Nearly three years after the loss of Ken Block, the spirit of Gymkhana remains very much alive—and louder than ever. The latest installment of the Hoonigan-produced series, “Aussie Shred”, hands the keys to longtime daredevil Travis Pastrana, who returns with a machine no one saw coming: a fully reimagined, turbo-huffing Subaru Brat.
Pastrana’s last Gymkhana outing in late 2022 featured a wildly re-engineered Subaru GL Wagon, a build that looked like it had escaped from a parallel universe. But the Brat takes things further—way further. Crafted by the engineering sorcerers at Vermont SportsCar, the Brat isn’t a revival of Subaru nostalgia so much as a feral reinterpretation of it. This thing looks ready to chew through the Outback and spit out red dust.
A Gymkhana Long Overdue for Australia
Australia has been on Gymkhana’s wish list for years. The team once tried to film Gymkhana 9 there, but local authorities balked at the idea of Ken Block tearing up public roads. Times have changed. Attitudes softened. And now the series finally makes landfall on one of Earth’s most visually dramatic playgrounds.
While the full roster of filming locations remains under wraps, the teaser alone promises variety: Pastrana blasting through a mine, slinging the Brat across barren desert, and—most jaw-dropping of all—sending it around Mount Panorama during Bathurst 1000 weekend. If you’ve ever wondered what a purpose-built stunt car looks like on one of motorsports’ most sacred battlegrounds, this episode is your answer.
The Brat, Reborn as a 680-HP Desert Predator
Under its carbon-fiber skin sits a 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four, a Subaru heart cranked to absurdity:
- 680 horsepower
- 1,193 Nm of torque
- A shrieking 9,500-rpm redline
The sound alone sets it apart from every Hoonigan build before it—sharper, angrier, and unmistakably Subaru.
The Brat carries forward the wild active aero tech first seen on Pastrana’s GL Wagon. Massive vents carved into the front wheel arches help stabilize the car during high-speed jumps, and the bodywork—penned by digital-design icon Khyzyl Saleem—mixes retro cues with modern aggression. The livery ties the look together, giving the Brat that perfect blend of tribute and transformation.
A Fitting Tribute to Ken Block
What made Block’s Gymkhana films special wasn’t only the driving—it was the sense of invention, the willingness to make ridiculous ideas real. Pastrana’s new Subaru Brat carries that legacy proudly into unfamiliar territory. Australia’s terrain, from gritty industrial sites to world-famous racetracks, makes the ideal backdrop for the franchise’s next chapter.
“Aussie Shred” drops December 9th, and if the teaser is any indication, this might be one of the most ambitious Gymkhana films ever crafted.
Source: Subaru