In December, Audi built a special S1 E-Tron Quattro called the “Hoonitron” for American precision driver Ken Block. And now, the automaker is planning to bring the EV to the United States this month during Monterey Car Week. It will be shown alongside its design inspiration, the 1985 Audi Sport Quattro S1, which rally driver Walter Röhrl used to establish a Pikes Peak International Hill Climb record in 1987.
Audi’s new performance E-Tron will feature in Block’s next production, Elektrikhana, a play on words between electric and gymkhana, the obstacle-driving racing. Block and his team created a series of Gymkhana videos in which the pro stunt driver navigates through seemingly impossible courses, such as the streets of Los Angeles. Block previously worked with Ford Performance, testing special Ford cars such as the Focus RS with a drift stick and a 650-horsepower Fiesta over the sand in Dubai for the Gymkhana series.
Ken Block had his first taste of driving an electric automobile when Ford allowed him to test-drive a preproduction Mustang Mach-E, but the ride-along officials didn’t let him push the car’s boundaries. To compensate, Ford Performance created a high-powered 1,400-horsepower Mustang Mach-E, and Block finally experienced the quick torque of an EV. But now that his connection with Ford is gone, Block is moving on to Audi, and in December he passed down his renowned Ford Mustang “Hoonicorn” to his teenage daughter Lia.
Block was still getting acclimated to electric cars when he got to try out the S1 Hoonitron. “I’m familiar with a wide range of cars that use internal combustion engines and transmissions, but there was a lot for me to learn here.” “Spinning into a doughnut at 150 km/h straight from a stop – only using my right foot – is an entirely new sensation for me,” Block remarked when Audi showed the vehicle in December.
From August 17th to August 21st, the Audi S1 E-Tron Quattro Hoonitron will be on display at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Ken Block’s Elektrikhana film is presently in development and will be released in the following months.
