Mount Washington’s Climb to the Clouds sounds simple enough: a solo driver, in a purpose-built race car, crosses a starting beam and then tries to produce the fastest time up the mountain. Along the way, he’ll likely encounter wet pavement, dry pavement, loose gravel, clouds, fog, and wind. He’ll also encounter the kind of sheer drop-offs that ensure making a mistake is a one-time thing. There are no guard rails, there are no corner workers and there are no safety nets.

This year marks the first official running of the Climb to the Clouds in a decade, and the official time to beat was 6:41.99 seconds, set by Frank Sprongl in 1998. Travis Pastrana did an exhibition run up the mountain in 6:20.47 last year, but the time didn’t count since it wasn’t recorded during a sanctioned event. Pro rally driver David Higgins clearly had his work cut out for him, and his goal was to beat both the “official” time and Pastrana’s unofficial record pace. In the end, Higgins crossed the line in 6:11.54, beating Pastrana’s time by nearly nine seconds and shaving over 30 seconds off the record. His 2011 run, in the video below, is epic enough, but the driver has set a new goal for next year: weather conditions permitting, Higgins wants to run a sub-6:00 time.

Source: YouTube via Autoblog

David Higgins, on the throttle.

Subaru may have pulled out of WRC competition, but the brand is still very much active in the Rally America Championship. Travis Pastrana has moved on to NASCAR, but Dave Mirra is back for the 2011 season, joined by fellow driver David Higgins. Both will pilot Vermont Sports Car built Impreza WRX STIs for the 2011 season, which kicks off with this weekend’s Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, Michigan. The Sno*Drift event features some 130 miles of racing, over snow and ice covered roads. Nearly 33% of the event is run at night, and northern Michigan’s ever-changing winter weather usually creates some interesting challenges on the course. Rally America doesn’t allow the use of studded tires, which puts a heavy emphasis on car setup and smooth driving. Check out Mirra and Higgins shaking down their 2011 cars in the video below.

Rally America has lost some big name drivers in the off-season, which won’t help to boost the series popularity. Ken Block appears to be focusing on WRC, since he’s not running this year’s Sno*Drift (but I wouldn’t count him out for next month’s 100 Acre Wood Rally, which Block seems to win every single year). Travis Pastrana is figuring out the whole go fast, turn left thing, which leaves Dave Mirra as the closest thing Rally America has to a rock star driver. Look for Mirra to mature as a driver this year, since he clearly understands the importance of working with a co-driver to develop solid pace notes. In rallying, being fast is less important than being smooth and consistent, since nothing chews up time more than mistakes and crashes. Like the old racing wisdom says, “To finish first, first you’ve got to finish”.

Could you only imagine taking virtually the same Subaru WRX STi that Ken Block drives in those absolutely stunning Gymkhana videos onto the snow as a fully built TRAX vehicle? Well, that is exactly what has come of a new rally-prepped 2009 WRX STi TRAX vehicle built by Vermont SportsCar.

Here is the video on Ken Block’s TRAX STI Car, Enjoy!

Below is the full press release spilling all the details on this 400hp snow beast that is making its debut at the 2009 SEMA show in Las Vegas, NV.

Subaru Showcases the Ultimate Snow-Ready Performance Car at 2009 SEMA Show

Press Release

Just in Time for the Holidays, a 400-Horse (-powered) Sleigh

CHERRY HILL, N.J., Nov. 2 — The Subaru WRX STI, when equipped with proper tires, is capable of impressive all-weather performance. But when even snow tires are not enough, Subaru offers a solution – a 400-hp WRX STI equipped with a snow tracks system, as showcased at the 2009 Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nov. 3-6.

Starting with a rally-prepared 2009 WRX STI, Subaru Rally Team USA’s technical partner, Vermont SportsCar, built the one-off 400-hp TRAX STI envisioned by, and built for, DC Shoes co-founder and SRT USA driver Ken Block. The WRX STI TRAX is ready for the half-pipe, with a Yakima FatCat 4 Snowboard Rack up top, a Yakima Landing Pad rack base and DC Shoes XFB-C Snowboards. Naturally, there is a custom matching sleigh to go with it.

With the exception of the Mattracks rubber track system, the car is rally-prepared and similar in specification Block’s #43 SRT USA competition STI. Starting with a stock 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, Vermont SportsCar stripped the car’s interior bare, lightened the shell and then fully seam-welded it for added strength, also installing a multipoint roll cage manufactured from T45 steel. Major differences from the stock STI include the addition of lightweight carbon/Kevlar RECARO SPA ProRacer competition seats with the Head and Neck Restraint System (HANS), carbon fiber door panels and an onboard fire suppression system.

