Tanak can offer insight on getting out when submerged, fire and rescue were also on hand. 

mad_machine (Forum Supporter)
mad_machine (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
12/8/20 4:33 p.m.

I am wondering if the rail slide around the dock was a "happy accident" that they decided to run with?  That section did not have the amount of rubber around it that many of the areas did.

 

Unlike the other Gymkhana videos, I enjoyed this one as I actually know the area.

NickD
NickD UltimaDork
12/8/20 5:07 p.m.

Most people would have saved the big jump over the powerboat for later in the video. I like that they threw that out immediately, like first stunt. Also, Travis' facial expressions were hilarious. He seemed pretty terrified at bits. Can't blame him

The jump was cool. The rest was kind of meh. Not their best work by far. 

Looks like the rail slide cost someone a trip in the drink to recover a few GoPros. I'm going with happy accident. 

 

Ian F (Forum Supporter)
Ian F (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
12/8/20 5:41 p.m.

I think the sill/rail slide was intentional. Block did a similar move in one of his videos, just barely hanging the tire on the edge of the pier - and this would have been the next step in doing that stunt. I can totally imagine them asking themselves, "what if we actually drop the wheel off?  Can you do that Travis?"  And Travis being game to try it.  You can be sure they rehearsed the hell out of if under more controlled conditions. 

You can see the GoPros in one of the other angles - looks like there were two of them - probably incase one of them got crushed by the car.  I think they just got booted across the dock.  It wouldn't have been difficult to put them on a cable to keep them from flying too far.

I enjoyed the video overall.  Especially being somewhat familiar with the area as well. I'm sure it's getting hard for them to come up with new stunts to do.

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
12/8/20 5:57 p.m.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

I think the sill/rail slide was intentional. Block did a similar move in one of his videos, just barely hanging the tire on the edge of the pier - and this would have been the next step in doing that stunt. I can totally imagine them asking themselves, "what if we actually drop the wheel off?  Can you do that Travis?"  And Travis being game to try it.  You can be sure they rehearsed the hell out of if under more controlled conditions. 

You can see the GoPros in one of the other angles - looks like there were two of them - probably incase one of them got crushed by the car.  I think they just got booted across the dock.  It wouldn't have been difficult to put them on a cable to keep them from flying too far.

I enjoyed the video overall.  Especially being somewhat familiar with the area as well. I'm sure it's getting hard for them to come up with new stunts to do.

After watching the series on Amazon with Ken Block, I wouldn't be so sure about that!

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
12/8/20 5:58 p.m.
ProDarwin said:

I wonder how they prepped for safety for this one.  The water features seem to be a unique challenge.  What do you do when your rally car ends up upside down in murky water and you are wearing a helmet, 5pt harness, etc.

this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQRBdh9YGYU

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
12/8/20 6:01 p.m.
Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

I think the sill/rail slide was intentional. Block did a similar move in one of his videos, just barely hanging the tire on the edge of the pier - and this would have been the next step in doing that stunt. I can totally imagine them asking themselves, "what if we actually drop the wheel off?  Can you do that Travis?"  And Travis being game to try it.  You can be sure they rehearsed the hell out of if under more controlled conditions. 

I mean, most of us who have done rallies have dropped a wheel of an embankment more than once (disclaimer: I've only done it *once* as far as I know). And with an AWD car it's not hard to pull it back up there. 

It's a shame they didn't get some shots in on the Naval Academy grounds. Doing a circle around the old jet planes on the campus, or around the Navy football team, or something would have been cool - since USNA is one of the main "features" fo Annapolis.

That said, Annapolis townies pretty much hate Midshipmen lol, so maybe Travis didn't want to (or more likely USNA didn't want to). 

MrChaos
MrChaos GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
12/8/20 6:03 p.m.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
ProDarwin said:

I wonder how they prepped for safety for this one.  The water features seem to be a unique challenge.  What do you do when your rally car ends up upside down in murky water and you are wearing a helmet, 5pt harness, etc.

this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQRBdh9YGYU

yea they had an air tank attached to the door and had divers ready most likely.

