Audi USA announced today that the Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron, designed and built specifically for Ken Block, will be shown publicly in the U.S. for the very first time at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca during Monterey Car Week. The one-off EV was made for the driver’s latest addition to his Gymkhana series, which will be called “Electrikhana.” Powered by a pair of electric motors powering all four wheels, and built on a carbon fiber chassis, the car abides by FIA safety standards.
The design of the “Hoonitron” was inspired
by one of the brand’s most legendary race cars, the Audi Sport quattro S1. To
honor that legacy, it will be shown alongside the example with which Walter
Rohrl won the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in 1987. Rohrl’s 10 minute 48 second time
was a record, and is now one that can never be broken because the course was
changed in subsequent years to eliminate the dirt portions of the track.
Power figures remain a mystery for the
Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron, but Audi’s RS Q e-tron, an electric SUV that
competed at Dakar, used two Formula E motors to pump out a combined 671 hp, which seems like it would be pretty good for Ken Block’s purposes.
However much power it makes, Block seems happy with it.
The car will be on display from August 17
to 21.
