Gymkhana 4 – The Hollywood MegaMercial

As someone who is adamant about his love for cars, for hoonage, and for obvious displays of insane driving skill, I make no apologies for my unabashed love of Ken Block‘s continually over-the-top series of driving shorts. From its somewhat more humble beginnings in an abandoned airfield, the series has continued to get bigger, louder, faster, and sillier. For the fourth installment, though, the co-founder and erstwhile owner of DC Shoes has pulled out all the stops.

Shooting in various locales around the Universal Studios lot, and featuring a fair bit of obviously superfluous CGI explosions, it’s a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgment that the series is promotional first, and entertainment second. Which I’m okay with, overall. They’re selling clothing through association with sports entertainment – no different than what Nike, Reebok, and Adidas have been doing for decades. Though, I wouldn’t have minded more of a focus on the driving skills involved (a-la the second iteration, helpfully dubbed “The Infomercial” – and still my favorite) as opposed to the locale (admittedly cool as it was.)

Either way, the motorsport skills on display are without question mind-boggling. Ken controls a car the way a conductor controls a band. As someone who considers themselves a fan of “driving” for the art and act of driving, I can sometimes only smile and shake my head at the grace on display via 500 horsepower pushing 2 tons of aluminum sideways. Equally impressive are the surprise guest-stars (Hello Epic Meal Time – no, I’m not kidding) and the even-more-surprise ending.

No matter what you’re expecting, I can guarantee that this video will defy those expectations.