How an Audi Track Day gets in to Your Soul

Crazy old Australia’s weather has been on shuffle, with driving rain one minute, and wind blowing up a gale-force fire the next. When a track day featuring Audi’s R8 is on offer, we answer that call, no matter what.

Picture it: Australia, 2021. We jet in to Melbs, arriving late afternoon. Covid has plundered the tourism industry, with airlines are holding on by their finger nails. Airports now resemble modern-day  Chernobyl, and masks are no longer the sole preserve druid priests.

The flight was an exercise in religious penance. Virgin is now only one step up from walking, with water or juice, and a microscopic bag of seeds as the only sustenance on offer. Thankfully you don’t have to pay at the loo.

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Undeterred, we head through the abandoned airport to the car park, and a line of stunning top-notch Audis. Coupes and fastbacks nestle beside SUVs, in a carefully curated vignette. I scored an RS Q8 for the 2-hour drive to Phillip Island, and our overnight digs.

It would be churlish to miss a chance to comment on the perfect road manners of a car north of a hundred grand. RSQ8 is superb even in appalling weather. After a decent sleep in fairly basic units at Silverwater Resort, we head out early for a short drive to the Phillip Island GP track.

The day, cool with a hint of drizzle, and the temperature hovers around 20c.

After a Steve Pizzati briefing, we strode out across the tarmac, we helmeted warriors. The battle ahead, familiar to those who have trod this path before, is one delicious bend after another.

The 4.2km course is one of the best in the world, so they say, and is home to GP racers on both two and four wheels.

Audi, among other car makers, feature their hottest models with a cast of thousands. The fumes, the sound, and the food, fill the senses.

Punters choose exactly how they breathe in the atmosphere. Do they want skid pan or track? Other experiences take in the bucolic atmosphere in and around our most beautiful cities. It is, in fact, a scene worthy of a romantic 50’s film, set on the Riveria.

Just for a day, you are king.

You’re taken by the hand and guided by expert drivers. Everything from track facilities to the intricacies of the bends, curves, hills, and straights is gone through in minute detail.

Of the 550 spots, only a few remain for the 2021 seaon-

23 cars worth $5.5Million

Pricing:

• Audi Driving Dynamic driving experience – $1250
• Audi Sport Driving experience – $3500

Above: This Week -2021 Audi Driver Esperience – TT RS, RS5, RS6 Avant, RS Q8, and R8 Perroamance (All QUATTRO)

Above: This Week’s VIDEO Car Review -2021 Audi R8 Performance QUATTRO Review

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ABOVE: 2021 Audi Driving Experience

TT RS Quattro $134,900

• 2.5L turbo five-cylinder
• 294kW/480Nm
• 0-100 3.7 sec
• 8.0L/100k
• 7-sp S-Tronic

First off the line is the TT RS. The cruel comments about the TT being a hairdresser’s car fade in to insignificance as we rocket down the straight. Nathan Pretty said “brake in a straight line”, and that is something I followed to the letter. The consequences of doing otherwise on a wet track is something that shouldn’t contemplated.

The cabin is neat, and the bijou space wraps around the driver in a protective cocoon.

Power from the 5-pot is plenty, and the chassis is tighter than a fish’s toosh. The sound, as you pile on the power, is a roar that is both deep and visceral, and high-pitched and panicked.

The short wheelbase makes TT RS slightly jittery, especially in moist conditions. Press on, and you’ll be rewarded.

RS 5 Sportback QUATTRO $150,900

RS 5 Coupé QUATTRO $150,900

• 2.9L V6 twin turbo
• 260kW/500Nm
• 6 L/100km
• 0-100 4.7
• CO2 214 g/k
• 8-sp S-Tronic

The Hot version of the modest A5 5-door is something chavs from the estate like to nick.

