Audi Philippines sales director Lito Jose
It’s not every day that you get invited to a track-day, and one with expert track tuition at that. I knew it was worth the beating from heat, humility and distance to be invited at Clark International Raceway in Clarkfield, Pampanga, and drive the latest, fastest, most powerful and technologically advanced sports saloons and supercars from Ingolstadt’s finest four rings.
Audi has been making a big push to increase high-performance and safe-driving techniques to both clients, current and potential, and the media, with the aim of increasing public safety on the road. It also serves as a showcase for their latest products, with an increasing focus on safety, performance, as well as efficiency.
I had the pleasure of attending two previous Audi Driving Experience, one in Clark back in 2005, and another at the infamous Sepang International Raceway in Sepang Town in Malaysia. It was intense, very hot and humid, not to mention dusty, but ultimately very memorable and very exciting.
Audi AG sales manager for Southeast Asia Juergen Fieger welcomes the participants.
Maximize performance
The agenda of the Clark International Raceway was to maximize the performance of Audi’s lineup—the all-new S6, S7 and S8 sports sedans; with the S6 and S7 both sporting 420 hp and the S8 having an even more fearsome 520 hp. Though with the latest in electronic traction and stabilization controls as well as all-wheel drive, it was still going to be a challenge to hustle the super-saloons, which were better suited to ’bahn-blasting rather than a tight technical racetrack in record time, not to mention staying in one piece.
The first activity consisted of an emergency lane-change maneuver with maximum braking with the S8. Its amazing six-piston carbon-ceramic brakes provided continuous fade-free performance and surprisingly excellent threshold braking ability—not a very strong suit for most carbon ceramic brakes. By my third try, I was accelerating past 140 kph and braking almost right into the segment where you need to swerve. Excellent engineering from Ingolstadt, indeed.
The agile A1 Sporback leads in the slalom exercise.
Next up was the slalom course, where we tried a variety of cars: the A4, the all-new Q3 and A1, and the A6 3.0 TFSI. Surprisingly it was the A6, the largest in the group, that proved to be the most entertaining as its good mix of power, grip and sure-footed handling matched with feel-some and responsive steering provided some safe and predictable tail-out action negotiating the cones.
With its ASF chassis, the A6 remains to be the lightest and most dynamic in its class. Another hidden gem was the Q3 urban mini-SUV, which behaved more like a proper hot-hatch than a ’ute with its aggressive cornering stance and tenacious grip, despite wearing all-terrain tires than proper sport touring tires.
Learning the proper driving position from the experts.
‘Good mix’ of sections
The next three activities focused on the different sections of the full Clark International Speedway, where we used the S6, S7 and the S8 to memorize the proper racing line, apex clipping points and proper turn-in and exit points on the various corners. Clark International Speedway has a good mix of slow and technical sections matched with high-speed double-apex sweepers, so finding the right line was crucial.
Audi Philippines head Benedicto Coyiuto with the Audi driving instructors (left to right) Mark Alison, World Rally champion Claus Jochi Kleint, lead instructor Harald Buttner, Christoph Klapper and Georges Ramirez.
Some might scoff at the simplicity of our activities, but a good number of participants were overwhelmed and sat out the track familiarization activities as the g-forces, as well as the heat, were too much to handle, thanks to the amazing Quattro all-wheel drive and the fine-tuned handling of the Audis.
The end of the day’s activities meant a good six laps (more for some like me) around the full Clark track in either an S6 or S7 and it was there that the now infamous saying came true: power is nothing without control. Even with a sophisticated traction and stability control and Quattro all-wheel drive, it was impossible to go flat-out, given my skill level, around the track.
The Audi’s repertoire of talents, though, conveniently masked my own inefficiencies as it proved to be an able partner: coaching me gently; coaxing me to speed up just a little bit more, turn in slightly later, brake deeper into the corner while providing fade-free performance and press on the loud pedal just a bit earlier to capitalize on the amazing grip afforded by Quattro technology.
From a consumer’s stand-point, the Audi Driving Experience is important for an Audi owner so that he/she can experience his or her car’s full breadth of ability and be better prepared in real-world emergency situations such as optimizing the safety equipment of his/her car.
For the enthusiast on the other hand, it is an opportunity to practice your driving skills, unlearn bad habits weaned through years of driving, and polish your existing skill-set, so that when you get into your own car and do some sporty driving on both road and track, you’re sharper, better prepared and ultimately have more fun.
The R8 GT Spyder takes the lead for the Audi fleet at the Clark Raceway.
At the end of the day, I was given the opportunity to ride shotgun with George Ramirez in a 560 ps Audi R8 GT Spyder. In the hands of mere mortals, the R8 GT Spyder is an amazing and impressive ride that tickles all the right senses. But in the hands of a professional like George, the R8 GT Spyder is an absolute beast as it devours straights and massacres corners like it was nobody else’s business. And the R8 goes about its business completely unflustered and capable without feeling stressed or burdened.
That day became memorable, with driving skills improved. I had a memorable ride in a most amazing car; I might as well have died and gone to heaven. But not yet, as PGA Cars-Audi Philippines promised more exciting events in the future.