Ken Block Stars in a Ford vs. Ferrari Drag Race, F8 Tributo Comes Out To Play

Almost 24 hours ago, Ken Block teased us about the upcoming race in the Hoonicorn vs. the World Series, and he did manage to get our attention, as the short clip showed a Giallo Modena F8 Tributo pulling away from the mighty Mustang as they went wide open throttle down the drag strip.

Looking over the stats of both cars, this surely had to be some sort of scheme to have viewers coming back to see the actual race, as the F8 Tributo, as advanced a machine as it may be, is still nowhere nearly as fast as some of the cars Block has raced in the past. The RX-7 got crushed, the drag spec Chevy Nova lost the race too, the RS3 got left behind, and the Ford GT couldn't even keep up.

The curb weight of the two cars is somewhat similar, with the Ferrari being only 160 pounds or so heavier (72 kg). Both cars are using V8 engines, which are force-fed via turbochargers, but while the Hoonicorn is rated at 1,400 horsepower, the F8 Tributo's 3.9-liter unit is only capable of developing half that. Talk about a serious gap.

While Ferraris are renowned for their highly capable, ultra-fast shifting gearboxes, we doubted that the standard seven-speed dual clutch unit in the F8 Tributo could actually make a difference, given the massive power shortage. Just by comparing the Tributo to the Senna, which Block previously raced against, it seemed obvious that this new race would be nothing more than a publicity stunt for the team; still, it should be an interesting match-up to follow.

You can see how the race finally went down in the video below. We do hope that at one point in this series, the producers will manage to bring out a car that can actually win the race against the Hoonicorn at the end of the day. After all, there's always a bigger fish in the pond.