Incredibly Cool Machines from the Hoonigan’s Gymkhana
Hoonigan released a new Gymkhana video today, marking the latest instalment in a line of films which began well over a decade ago. There have been umpteen different locations and backdrops for the videos, all of gradually increasing levels of automotive mania and all ratcheting up its entertainment value with each release.
The latest effort dropped today, showing up on YouTube and simply titled Gymkhana 2025. As of this writing, it has nearly half a million views in about seven hours. But while its title might be straightforward, there’s nothing simple about the litany of tricks and feats of driving which are part of this year’s soirée. Set in Australia, a location which was long sought by both Hoonigan producers and fans alike but allegedly thwarted in the past by local regulations, Gymkhana 2025 includes the type of lunacy gearheads enjoy - and all with a tip of the cap to Oz.
[Images: Hoonigan]
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Jumping over one of the area’s legendary road trains? Check. Ripping across vistas in front of Sydney harbor? Check. Racing through the Outback with plumes of desert dust in the wake? Check, check, and double check. This time, Hoonigan put Travis Pastrana in the driver's seat - no stranger to the brand and high-performance shenanigans in general
He is behind the wheel of a highly modified Subaru BRAT called the Subaru “Brataroo” 9500 Turbo. It is a wild build, re-imagining a 1978 model to feature a turbocharged 2.0L boxer making for 670 horsepower and 680 lb-ft of torque. Its redline is a mad 9,500 RPM.
Sitting at the top of this author’s own personal list of Gymkhana greatness is Gymkhana Seven. That’s the one which saw an all-wheel drive Mustang called the Hoonicorn tear through the streets of Los Angeles.
The late Ken Block deployed its 845 horsepower and 720 lb-ft of torque to carry out tricks like doing donuts around Randy’s Donuts. Under the hood of the Hoonicorn for this film was a 410 cubic inch V8, breathed upon by Roush/Yates and belting power to all four wheels.
In fact, the burnout at the beginning of the flick, in which a shrouded Block smokes the baloneys until being unleashed via an industrial grade lift release, should be required viewing for every single gearhead on this planet.
Gymkhana Ten brought us the rad Hoonitruck, one of the most unique (and cool) things on four wheels. Based on a 1977 F-150, a machine whose creators could never have fathomed its eventual use in a Gymkhana video, the Hoonitruck was powered by a custom-tuned 3.5L EcoBoost V6 engine.
That mill was lifted directly from the halls of Ford Racing’s Ford GT Le Mans development program. Making 914hp at 7,400rpm and 702 ft-lbs at 6,450 rpm, that Ford Performance engine is a billet-aluminum menace which snarled to sound like nothing previously heard in a Gymkhana video.
