2017 Audi Weekender: A Day With The Quattros

The first thing that Audi did was beginning the event with a safety briefing (which, is really important and one should never miss out, especially, when you are going behind the wheels of such powerful vehicles). They also highlighted the systems and technology including the Quattro all-wheel-drive system, the correct ways of handling various situations while driving, various correct driving postures and etc.

In the beginning, the participating customers and enthusiasts were divided into groups to drive one car from each segment - SUVs, sedans or sports cars. Moreover, a professional team of instructors and expert racers like - Sunny Kumar, Deepak Chinnappa, Prithveen Rajan, and Karthik Tharani were also there to help the customers experience the thrill of the cars which were there in the line-up.

First up was a quick run through the driving track, which comprised of five quick turns through the slalom section. After that was a short straight in which drivers were told to floor the peddle and then yank the brakes at the marking points to experience the ABS at work. Wondering which cars were we in? Well for this section we got to drive the Audi TT and the recently launched S5 Sportback. Both the cars performed fantabulously but, hands down on the S5!

In the second section, which was the off-road experience part, Audi had designed a course in the centre of the Mahalaxmi Race Course with obstacles, slopes, slush and massive potholes and for this part nonother than the Audi-Q cars were selected (Q3 and Q7). I drove their flagship SUV the Q7 and I must say no matter what the obstacles were (alternating ditches to test the axle articulation, side slopes to test how far you can lean the SUVs, a slush pit to check the Quattro system's tractability) the car went through all without a cough. And the Q7 tilted almost 35 degrees which, was enough for me to touch the ground easily.

To sum it up, the idea behind the Weekender was allowing customers and potential customers to test the performance of Audi's vehicles in a controlled environment which they might not be able to experience on a day-to-day basis. Also, some of the customers were really thrilled by the off-road experience and said that they are planning to book from some of the Q-range cars and that is because they are more practical to handle the potholes and the terrible road conditions that a city like Mumbai has.