Ken Block reveals the all-electric Hoonitron
Having jumped ship from Ford to the four rings last year, Ken Block has just unveiled his new Gymkhana monster; an all-wheel-drive, bewinged, Audi inspired by Michèle Mouton’s iconic Quattro S1.
The Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron, to give it its full name, is a clear tilt at Ford’s Mustang Mach E 1400 although Audi Sport’s engineers are keeping tight-lipped about power and technical specs for the time being. We do know that it has two electric motors as opposed to the seven in the Ford, a carbon-fibre chassis and ludicrous aero.
All-wheel drive is a given of course and the car will be used to film the next installment of Block’s famous Gymkhana stunt driving series, dubbed ‘Elektrikhana’. Block gives some hint of its potential however, saying: “Spinning into a donut at 150 km/h directly from standstill – just using my right foot – is an all-new experience for me.”
The Hoonitron takes its design direction from the Audi Sport quattro S1 which Michèle Mouton drove to become the first woman to win the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. Amazingly Audi Sport says the reinterpretation of the Group B monster took just four weeks from initial sketches to final design and we certainly can’t see anything they could possibly have done better. From the upthrust front splitter, long bonnet and small cabin to the rally inspired wheel covers and flamboyant rear wing, this is exactly how we’d imagine a modern Group B car to look.
And since Group B cars all had their roadgoing counterparts, maybe Audi could be persuaded…