ARX: Can Dish Soap Stop a 600hp AWD Rallycross Car from Launching??
We and our partner Steve Arpin recently teamed up with The Hoonigans to discover: can ordinary dish soap stop a 600 hp AWD rallycross car from launching?
The scenario:
- Steve Arpin’s expertly crafted and tuned 600 hp ENEOS Loenbro Ford Focus 00 rallycross racecar
- A Hoonigans custom-built launch skid
- Dozens of gallons of ordinary dishwashing liquid
The question: will the soap stop this mega-powered vehicle from getting enough traction to move off the starting grid?
First up in this quasi-scientific experiment, the group had Arpin launch from a dry surface to test the standard “dig,” or launch from a dead stop:
As the team notes, rallycross cars are designed to make aggressive digs on many surfaces, including dirt, snow, wet tarmac, and gravel.
Dry launch results? 1.3 seconds.
The group made a hypothesis of how much the soap would slow the ENEOS Loenbro 00:
- Vinny: 60% slower
- Josh: won’t move
- Arpin: 212% slower
- Brad: total destruction
- Scotto: 61% slower
What do you think will happen? Watch the video to find out.
We also wanted to send some high-fives all around for the dish soap launch video passing the 5m mark!
It’s currently at 5.5 m views on YouTube. Thanks for watching! We’ll be looking forward to Arpin and the Hoonigan teams’ last race of the season the last weekend of this month!
| July 14 | Circuit of the Americas | Austin, TX | 15th/NC |
| Aug 4 – 5 | The Grand Prix of Trois Revieres | Quebec, Canada | 6th/6th |
| Sept 29 – 30 | Circuit of the Americas | Austin, TX |