Under the hood, the ultimate Subaru snow machine sports a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder, turbocharged and intercooled STI engine tuned with a MOTEC M800 ECU. The engine, which kicks out approximately 400 hp and 400 lb.-ft. of torque, is teamed with a KAPS 5-speed close-ratio dog-engagement gearbox and the Subaru programmable DCCD (Driver Controlled Center Differential) all-wheel drive system. Employing custom machined hubs, the drivetrain – which has been dropped three inches – is mated to Mattracks 105M1-A1 rubber track conversion. The car also features Group N competition rally dampers made by EXE-TC.

And Now for Something Completely Different

The WRX STI TRAX can bring four more friends along for the fun with its one-of-a-kind custom sleigh. Constructed with hand-laid fiberglass using sandwich-core construction, the sleigh runs on custom built steel skis with torsion bar suspension. Yakima FatCat 4 snowboard racks carry Qty 2 DC XFB Snowboards.

Protected beneath the padded roll bars are four heated and embroidered leather RECARO Speed seats with Sabelt 4-point harnesses. For music on the slopes, a marine grade water resistant Alpine digital media receiver is coupled with marine grade Kicker speakers and a 10-inch subwoofer. The rear of the sleigh features a large cooler and a grab-bar for towing snowboarders. Cup holders and LED lighting finish off the interior.

The sleigh also features a carbon fiber dashboard, center tunnel cover and rear-cooler cover. Tucked into a glovebox within the carbon fiber covered dashboard are two Viosport POV.1 camera systems. One camera lens is flush-mounted within the dashboard to film passengers, and the other is mounted high on the roll bar to record action around the sleigh.

I am not even sure why I bother posting the images of what some have claimed to be the Toyota FT-86 Prototype. This thing looks nothing like the images we posted last week. Obviously it looks more like a Subaru WRX and could only be a test mule for the new engine/platform that will be used in the joint venture of Toyota and Subaru’s FT-86. However, I do like the new rendered images of the Subaru version of this new coupe shown below.

This is more like it if you ask me. I don’t know where the spy photographers come off on actually confirming that the spy shot featured in this article is anything remotely related to the recent images of the Toyota FT-86 Concept. I mean, if we already know what it looks like then why not test the actual car without all of the camouflage? Anyway, enjoy the images.

[sources: worldcarfans, 7Tune, Holiday Auto]

Supposedly this is the world fastest Subaru WRX STi which is a bold title to hold considering the massive potential and capabilities of the current WRX STi. No doubt that the STi is a stunning performer but the one of the many demonstrated in the video below, is a monster that is able to make a dash from 0 to 60mph in an astonishing 1.9 seconds. That may cause a mild case of whiplash if you are not careful. That’s almost Top-Fuel Dragster proportions, well… not really, but you get the point I am trying to make.

About the video:

Ali Afshar, creator of the world’s fastest STi, shows us how to take these Subaru Imprezas, WRX’s and STi’s from stock performers to modified world class contenders.

Enjoy the video below.

You can never get enough of the action packed skilled driving of Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos. How would you make it any more entertaining? How about coupling a new Gymkhana 2.1 video with pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek in his mini-kart model of Ken’s STi? Obviously the mini-kart was build especially for this Gymkhana series as a scaled replica.

Enjoy the 3 minute video clip below and be sure not to blink during the near-miss stunt work and then the collision at the end.

Ken Block who is well known for his Gymkhana videos has a competitor for his title! This guy can really drive, its awesome. These guys are out to set that anyone can be a great driver, you don’t need a highly tuned car in order to achieve driving excellence.

With a beaten base Impreza, a few sets of tires and enough fireworks to send Patton cowering under a desk, the creators of Scumballers and Team Torque have created ten full minutes of epic hoontastic footage, although it looks like much of the vehicular tomfoolery takes place on open public roads, something we don’t exactly approve of or recommend.

I think everyone here should convince Malcolm to make a video of this nature with his M3, I am willing to be the driver for the video, we would just require some stuntmen and some video recording equipment.

Ken’s a master of sliding sideways in his specially-equipped Subaru. And as you can see, he gives May the ride of his life — even if he doesn’t have the guts to say it. And by guts, we mean of course playing his role as the anti-stereotypical “Captain Slow” by decrying his inability to drive fast in a straight line.

What would you feel like if you sat in a car with Ken Block? After seeing that video, it makes me want to learn how to drive like him!