It is a glorious looking thing with a raspy exhaust, and a punchy power plant. All traction controls were left firmly in place, as per instruction. An earlier skid pan demo showed the folly of turning traction settings to ”track”. With the nannies off, we were told to go full lock, and to mash the moccasin into the Axminster. It goes against everything you’ve ever been taught.

All cars had QUATTRO AWD, but the RS5 broke away like Cobain on a bender.  Once reinstated, the traction does it’s best to bring calm and order to proceedings in a manner befitting a king.

Coming down the straight at 250kph is a thing to behold, but although that sounds fast, it feels slow. The tendency is to brake late. Holding the line is an effort, and no matter which car, pearls of sweat appear in places you’d rather they didn’t.

ABOVE: 2021 Audi Driving Experience

RS 6 Avant quattro $216,000

• 4.0L V8 twin turbo
• 441kW/800Nm
• 0-100 3.6
• 8-sp S-Tronic

This humble wagon takes on the guise of a gilded eagle as it soars and swoops.

It is beautifully behaved, and the power comes on as gently as nanny’s loving touch. Sport mode keeps the transmission in the just right gear, and the power in just the right band. Better still, it makes the engine sing like a choir from heaven. There is none of the that mad cackle you hear around traffic lights either. There is no mini-backfire between changes, RS6 just gets on with it.

It is on the track where you get the full advantage of a DSG (AKA S-Tronic), as the clutches grab a handful of gear in the flash of an eye. Steering is a delight, as you feel the chassis moving gently under your rump. You grab a bootful of brake, only to wind the V8 up as you rocket through the apex.

You don’t really have time to drink in the quilted leather and tasteful décor. It is all about performance. 800Nm of torque has the feel of instant gratification, and is controlled by the minute manipulation of the pedal, allowing the driver to steer on power alone.

There is an overwhelming desire to drift, but don’t, just don’t

RS Q8 QUATTRO $208,500

• 4.0L V8 twin turbo
• 441kW/800Nm
• 0-100 8
• 8-sp S-Tronic

I’m going to be controversial by saying this is my new favourite audi. It is a nuclear Adonis.

This magnificent creature is all things to all people. In sport mode at 260kph, the exhaust can only be described as filthy. It is both raspy and deep, augmented by a treble worthy of Pavarotti.

Even in the tightest corner, the body moves like a baby in a cradle. SUVs usually feel like they’re going to fall over, but there is no hint of such a misdemeanour. The executive cabin, and its haptic controls, have the feel of a private jet, especially on the straight.

The is so much space, you feel like you could stretch out, with your passengers equally well catered for.

The brakes are the biggest in the business, making her squirm slightly as you stand on them like a bass drum. It does whatever you ask it to do, when you ask it to do it. It never complains, and never explains.

You don’t drive an RS Q8, you pilot it.

Audi R8 Performance QUATTRO Price: $395,500 ($416,500 Spyder)

• 5.2L V10
• 449kw/560Nm
• 4L/100k
• 0 – 100 3.2 sec
• 7 Sp S-Tronic (DSG)

What can I say, R8 is perfection.

The subtle styling belies the head-banging power sitting just behind the driver. Its light-weight body gives drivers an intuitive feel, as it is twisted and contorted in acrobatic performance worthy of the Circ du Soleil. It is a smooth ballet, with the sound track of a rock opera.

1595kg feels feather-like, and the steering knows what you want, before you do. There is the sense of being in a high-speed train as you lean into corners, with all four wheels keeping wayward behaviour at arm’s length.

Directional changes are like a cat on carpet as it darts to and fro. You hold the line in corners with a psychic ability that allows you to aim for a place on the tarmac, and to know that you’ll definitely get there.

Remember, the day had a thousand personalities. Parts of the track were dry, then moist the next time you pass. RS Q8 wasn’t bothered.

The price is almost immaterial. It simply doesn’t matter. You must have it, like you must have sustenance. It is a daily driver. It is a GT. It is a GP chaser.

R8 gets into your soul, as an extension of your mind.

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