KEN BLOCK'S AUDI S1 HOONITRON - A FEW FACTS & FIGURES
We all knew that when Ken Block released a new video in his Gymkhana series that it would quickly hit viral status, the automotive world at large is addicted to seeing a purpose-built car ripping up streets and venues that don’t actually allow cars. Then there’s the cars themselves, while Ken is a main attraction it’s the cars that he uses that are the true stars. With the advent of EVs it makes sense that with Audi on board as Block’s vehicle sponsor that the automaker would build a project car showing off all the latest technologies and know-how - enter the Audi S1 e-tron Quattro Hoonitron. There’s a lot of hate for EVs from the ICE die-hards, but the new video titled ‘Electrikhana’ racked up over 4 500 000 views in a mere 3 weeks. With the futuristic classic looks and ridiculous amounts of power, it seems Mr. Block has done a great job showing the world exactly what EVs are capable of and that the future can still be stupidly fast albeit missing the soundtrack that ICE cars emit.
The Audi S1 Hoonitron was a mad project, and with so much being custom manufactured for the car, there’s heaps of facts and figures to keep both motoring fanatics and tech nerds busy, and happy. In this latest release from Audi, we get to see a bit of the behind the scenes of the Hoonitron project while learning about some of the interesting facts and figures. Let’s get into it…
The weight distribution between the front and rear axles is almost equal at 52:48.
The wheelbase is less than 2.4 meters, which is considerably less than the 2,563 millimeters of an Audi A1 Sportback, Audi’s entry-level model, for example. This increases agility when cornering, because the short wheelbase favors yaw moments, i.e. rotating around the vertical axis, which is very desirable in Electrikhana stunts.
The suspension with McPherson struts on the front and rear axles and more than 200 millimeters of spring travel is designed for the extreme demands up to and including jumping crests.
With this basic concept, the Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron has the ideal characteristics for drifting and for stunts on different terrains.
Electric powerhouse – double source of pleasure
The all-wheel drivetrain of the Audi S1 e-tron quattro Hoonitron is fully electric. The front and rear axles are each powered by a motor-generator unit (MGU), which comes from motorsport.
Each of these two units only weighs 55 kilograms, including the transmission.
Four high-voltage batteries from a standard Audi PHEV model, each with a capacity of 14.4 kWh, totaling 57.6 kWh, supply the drivetrain system and operate at 800 volts.
The electric power distribution between the front and rear axles is fully variable. It can be perfectly adapted to the driver’s wishes and can precisely influence the self-steering behavior.
Each MGU develops 250 kW of power and 320 Nm of torque. This results in a total output of 500 kW and 640 Nm of torque.
Since the electric motors reach maximum speeds of 28,000 rpm, the engineering team defined a gear ratio of about 12:1 for the drifts. Taking losses into account, this results in around 3,000 Nm of torque on each axle, or 6,000 Nm in total. Thanks to these extreme torque figures, it is possible for Ken Block to pull off spectacular drifts and achieve a wheel speed of more than 200 km/h.
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows a little more of the Audi S1 Hoonitron and the facts and figures related to the car and project : Audi S1 Hoonitron: a race car from Audi like never before | CWM
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