Audi Driving Experience, summary of the day

Last week I posted a brief preview of our first contact with the Audi Driving Experience. Today we return with a general summary and of course all the images of the day

Audi Driving Experience landed in Spain with the intention of replace the Driving and Safety School, launched in 1994 with the intention of instructing customers of the brand (or not) in handling the vehicle in extreme situations or simply understand driving dynamics. The Audi Driving Experience already has a long list of winners behind it. with approximately 700 annual events in 20 different countries, some 20.000 drivers enjoy their classes per year. They arrived in Spain in May of this year with an offer ofe seven different courses divided into three specialties: Winter, Adventure and Performance Driving Experience.

With Winter Driving Experience we will find courses focused on driving on icy or slippery surfaces. They are three different experiences that go beyond the driving course itself. To begin with, they include a move to the appropriate environment: the Grandvalira takes place in a ski resort in Andorra. As more "forceful" options are Finland Basic and Finland Pro that take place in the middle of the arctic polar circle and include all kinds of activities such as helicopter trips, marches, skiing, snowmobiling, etc. In Adventure We will travel to different places around the globe, aboard our Audi Q7, Q5 or A6 Allroad. In the seventh edition it is planned to visit Morocco and it is a way for the customer to squeeze his vehicle in a pleasant environment of travel through remote places.

The Performance Driving Experience It is the most basic and suitable for all pockets. Are three courses driving starting from the most basic (Dynamic: posture behind the wheel, braking, cornering, stability control, suspension, etc.) to the highest (sportscar R8), piloting a 8 hp Audi R525 on a professional circuit. In between these two is the course that I have enjoyed, the Progressive, which deals with sports driving on the circuit at the controls of Audi A5 3.0 TDI Quattro and Audi TT 2.0 TFSI

The progressive course

After this billet-introduction, I will summarize What is the intermediate level Progressive? It is focused on people who already have some proficiency in sports driving and they know the basics of car physics. In this course they do not explain to us what ABS consists of, nor how to correct an understeer or oversteer. just experience speeding up the brakes and tracing as precisely as possible. As usual in these courses, It's not about setting the best time of the day, but in having the car controlled at all times and taking it where we want, not that it is the ESP who drives the car for uss while we strive to maintain impossible lines or brake past the last millimeter.

Carlos Sainz was there, but by pure chance….

For the development of the courses we count (according to availability of the calendar) of consecrated riders like Jordi Gené. The most common is that it is the Audi monitors and the person in charge of the driving school, Ignacio Pérez, who accompany us throughout the day. The latter is the driver of the Audi S4 drifter from the video the other day 🙂 The course takes place in two columns of cars, one from A5 and one from TT. In front of each one we will have the Audi S4 and Audi TTS respectively, who will control us by radio and rearview mirror constantly. Each lap the cars rotate position so that everyone has the opportunity to ride behind the monitor and directly receive their instructions. It is impressive to see how they can travel much faster than you, while at the same time monitoring you through the rearview mirror and giving instructions over the radio…releasing one hand from the wheel, obviously.

EThe level of driving increases with the passing of laps, until in the end you almost roll to your limit, as long as the monitor sees you prepared and aware of what you are doing. After all, Audi makes relatively powerful cars (more than 200 CV in any case) and his reputation is at stake: a mishap during the course would be a failure.

Pricing

This course it costs €295 for Audi customers and €370 for non-customers. Taking into account that it includes breakfast, lunch (lunch only if it is in the afternoon) and typical "gifts" of the brand, the experience seems quite affordable.

Doing numbers, between the wear and depreciation of the cars, gasoline, brake replacements, circuit rental, monitors, catering, and parting gifts pIt seems even difficult for the brand to earn money by organizing these courses. The tires I guess are free since it's sponsored by Dunlop, and I believe that many games are spent. In subsequent articles we will discuss the perceived sensations behind the wheel of the Audi TT 2.0 TFSi and the Audi A5 3.0 TDI Quattro. Also, we will compare Audi Driving Experience with BMW Driver Training, event we enjoyed in Montmeló