If you had a fast Audi and wanted to really experience what the car can do, you would have to take it to the race track. Which also means it would be an expensive proposition. However, Audi have spared you the trouble with their Audi Sportscar Experience.We bring you our first hand experience of the first Audi Sportscar Experience of 2016
Story: Aninda Sardar
Photography: Audi
When you have 230 neighing and rearing horses at the tap of your right foot, you know your car means business. It will shoot forward if you’re not careful and will leave you scrambling for cover. Change that figure to 560 PS and you’re talking supercar territory. A few years ago, just driving, forget owning one of these tarmac tearing missiles would be a dream. But guess what? You can (if you have the moolah) buy a 230-PS Audi TT or a 333-PS S5 or a 560-PS RS6 or RS7 in India and indeed with the economy having blossomed over the last decade a fair amount of people are now buying some of these fast cars too.
There is a catch however. Having the resources to own a car of this calibre doesn’t necessarily endow you with the skill required to drive one to a point where you can really experience what these cars can do. The fact that you would need a completely controlled environment (the diametric opposite of what exists on Indian roads) for the experience is another matter altogether. To offset this slight handicap, Audi India had come up with a unique programme. Simply called Audi Sportscar Experience, the programme is just that – an experience of the German company’s line up of sportscars. The first of these ‘Experiences’ for the calendar year 2016 took place around the Buddh International Circuit in Greater NOIDA recently and, luckily for me, a seat had been reserved for Car India.
Going to Buddh always reminds me of the first of the few F1 races the circuit has hosted, with the vast multitudes pushing against each other in a bid to get to their seats before the action started. Driving past the empty parking lots with just the odd security guy for company was strange. The cabbie followed the signs posted by Audi and got me as close to the pit lane entrance as possible. Getting out of the car and looking to my right I saw myself looking at a series of red cones laid out neatly to form an acceleration run followed by hard braking and an elk test. Then there was a change of surface from asphalt to concrete to help simulate what happens when the car’s tyres break traction at speed and on a turn, followed by a slalom and then a stop. I couldn’t help but feel a flutter of excitement.
