Audi launches hot driver training

For the first time Audi Australia has launched a driver education programme open to the public that could have everybody from the P-plater to the would-be Le Mans Series legend smacking their lips.

The Audi Drive Experience covers all standards of driving from beginning with the Basic Driving Experience aimed at sharpening skills behind the wheel, testing drivers’ and the cars’ limits.

The Advanced Driving Experience takes place at higher speeds, where advanced exercises place emphasis on car control. The Performance Driving Experience takes knowledge and skills from the advanced course to a higher level.

The Sportscar Experience uses one-on-one coaching to read track conditions and use techniques employed by professional race drivers in Audi’s RS 5 and R8 5.2 FSI quattro.

The ultimate, of course, is the Race Experience – the only one held outside Germany - which takes place at Phillip Island with one-on-one coaching in the Audi R8 LMS, plus full performance analysis.        

Topping off the list is the Ice Experience, a two-day slip and slide around New Zealand’s southern alps. Under the tutelage of a team of 11 hand-picked experts, led by TV presenter, race driver and engineer Steve Pizzati, clients are taken through a full day of training - a morning of theory and manoeuvres, and an afternoon on the track smoothing out driving technique.

The motoring media were given a sampler at Phillip Island GP circuit, one of six tracks in each state and territory but the Northern Territory to be the venues for the five-tier course aimed at improving the standard of all levels of driving ability.

Using a range of Audis from a $6.8 million line-up of vehicles totalling 9246 horsepower, including the A1 Sport, Q models, flagship A8, S4, RS5, TT RS and the R8 V10 supercar, the scribes were introduced to units from the course which included dealing with skidding in the wet, rapid lane changing and the most effective use of ABS when turning under heavy braking.

The hardest part for the experienced steerers was being encouraged to ignore driving rules and do the wrong thing in an emergency, then using the vehicle’s hi-tech safety features to right matters. Afternoon track time was taken to the accompaniment of intermittent sun showers which kept everyone focused on proceedings.  While serious, it was a lot of fun.

Audi has a history of driving education programmes, beginning with the quattro experience in 1980, closely followed by the ice experience a year later. Nineteen ninety-seven saw the invitation-only driving experience come online. Now there’s the Audi driving experience 2012 for anyone prepared to lay down the dollars.

Prices range from $750 for the Advanced Experience to $5990 for the full-on LMS R8 race experience. Beginning in July, all can all be booked online through a dedicated Audi site. Not that the goodwill is all one way, Audi is using the drive experience as a branding exercise and a bid for sales of its high-tech, super-safe product. Smart move.