For the past 5 years Audi Germany together with local brand guardian Euromobil has brought the Audi Drive Experience to Malaysia. Catering to select Audi customers and possible owners, the drive experience allows participants to experience the latest Audi performance and also standard vehicles in various drive situations. High performance S-Line tuned cars and RS tuned cars are provided together with highly skilled drive instructors to teach participants; 1st to handle a car at high speed, 2nd to experience Audi’s famed Quattro handling and finally get a feel of Audi dynamics like never before. It is the best selling tool.
First up was the quick drive briefing. A veteran of this event, we were initially not taking notice of the instructor’s words but when we heard S7 and A8, our ears woke up our brain to take note as we have not driven large powerful sedans like these two around the Sepang circuit.
We started the event behind the wheel of an Audi S6. With professional driver Eric Bamba as our instructor we started with lessons on how to take the first half of the Sepang race circuit. We started at sane speeds and as the minutes passed our pace increased and Eric showed us the right lines to utilise the power under the hood of the S6. Quick around corners with great traction and bags of torque, the S6 was nimble and surprisingly quick around the corners and quick to exit. Next was the slalom event where we were given an Audi A4 and its larger sibling, the A8 to run a prepared course. First the A4. Easy and nimble around the cones. Next the large A8 around the same cone arrangement. It was faster of the line and as nimble as the A4 despite its larger size, credit to its Quattro system and the steering input.
Next was a selection of Audi SUV’s for the braking test. This is where we were shown how well balanced the Q3 and Q5 SUVs are under hard braking at speeds of 100km/h. What was surprising to us was how these high riding Quattro driven SUV’s had stable predictable handling even when we took them beyond 100km/h and braked hard. Straight and short braking lines almost like with a sedan.
At the end of the day we were impressed with the Quattro handling of all the Audi ‘S’ tuned cars but more in awe with the power delivery and torque of the bigger S7 and S8 luxury sedans that showed us how nimble and well mannered this large sedans are under hard driving conditions.
