We at The Drive enjoy the content that the Hoonigan team has put out this year. I personally have written nearly a hundred articles telling you to go watch a video of the Hoonigan crew doing fun things in cars and inviting automotive celebrities and drivers to the Donut Garage for their YouTube series Daily Transmission. Having written that many articles on Hoonigan’s series, I have designated myself an expert on Hoonigan content and give you my Top 10 List of Hoonigan Daily Transmission episodes in 2017.
Before providing my picks, I wanted to reach out to Hoonigan to get a feel for how they felt about how Daily Transmission went in 2017.
“The way this show has developed over the last year was something we never expected. So many people have been willing to bring in every kind of vehicle and get rowdy in our little lot: Drift cars, trucks, drag cars,” co-founder of Hoonigan, Brian Scotto told me. “And the kind of response we’ve gotten from fans has been crazy. They make us want to keep going and make more enjoyable content.”
My list is not a list of the most viewed Daily Transmission videos, just the 10 videos which I believe to be a representation of the best of Daily Transmission videos in 2017. Though, if you must know, Daily Transmission episode 75 is the most viewed at over 4,300,000 views. The video featured a 1,200 horsepower twin turbo diesel Ford F1.
Honorable Mentions
The Daily Transmission series has amassed near 200 episodes. With that many episodes, there are plenty of quality episodes to not make the top 10 cut. Here are a few that deserved to be mentioned.
DT 132: Jeff Zwart’s 1970 Porsche 914-6
Pikes Peak legend Jeff Zwart brought his Porsche 914/6 to the Donut Garage. He has owned the car for 45 years and it was driven in the Panama-Alaska Rally. The car with such historic value seems to mean nothing as he lays down some burnouts and donuts in it.
DT 129: Ken Block’s 1991 Ford Escort Cosworth Group A Rally Car
You may think it is some sort of sacrilege by not having the Head Hoonigan in Charge Ken Block in the top 10, but he does not need to be in the top 10 of Daily Transmission. He is the undisputed king of donuts, but if you really need more check out his Gymkhana, Climbkhana, and Terrakhana series. He also is about to release an Amazon Video series called The Gymkhana Files. I did want to at least bring notice to him doing the first all-wheel-drive donuts at the Donut Garage in his 1991 Ford Escort Cosworth Group A rally car.
There are so many other great episodes, but to name them all this would be a library instead of a best-of article. Let’s just get into it. Here are my top 10 favorite episodes, starting with number 10.
10. DT 074: Rhys Millen’s Hyundai Genesis Pikes Peak Car
Pikes Peak royalty Rhys Millen stopped by the Donut Garage with his 2012 Hyundai Genesis Coupe Pikes Peak car. The car was previously retired and just came fresh out of the Pike Peak race with rocks from the mountain still in all the crevices of the front aero kit. Millen goes through all the details of his car and eventually rips some nice donuts even while on his sticky race tires.
9. DT 012: Electric Smart Car Burnouts, Donuts and Other Bad Ideas
Most of Hoonigan’s Daily Transmissions episodes are view magnets due to automotive celebrities coming by with race cars, but this episode shows they are entertaining enough alone and can make a Smart Car cool. The Hoonigan crew wanted to do a burnout or donut in the Smart Car. After some Google searching, they figured out how to disable the traction control and the fun began.
8: DT 021: Nate Hamilton’s 900 HP Formula D S13
Formula Drift driver Nate Hamilton brings his 900 horsepower Nissan S13 by the Donut Garage. His car makes 900 horsepower on only seven pounds of boost. He eventually rips some donuts and figure eights making his car disappear in the smoke.
7. DT 127: Ryan Litteral Does Man-Line in His 750 HP RB25 Formula Drift S14 240SX
Friend of Hoonigan Ryan Litteral stopped by the Donut Garage in his 750 horsepower RB25 Formula Drift Nissan S14 240SX. He takes Man-Line, the act of drifting a car up and down the dock at the Donut Garage, to a whole new level.
6. “The Caswell Combo” of DT 065: $500 BMW Bill Caswell Meets $350 BMW E36 and DT 066: Caswell Returns, $350 BMW E36 Bash Bar Build
Bill Caswell is the internets cheap BMW expert. He took a $500 Craigslist BMW to a World Rally Championship back in 2010, so when it came time to do some serious fabrication on Hoonigans $300 BMW known as “Sh!t Car,” he was the best person to call. In near 200 episodes, Caswell is the first and only person to get a two-part Daily Transmission episode. In the episodes, he works with Hoonigans shop foreman at the time and does some crazy custom fabrication to the BMW’s rear end to bring it closer to a Formula Drift cars rear as well as fabs up a one-off mild to wild muffler.
5. DT 180: 900 HP Ultra 4 Rig Destroys Our Lot
This is the most recent video to make the list, because it made a lasting impact. The video features the most destruction done to the Donut Garage’s lot. Driver Jason Blanton brought his 900 horsepower Ultra 4 Off Road Rig. In a world where everyone puts LS’s in everything even trucks, Blanton runs a Big Block engine in his rig. After going into deep details on his truck, the Hoonigan set up some ramps for Blanton to jump. He jumps Hoonigans ramps with ease, then rock crawls the dock destroying the edges of the concrete. He rips multiple donuts, burnouts, jumps off the dock, and uses the container to brake stand more burnouts. Through all the madness he cut into a container, broke pieces of concrete off the dock, and destroyed a fence.
4. DT 027: Chevy Prerunner Launches Into Orbit
This video is not only high on my list, but it is the third most viewed Daily Transmission video and the first Daily Transmission video to reach a million views. Ryan Kibbe brought his Kibbetech Chevy Prerunner build and set the standard on trucks coming to the Donut Garage. Kibbe was the first to jump a truck at the Donut Garage. He rips some donuts, then finishes by drifting down the dock into a video ending donut.
3. DT 110: 500 HP Truck 180s Off the Dock
The Brenthel brothers, Jonathan and Jordan, brought their 500 horsepower 6100 spec class truck. The truck was fresh from racing in the Vegas to Reno race. The truck was still caked in dust and dirt. After coming down the dock the trucks first move was to crash straight into the dock. The brothers rip donuts, jump off the dock, but what set them apart was the multiple 180s off the dock.
2. DT 070: Dai Yoshihara’s Subaru BRZ Formula Drift Car
Formula Drift driver Dai Yoshihara brought his Subaru BRZ Formula Drift drift car to the Donut Garage. Yoshihara surprises the Hoonigan’s by thrashing his drift car during the Formula Drift season. He was the first to drift down the dock in a car. He rips some great burnouts, hard stops up the dock, and almost drifts off the dock a few times. Yoshihara reset the bar on how race car drivers need to drive when they come with their race cars to the Donut Garage.
1. DT 100: BJ Baldwin’s 800 HP Trophy Truck Decimates the Donut Garage
For the 100th episode of Daily Transmission, BJ Baldwin visits Hoonigan. For the milestone episode, Baldwin came with one goal to be the first to wheelie at the Donut Garage. At the beginning of the video, Baldwin mentions that Ryan Kibbe from my #4 choice video inspired him. He brings his 800 horsepower Toyota Tundra based Trophy Truck. He rips donuts, figure eights, and continuously jumps off the loading dock. He even drives into the dock which caused Hoonigan Jon Chase to chip his tooth, but the truck just brushed it off. Baldwin succeeds in his wheelies by using his Trophy Truck suspension to wheel hop producing one of the best videos Hoonigan has to offer.
I would love to hear what your favorite Hoonian Daily Transmission episode is in the comments below or in the Facebook comments.