Ken Block’s Hoonicorn Mustang stares down McLaren’s Senna
In the land of absurd internet car videos, Ken Block reigns supreme. His Gymkhana series features automotive stunts that mix high horsepower with high traction to create blacktop artistry. Since the first video in 2008, the stunts have progressively dialed up in showmanship and what they demand from both Ken and the cars. It was only a matter of time before a fully purpose-built car starred in the series—enter the Hoonicorn. How about pitting it against something crazy, like a McLaren Senna?
The Hoonicorn is truly one of a kind, packing a twin-turbocharged Roush Yates V-8 that huffs methanol and cranks out a whopping 1400 horsepower. A stupendously sturdy all-wheel-drive system puts that power to the ground, with torque multiplication coming by way of a six-speed sequential gearbox. The challenger in this race is a true exotic—a one-of-500 McLaren Senna. This extra-special Senna sports several McLaren Special Operations upgrades and is dubbed “Merlin” due to the unique paint brewed up by the MSO hue master. It is a stock car, but it still packs 789 horsepower fed to the rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
Lining them up on an airstrip for a drag race is the natural first step. If the horsepower differential gives you any inclination of how this might turn out, the first pull quickly confirms those suspicions. The Hoonicorn just runs away from the McLaren as if it were mom’s old minivan. Watching a car rated to go 0-60 in 2.8 seconds get instantly gapped—even when given a three-car length head start—is proof of how out there the Hoonicorn really is.
The Hoonicorn wasn’t even built to be a drag racer, but it sure seems to play the role well. To be fair, neither was the Senna, so maybe the next challenger the Hoonigan crew will bring out will have a more straight-line focus than the track-bred Senna. That might level the playing field a bit, but either way we’re eager to see what else Ken and the Hoonicorn get up to.
