The India Bike Week, held in Goa on February 2 and 3, was admittedly the fi rst mega event of its kind. We went to attend this jamboree in an Audi A6, admittedly a car befi tting the uniqueness of the event
LAST MONTH INDIA WITNESSED THE FIRST India Bike Week in Goa and, as the editor of both Car India and Bike India, I was not going to miss this event.
My first preference would have been to ride down to Goa, but that was not possible, since I was scheduled to fly out to Sweden on the third night itself with Audi for the ice drive in Sweden. So this ruled out the bike ride. The second option was to fly to Goa, but I hate to be in a place and not have my own transport. The third option was to drive down to Goa. I requested Audi if they could lend me a car that I could drive down to Goa and then back to Mumbai. They obliged by sending me the A6 3.0 TDI.
Normally, I leave for Goa at five in the morning, but for some reason the alarm, which was actually set for 4.00 am, went off an hour later and I set course for Goa at six o’clock in the morning. As I paid the toll at the Shivapur toll booth on the Pune-Satara road (NH 4), three superbikes went past. Within about five or six kilometres I came up behind them, got on their tail and passed them. After this they started pushing hard and re-passed my Audi A6 when we came up to some truck traffic. They were able to stay ahead of the A6 until the time there was some traffic, but once the road cleared up and we built up speed, they managed to keep up with the Audi up to about 170 km/h. As soon as the speedo needle nudged past 200 km/h, they could not keep up the pace and just disappeared from the rear-view mirror.
Once you pass Kolhapur and drive into Karnataka, for some reason the quantum of traffic reduces a great deal and the quality of road also improves. You can then really motor along at a good nick. But this proves short-lived as you turn right for Amboli and drive on a single-lane state highway with undulating road surface. All the modern cars ride well on smooth roads, but bad, undulating roads is where you can feel the difference in the handling capability between a mediocre car and a top-class car.
Even on this undulating road the A6 was cruising between 140 and 150 km/h and this became possible only because its suspension soaks in all the irregularities from the road surface and does not let them upset the car.
Descending the Amboli Ghat in the 3.0 TDI Quattro is great fun as its light but precise steering lets you put the car where you want to, so you have the car on the correct line round the corners. Once you reach Sawantwadi, it is just a 50-kilometre dash to Goa. It took us five hours and 45 minutes to Panaji and another half-an-hour to my place of food pilgrimage, Martin’s Corner in south Goa. I had to leave on the second day of the India Bike Week and head back to Pune. Since it was a Sunday we hardly saw any traffic and made it back home in five-and-a-half hours. After a short nap I packed my bag and left for Mumbai to fly out of the country to drive some more Audis on the frozen lakes in northern Sweden. I was able to do this Goa-Pune-Mumbai trip because of the effortlessness that the Audi A6 lent to my drive. The drive from Pune to Goa and back and then to Mumbai was effortless and a real joy thanks to the A6, because it is a complete package with a very quiet cabin, great handling, ride quality and performance that you can reconfirm with the superbike riders from Pune. The Audi A6 in Goa along with the HOG at the India Bike Week
www.carindia.in MARCH 2013
Descending the Amboli Ghat in the 3.0 TDI Quattro is great fun as its light but precise steering lets you put the car where you want to, so you have the car on the correct line round the corners
Story & Photography: Aspi Bhathena
