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Taking a Fiat 124 Abarth for a spin on a twisting racetrack or driving an all-wheel-drive Dodge Challenger through snow makes perfect sense. However, putting a 2005 Kia Sedona, nearing its end, through the paces seems less logical.
Rally champion Wyatt Knox put the Kia to the test at Team O’Neil’s training facility in Dalton, New Hampshire, just before the vehicle was set to be sent to a junkyard. Spanning 583 acres with 50 distinct types and combinations of corners, this alpine terrain provided the Sedona with one last exhilarating ride—complete with some surprising airtime.
I had the opportunity to learn rally driving techniques from Knox back in early 2017 during the launch of the Challenger AWD. He significantly improved my skills, reshaping my approach to snow driving that I had previously honed during my teenage years in Indiana.
The Team O’Neil’s YouTube series, “Will it Rally?”, has featured a range of unexpected vehicles, including a Ford Explorer, a Toyota Corolla, and a 2000 Chevy Astro AWD van. In the show, drivers push the limits of these cars on skidpads and slalom courses before timing their performance.
Knox even managed to get the Sedona airborne, his expression revealing little surprise—just another day maneuvering a minivan around the track. Watching a beat-up minivan soar through the air is quite a sight:
“The shocks are terrible,” Knox remarks as he descends from a hilltop.
This just illustrates how even a modest minivan can appear impressive when handled by a skilled driver, as one commenter pointed out. Knox makes it seem like an agile, rally-prepped Honda Fit. It proves that strong driving abilities can navigate many challenges—though certainly not all.
With the ABS and various safety features disabled, the Sedona’s rear swings side to side like a pendulum, effortlessly navigating through the cones. The 3.5-liter V6 engine provides a robust 195 horsepower, and Knox describes the driving sensation as akin to a cab-over truck, with much of the vehicle situated behind him.
Using left-foot braking in manual mode, Knox notes that understeering is inevitable, and you have to embrace it. Although the first gear is too low and the second gear too high, he makes it all look effortless.
Thinking about scrapping your minivan? Perhaps consider giving it one final adventure on a rally track, sending it off to car heaven with a triumphant farewell.
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