Audi Driving Experience

Last fall I signed up and paid the $600.00 Audi America charged to go out and drive the R8... well sort of. I did get to drive the Audi R8 at Infinion Raceway, but there were hours to fill prior to getting to that point. The morning started with a full assortment of breakfast goodies in the Audi lounge and sizing up what you think might be your competition. When the class is ready everyone goes to a small presentation room to hear the semi-sales pitch on the benefits of Quattro all wheel drive. Its short and sweet enough that you are not dying to get out to the cars.

Small course -
They are talking small. To ensure that they do not hand their prized sports cars to mental midgits, they have everyone go through a 2-5 mph course scrutinizing your ability to steer the cars without shuffling your hands and or hitting the cones. There were a few in my group that we 'talked' to. Which is odd. We drove the new TT for this which is kinda lame feeling since it has so much potential... and you are at a jogging speed at best.

Accident avoidance -
The next coned course was a long straight with a 90 degree left and 90 right that we were to take a full speed. They meant full speed too. The long straight is only about 30 yards, so you aren't going too fast. But if you are off the throttle too early you get an ear full. The point is to go beyond what you think is possible. On my runs I was in the 4.2 sport A6, everyone was in an A6 of some sort but mine was the 4.2. Nice. I managed to do very well. Keeping the gas peddle floored all the way to the last moment then getting through the short zig-zag with out disrupting any cones. The instructor was pleased that I had pushed the car in deep on my first attempt and wanted me to keep accelerating later this time by about 10 ft.. I think I hit a cone of two with that much speed, but we had half a dozen tries or so. I think my last attempt was the most memorable, I had started a little farther back and really kept the car floored waaay in to the cones, then quickly tossed the car left and right avoiding all the cones. That felt awesome.. I also got some applause from the instructor and a couple other workers. I was stunned at how tossable the A6 was, with the traction control all the way off (which you can do) you can manage power slide u-turns.. Rediculous.

Braking course -
The same setup as the previous course except that instead of driving through the end of the cones, you are to stop prior to them. Of course you are also supposed to floor the car into the cones as before. This time we are all in the 3.2l A4 sedans. This was harder than I thought. I am used to modulating the brakes slightly when I drive, just enough that I don't lock or trigger the ABS. But the point of this test was to engage the ABS system. I hate that feeling so it was hard to force myself to do it. The thing was that braking as I normally did I stopped shorter in one attempt. The instructor could tell that ABS had not engaged and demanded I try to push the brake pedal through the floor. I then focused soo much on that that I forgot to avoid the imaginary wall ahead.. I didn't kill too many cones.

Large Slalom -
This was a hoot. Each of the Audi line-up A3 DSG, A6, A8L, Q7 4.2 each pair got a few laps around. There is a tightening radius turn that every car howled around. In the A8L we managed to make the tires scream all the way around the course... a few raised eyebrows slowed things down..

Timed course -
This was the final course prior to heading out to the race track in the RS4 and R8. This was a timed course in the new TT. They said that a good time was in the 12s. I got an 11.3 handily beating the others in the group, even a couple TT owners! haha. Turns out this was the only course where you are pitted against another driver..

Race track -
My group was in the RS4 first. What a nice car. It felt like a glove, like I had owned the car for years. They had warned us about standing starts or launches and how one guy somewhere had tried it and blown the clutch in his few laps.. doing so would be highly frowned on and possibly expensive. Also a no-no was disabling the ETC system.
Firing up the engine was real nice.. We had helmets on so some of the sound track was muffled, but it was still audible I totally wanted one of cars that day. It handled great, huge torque made the impression that passing in traffic would only be a quick thought to make reality..
Next up the R8.. WOW. It was sooo nice to drive. I opted for the 6 speed manual as opposed to the R-tronic auto-box that the other cars had and I had a blast. I was heading up past the hairpin and winding that thing up to ~8000prm in 2nd and 3rd before having to slow for the traffic ahead and prepare for the uphill section.. At that rpm and throttle, this car was seriously loud. I would totally buy this car if I came into a couple hundred thousand dollars.. You should too :).

Driving While Wet

Why is the rain so difficult for some people to drive in? It is like half their brain gets soggy too. Eratic merging on the hwy, excessive speeding in questionable cars, tailgating.. ugh. It's too bad all cars are not all wheel drive. Both my current cars are and it make a HUGE difference when things get slippery out. My car still sticks to the road like it was dry out. So much so that I get spoiled by the sensation that nothing is wrong and everyone should just be driving along normally.

The worst thing is the drivers that slow WAAY down due to the rain. Not just being safe, but becoming dangerous to others.

It has been rainy here in CA the past few weeks and its finally looking better, but drivers are still idiots.