- it'll be ken block vs. michigander rob dahm on december 14, battling for dominance with a pair of 1400-hp custom cars.
- block's is the famous hoonicorn, based on a 1965 ford mustang.
- dahm is bringing a quad-rotor mazda rx-7 to this race, which will take place on social media next week.
if you haven't been paying attention recently, the guys at hoonigan have been running a series called hoonicorn vs. the world where—you guessed it—they find potential high-power cars for ken block to race against that have a chance of bringing down his infamous 1400-hp hoonicorn. so far only one competitor—an 1100-hp audi rs3—has given a good fight.
since the first 845-hp hoonicorn debuted in gymkhana 7, the custom-built all-wheel-drive 1965 ford mustang has become a household name in the automotive community. and how could it not be, what with its red, white, and blue funnels on the turbocharger compressor inlets proudly popping through the hood for the world to see?
the current hoonicorn v2—made specifically for climbkhana—is powered by a roush yates 6.7-liter v-8 that is fed air by two massive garrett turbos and fueled by methanol. the resulting combination is 1400 horsepower and 1250 pound-feet of torque, plenty sufficient when fed through its six-speed sequential gearbox to simultaneously light up all four tires at will. however, in a race where your opponent is nearly identical to you on paper, it's hard to say how things will turn out. best of luck, mr. block.
less known than block and the hoonicorn, but still wildly popular in the enthusiast community, is rob dahm. dahm is a michigan native who has amassed an impressive social media following behind all of his car escapades. though it's not his sole claim to fame, dahm's greatest project has probably brought him the most followers. in his quest to build the most powerful rotary engine in the world, dahm has brought hundreds of thousands of viewers along for the experience, showing all facets of the process—including building his own parts—and lending an air of transparency that can be hard to find when it comes to high-end builds like these.
dahm's mazda rx-7 is named ahura, which is short for ahura mazda, a persian mythological god who was said to have no equals. that's a pretty fair name considering that the only thing remaining from the original car is the body. everything underneath is all custom—just like the hoonicorn: a tube-frame chassis, billet four-rotor engine, sequential gearbox, all-wheel drive, and a massive garrett turbo.
having a one-off car can be a pain at times though, if you regularly watch dahm's channel, you know all too well that building something like this is trial and error, and there are as many catastrophic failures as there are exciting successes. we just hope that ahura holds together for a couple of solid shots at the champ.
if you want to find out who wins the race, we will be updating with video on december 14, when the post goes live on the hoonigan and rob dahm pages. we aren't sure who the winner will be, but one thing's for certain: one car will emerge victorious, social media arguments will be had, and feelings will be hurt.