Electric vs ICE: Ken Block Tries Them Both

Back when he released the first Gymkhana video, the world was instantly hooked. It's not like he was the first man to slide around in a race-spec Subaru, but no one had ever portrayed those things so well before. Gymkhana 1 came out 13 years ago, and I don't think anyone would've guessed how far this man would go. He moved from Subaru to Ford, and now he has teamed up with Audi.

Audi has already released an official video on the partnership, and Ken Block will be launching a series of videos to promote the whole thing too. Right now, we're just scratching the surface, and it all seems extremely exciting already. Ken has made no secret of the fact that his next Gymkhana movie will be moving away from the traditional ICE and into the new era. Dubbed "Electrikhana", this video will be released in 2022.

As you can tell by the name, Ken will be driving an electric-powered Audi, which he called "a very top secret Audi e-tron". If you will look at his previous accomplishments, you can't help but get all hyped up about this idea. The Hoonicorn was a very cool car, to say the least, and I don't think we'll see anything less from the upcoming Audi project.

As part of the first phase of the new partnership, Block was invited to Ingolstadt, Germany, the home of Audi. We get to see a few teaser shots of what's about to come next. Audi fans may be jealous and excited at the same time, as Ken also got to drive the legendary Group B machine we all came to love! This being Ken Block, some drifting will be following shortly. But for now, he'll be warming up with two road-going vehicles.

As he gets ready for a tour of the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt, we get to see those two cars. First, it's the Audi RS e-tron GT. This may very well be the starting point for the "top secret Electrikhana" vehicle. Although it wouldn't be surprising if they went for the RS Q e-tron instead. The second car is the 1984 Sport Quattro, a vehicle that has inspired Ken Block to become a professional rally driver.

After a jaw-dropping tour of the museum, which was open exclusively for Ken's visit, it's time to head on to the racetrack. Audi's test facility is located in Neuburg, not far from Ingolstadt. The RS e-tron GT is up first, and you can tell that he's pushing the car by the sound of the tires. He sums up the experience by praising the torque and the braking capabilities of the vehicle: "This is a race car, with air conditioning and a very nice interior"

Nostalgic as we may be, the '84 Quattro isn't going to be nearly as fast. He is taking it "easy", no drifting here. This is another reminder that what we're seeing here is just the warm-up. It shouldn't take long before we'll get to see Ken Block doing what he does best. And when that will happen, the cars he'll be driving are bound to make us hold on to the edge of our seats.