DC And Ken Block Introduce the TRAX STI Video Teaser

I know a lot of our readers are a lot younger than Mike and I, so I know for you guys it must be frustrating when we make references to people and things that were way before your time. In this story I’m going to be making references to a phenomenon that was a little before your time; but with the use of a certain child star I think I can “bring it home” for all of you.

We all know and love, Actor and Recording Artist; Lil Romeo. That adorable scamp had was the star of quite a few low budget films, had his own show on Nickelodeon, and put out a bunch of albums. You guys may all be familiar with Romeo but you may not be familiar with his dad; Master P and his label “No Limit Records”; here is an excerpt from No Limit’s Wiki page:

Master P moved No Limit Records and set up shop in New Orleans. He brought his brothers Silkk and C-Murder with him, along with Mia X, Skull Duggery, Kane & Abel, Mac, Tre-8, Mr. Serv-On and Big Ed. In 1995, No Limit signed a huge distribution deal with Priority Records to distribute No Limit Records music. Master P maintained ownership of all of his master recordings and his studio. He also became the label’s main artist, and also released the album Ice Cream Man that year. By 1997, No Limit Records had grown to consist of Master P, C-Murder, Silkk the Shocker, Snoop Dogg, Mac, Mercedes, Soulja Slim, Lil’ Italy, Full Blooded, Fiend, Magic, Mia X, Prime Suspects, Gambino Family, and Mystikal. Master P’s 1997 albumGhetto D, and the 1998 album, MP Da Last Don, reached number one on the Billboard 200. In efforts to broaden his career, Master P also wrote, directed and acted in the underground movie I’m Bout It and performed several of the tracks on the album’s accompanying soundtrack. It started his movie career which lead to films such as I Got the Hook Up and Foolish.

There are two reasons why I bring up No Limit in this story:

Reason one is that No Limit Records produced some of the WORST hip hop ever. Their beats sounded like Casio keyboard demos and the vocals were either horribly written or recorded so bad you couldn’t under stand them. The album covers were so bad they were laughable, their graphic designer must have learned his trade at Barbazon. It was a very dark time for hip hop and for people of reasonable musical taste; it was a time of a lot of disappointed head shaking as this song blasted out of passing cars:

The other reason is that No Limit’s Mascot if you will, was a gold and platinum tank. And as you can see in the video above, the tank appeared in their videos.

I wonder if Ken Block is a No Limit fan? I ask this because it looks like he just built his own tank. Keep reading to learn more, uggggg nananana:

On the heels of Ken Block’s insane Gymkhana videos and the groundbreaking snowboarding/rally part to close out DC’sMTN.LAB 1.5 video, the DC Co-Founder and Rally Team Driver has joined with Subaru to make the world’s fastest cat track operation automobile for backcountry access for snowboarding. Dubbed the TRAX STI, a new teaser video from the test session for the highly-modified, snow-ready (to say the least) car is up on YouTube, and check out “0-60 Magazine’s” Web site for an interview with Block and photo gallery featuring the best photos from the session.

The TRAX STI is an experimental automobile that starts with Block’s competition-ready Subaru WRX STI before ditching the tires, adding snow cat tracks, and upgrading to some next-level suspension to create the ultimate backcountry shred car. Prepared by Vermont SportsCar, performance modifications include 400-hp and features Group N competition rally dampers made by EXE-TC and a KAPS 5-speed close-ratio dog-engagement gearbox.  Under the hood sits a 2.5 liter, 4-cylinder, turbocharged and intercooled STI engine tuned with a MOTEC M800 ECU.

Completing the TRAX STI is a sleigh to be pulled behind the car, designed to hold four snowboarders, their snowboards, and all their gear. The sleigh’s body is 100 percent custom designed and constructed of hand-laid fiberglass—though the sleigh is not seen in this teaser video, look for it in future videos next year. Altogether, this is one car ready for backcountry access and snowboarding.

“The TRAX STI is a very fun project for me,” said Block. “It combines a two of my favorite things in life: driving a rally car in the snow and snowboarding in the powder in the backcountry. Having a house in Utah (the DC MTN.LAB), I get to enjoy lots of sliding around on the snow, but this project takes that to a whole new level as I can now hit up the backcountry in the fastest snow cat ever.  It’s incredibly fun having the ability to push the high-power Subaru on the slopes and to backcountry spots that normal cars could never go!”

Though the project was top-secret, the TRAX STI got blown up online way before it was supposed to—it was first caught and posted on YouTube in April 2009 by a random fan with a low-quality video recorder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0akfZWNp2E

But that was just the beginning. The new video posted this morning shows what went down in just one day of testing and driving the car. It shows the car in all it’s high definition glory, as Block puts it through its paces up snow-covered mountains, down them, and even around un-expecting snowmobilers filmed at the DC MTN.LAB and Guardsman Pass, both in Utah. Stay tuned for more video to emerge as the car gets used more and more.

“0-60 Magazine’s” interview has all the behind the scenes on the TRAX STI, including the exclusive photos of the car. It’s the place to learn more about the car, how it performs, and why Block had the darn thing built in the first place. View it here: http://www.0-60mag.com/online/?p=20459. The next issue of the magazine will have a two page spread featuring the car.

Coordinating with the launch of this new video, DC is releasing new items from Block’s TeamWorks Collection. Added to the already wide assortment of product inspired by Block and his rally racing endeavors, new items include a puffy jacket and a leather jacket. View the fresh goods now in the DC Online Store at store.dcshoes.com. http://store.dcshoes.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3631313.

View the teaser video today by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTDNLUzjkpg&feature=player_embedded