ProDarwin
ProDarwin MegaDork
12/8/20 6:12 p.m.
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
ProDarwin said:

I wonder how they prepped for safety for this one.  The water features seem to be a unique challenge.  What do you do when your rally car ends up upside down in murky water and you are wearing a helmet, 5pt harness, etc.

this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQRBdh9YGYU

Damn that thing goes under fast.  What happens if the driver is stunned, knocked out, or incapacitated in any way before it hits the water?

AaronT
AaronT Reader
12/8/20 6:28 p.m.

That new brz looks a lot like an RX8 at a glance.

1988RedT2
1988RedT2 MegaDork
12/8/20 7:06 p.m.
Mr_Asa said:

God, that sound inside.  What is that?  Is it just the cameras not being able to pick up the engine sound properly?

 

 

You mean the engine constantly bumping off the rev limiter, or something else?

 

I liked the video. 

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter)
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
12/8/20 7:32 p.m.

I know the folks who built this. Here's one for Vermont!!!!

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
12/8/20 8:19 p.m.

I had no idea that he is from Annapolis Area!  I have spent a lot of time in Annapolis racing sailboats at least one long weekend every year for over 5 years.  A good friend of mine lived on a 40 ft sailboat for a whole winter, docked right there where the car landed from the water jump.  

For those not familiar with the town, this is the bridge that connects Eastport to Downtown Annapolis.  They are traveling out of Eastport an into Annapolis.  That is the Annaoplis Yacht Club with the brown roof at the edge of the bridge.  In the distance, the dome and everything with a green roof is The Naval Academy.

That bridge is also the sight of The Maritime Republic of Eastport's annual .05k Bridge Run. An event billed as, "The least challenging athletic event ever conceived."

Its rather amazing to see this car whipped around the incredible narrow streets of downtown Annapolis.  Also amazing is how little of a parking lot he lands the car into.

He travels left to right taking the alley next to The Fleet Reserve Club and the landing in the maybe dozen car deep parking area that runs into the Latitude 38 restaurant. 

Two good shots of how little real estate he has to work with upon landing the water jump.

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
12/8/20 8:29 p.m.
ProDarwin said:
irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:
ProDarwin said:

I wonder how they prepped for safety for this one.  The water features seem to be a unique challenge.  What do you do when your rally car ends up upside down in murky water and you are wearing a helmet, 5pt harness, etc.

this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQRBdh9YGYU

Damn that thing goes under fast.  What happens if the driver is stunned, knocked out, or incapacitated in any way before it hits the water?

guess I hope my codriver drags me out, lol. 

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
12/8/20 8:30 p.m.
John Welsh said:

I had no idea that he is from Annapolis Area!  I have spent a lot of time in Annapolis racing sailboats at least one long weekend every year for over 5 years.  A good friend of mine lived on a 40 ft sailboat for a whole winter, docked right there where the car landed from the water jump.  

For those not familiar with the town, this is the bridge that connects Eastport to Downtown Annapolis.  They are traveling out of Eastport an into Annapolis.  That is the Annaoplis Yacht Club with the brown roof at the edge of the bridge.  In the distance, the dome and everything with a green roof is The Naval Academy.

That bridge is also the sight of The Maritime Republic of Eastport's annual .05k Bridge Run. An event billed as, "The least challenging athletic event ever conceived."

Its rather amazing to see this car whipped around the incredible narrow streets of downtown Annapolis.  Also amazing is how little of a parking lot he lands the car into.

He travels left to right taking the alley next to The Fleet Reserve Club and the landing in the maybe dozen car deep parking area that runs into the Latitude 38 restaurant. 

seriously, some of the Annapolis streets are seriously tight. I've had a few close calls driving 25mph there (in my WRX) over the years. 

buzzboy
buzzboy Dork
12/8/20 8:33 p.m.

Loved this one. I really enjoy the highspeed bits, like that 2 lane road jump. Holy hell! And the active aero on the car is super cool. Still don't like Subarus, but I like seeing Travis as the pilot.

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
12/8/20 8:36 p.m.

Years ago I took this photo on Main St, Downtown Annapolis.  Cool VW but narrow, old street.

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