Subaru

While revelers were packed into Times Square waiting for the ball to drop, folks on the Left Coast in Long Beach were anticipating something equally (or much more so for us) exciting. Legendary extreme sports star Travis Pastrana attempted and shattered the old world record for rally car jumps of 171 feet at the Red Bull New Year No Limits Event.

Using a heavily modified Subaru Impreza WRX STI with 450 hp and a reinforced roll-cage, Pastrana launched off a boat-mounted ramp in Rainbow Harbor at 90 mph, propelling himself over 250+ feet of water and onto a barge. The landing was perfect but the car had so much momentum that it quickly got sideways and skidded into a barrier. 

You knew Ken Block was going to close out 2009 with something special, and something special has cometh. The DC Shoes marketing squad has unleashed four new videos to dazzle, delight and disrupt your brain cycles. Both the Gymkhana 2 Director's Cut and Block vs Pastrana: Game of Suck Highlights are entertaining rehashes of content we've seen before, but they are just as exciting as the first go-round. While the 2008 Season Highlights video is pretty captivating, we would have liked to have seen some more recent footage, except Ken Block didn't compete too much in 2009.

But the real coup d’état here is the psychedelic, tripped out ride he takes us on in the Artist Remix of Gymkhana Two. No spoilers here, but if you want to throw on the Grateful Dead and pop a tab before you hit play you won't be disappointed. There are quite a few product placements intimately woven into the 6:40 clip, along with some second rate movie special effects and enough randomness to have you scratching your head a few times, but somehow it just works. Check out all four videos out after the jump:

The last couple of days have been tough for those on the east coast, with some areas getting up to 2 feet of snow in a huge storm. Getting stuck in the snow really sucks. Without someone to lend a helping axle and tug you free, your chances of escape are nil. But when others come to your aid you are at their mercy. Sometimes the savior can be a hero and sometimes turn into the villain. The following two videos are a solid reminder of how amazing the right help can be and how disastrous the wrong kind can become. Towing in snow at its finest!

Ken Block is one of the fastest growing faces of an American in motorsports today. After making it big in the skateboarding world selling sneakers and apparel, Ken quietly decided to get into rally racing. In the past few years Ken has helped bring that electric type of racing to the mainstream, winning X-Games medals, performing all kinds of amazing stunts and becoming a YouTube sensation along the way. Next year he moves up to the big leagues to race in the WRC and compete against the world's best. So how does Ken relax before a big season of sliding through mud at 100mph on a road as wide as a shoelace? He drives his Subaru Impreza WRX STI to Utah for some snowboarding. You see, to Ken Block, an STI is a Swiss Army knife. It can rally, drive a snowboard park, clear 100 foot gaps and run a Gymkhana course. His Subaru probably even has a slot for tweezers.

Subaru tends to run 2 year design cycles for their cars. So, with the 2010 designs out, what now? Give Travis Pastrana more cars to roll? Take a nap in front of Mazda Headquarters? Nope, you get ready to deliver a little shock and awe at SEMA 2009. And let me tell you, this year Subaru must have attended Michael Scott's Diversity Training Seminar, because their 3 cars couldn't be more different from one another.

Their first offering is a 2010 Impreza WRX STI that was built with all the parts available in the SPT (Subaru Performance Tuning) catalog. Subaru has been trying to break into the after-market parts game for years now, offering short-shifters, exhausts, wheels and suspension, along with various blingy flare. It's not an easy task and I give Subaru props for recognizing “performance parts” don't have to be a 4-letter word to a car company.

I used to have a 2006 Subaru STI. I loved that car, and its performance, capabilities, and usability will forever be stuck in my mind. The only weakness it had were its looks. A side effect of the drug, if you will. The wing was ridiculous, subject to constant ridicule. I didn't care, however, because the car was too damn fun. Well, Subaru may have something to satisfy both your eyes and adrenal glands. It's their new concept coupe dubbed the 216A.

Toyota and Subaru worked together to build the platform for Toyota's new FT-86 Concept, which is already being tested at the Nurburgring. I think some guys at Subaru saw the FT-86 and said, “That's not how ya build a coupe!” The result is the car here, the 216A concept. Paul Hogan from Crocodile Dundee sums it up, “That's not a knife. That's a knife.”

Ken Block is back at his old tricks. However this go round, the Gymkhana master and internet sensation teams up with long-time friend and pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek to provide us with a little more humor. Dyrdek plays the role of "Mini Me" pushing a go-cart fitted with a custom mold to match Ken's Subaru Impreza WRX STI, wrapped in identical graphics and sporting a carbon copy Alpinestars driving suit.

This is a very funny video that while not nearly as captivating or mind-blowing as the Gymkhana Practice video or the Gymkhana 2 Project infomercial, is still pretty entertaining. It's a trip to watch Dyrdek darting around in his go cart inches away from Block's full-size Subaru WRX STI and amazing that he wasn't decimated in process (although he does come pretty close!) In any case, this is a nice hold-over until Gymkhana 3 drops. Check out the video after the jump.

We all know how awesome the Gymkhana Practice Video and Gymkhana Two Informercial are from Ken Block. And it was only a matter of time before a spoof video was released, but oh man, what a job the folks at IMV Films have done! This thing is part jackass, part wanton-abondonment for-public-safety and pure fun from start to finish. These guys have it all --- paintball shooting, fireworks dodging, train track jumping, loads of moving violations, baby smashing and trailer destroying --- with lots of "dynamic" driving thrown in the loop.

IMV Films prove that you don't need a Crawford Performance 530 whp car, a high-end production crew and an entire airfield to make a hype video. Just a beat up WRX Impreza, a couple of sets of tires and a creative imagination is all that's required. If you like this kinda stuff also peep Vehicular Lunatics or Team Tork and the Scumballers from the same production shop. Anyhow, check out the Gymkhana Spoof video after the jump: