elbert
08-10-2008, 12:19 PM
So last week I did this thing called the Audi Driving Experience, this one being held at Summit Point Motorsport Park. Audi lets you take its new A4 on a track for a couple laps and compare it to some of its competitors. It was free so why not.
Here are my impressions of the event and the car. Attached are some crappy phone pics.
They had a few S and RS cars on display, as well as the R8. It***8217;s less ugly in person.
presentation:
A Pete Carroll lookalike gave a 30 minute presentation about the new A4. I was wondering if he would also try to sell a timeshare in Florida.
Some items of possible interest:
* Apparently the 2009 A4 is an all new design and not many people have driven it other than journalists, some dealership VIPs, and other Driving Experience participants.
* They make a big deal about this feature called "Drive Select" which lets you fine tune the car to your liking. More on that later.
* Audi is trying hard to be perceived as a performance brand. They were touting the advantages of quattro in motorsports but neglected to say how heavy their cars are. More on that later as well. They also mentioned that weight distribution was greatly improved but left out the little detail that 60/40 of the old car was god-awful and the 55/45 of the new car is merely adequate.
* Just like any HPDE with newbies, there will be someone asking questions and making comments to let everyone know that he (it's always a guy, girls never ask questions) is a car genius.
driving:
They divide the people into two groups based on the name badge they give you at registration. One group does some laps in the A4, the other test drives the A4 and its competitors in a mini autocross type setup.
I was in the autox group first. They had a 328xi, IS250 awd, and a C300 4matic. No G37x but I'm not sure if they are available yet. The Pete Carroll guy said they tried to bring the IS350, which would be a more fair comparison (both in specs and price) than the IS250, but "weren't able to acquire any." Yeeeahhhh, right.
All cars had automatics. The IS had the most intrusive stability control of the four and, like a disgruntled employee, grumbles to let you know it***8217;s hard at work by beeping five times whenever it is activated. The A4 lights up the hazards when you come to a rapid stop. The brakes in the C300 felt weird.
Honestly I think all the cars kinda sucked at this type of driving. My initial impression was the A4 sucked the least but in retrospect, I***8217;m thinking otherwise. The A4 handled well but it is one heavy car. Its suspension does a really good job hiding this fact but it can***8217;t defy the laws of physics. I checked audiusa.com for the curb weight and it isn't listed :rolleyes: My guess is it weighs around 3800 pounds.
As mentioned earlier, Drive Select allows you to tailor the car setup to your preference. It can adjust the variable ratio steering, unlike BMW***8217;s system, because it uses a different mechanism. You can also fiddle with the suspension and throttle response. Adjustments are made with the MMI knob through a tiered menu. There are also preset levels that can be toggled with buttons that are located on the dash next to the hvac controls.
Drive Select is a total gimmick. I know there will be people that swear it makes a difference between settings. It really didn't, not at this venue anyway. The automatic is still sluggish when shifting, even when using the steering wheel paddle shifters. The throttle may have been slightly more responsive but at the cost of making (smooth) throttle modulation more difficult. Suspension compliance/tautness felt about the same. The steering did feel a bit heavier (probably my imagination) but that***8217;s not significant enough to make this feature worth the $3k or so asking price.
Lapping:
I got to do some laps after that autox portion of the program. It's on a modified Shenandoah circuit that is run in reverse. So yes, what is now the exit out of Karousel is as bumpy and abrupt as you think it will be due to the rough surface transition from concrete to asphalt. I think they ran it this way because it would make other parts of the track safer for all the knuckleheads that think they can drive because they play GT4/Forza.
They have Arai GP5K helmets for loaners. So if you plan on going, you can leave yours at home because I'm pretty sure theirs better than what you have ;) They give you a surprisingly nice headsock so you don't have to worry as much about cooties.
They take people out in several groups, each with one instructor followed by two or three cars. Do about five laps, then switch seats with the person riding with you. There were radios in the car and the guy leading kept a pretty good eye on what was going on.
The suspension on the A4 was probably the best part of the car. I ran over some fairly high flat-topped curbing to get to some of the apexes and the car remained very stable. Good compliance yet relatively minimal floatiness and wallowing. Also the car wasn***8217;t too upset by my adding in throttle while exiting out of Karousel.
The lapping session was ok for me. If you've done HPDE's before you may be a bit bored. I had more fun playing instructor by telling my codriver where to look, when to start tracking out, when to hit the gas, etc.
Afterwards:
When you're done, you go to a kiosk with a dozen or so ipod Touches to fill out a quick survey about the experience and the car. Hit "submit" and they will give you a baseball cap.
You can then go back to the lapping area and they will let you take another Audi on the track. Choices were an A5, A6, A8, Q7, and I think there was an A3 as well.
Same thing as before, follow the leader for a couple laps, then switch with your co-driver.
I really wanted to drive the Q7 (don't get to drive an SUV on the track too often) but that was already spoken for. I got into the A5 which I think shares the same platform with the previous A4. It is distinctively worse than the new A4. Felt even heavier and the steering was light and numb.
Summary:
The new A4 is a decent car. Looks nice, drives ok.
The Audi people were very friendly and courteous. If you have never done any sort of performance driving (autocross or DE), or maybe only an event or two, this will be a lot of fun and a good learning experience. I still had fun though, as it was a great way to spend a beautiful sunny day outside :)
Here are the program details:
http://www.audiusa.com/audi/us/en2/experience/Audi_Driving_Experience/ADE_US.html
schedule:
http://www.audidrivingexperience.com/2008/?class=ADE&area=city&a96rfdev=&b10PUi=&096mi=&event=&track_id=
Here are my impressions of the event and the car. Attached are some crappy phone pics.
They had a few S and RS cars on display, as well as the R8. It***8217;s less ugly in person.
presentation:
A Pete Carroll lookalike gave a 30 minute presentation about the new A4. I was wondering if he would also try to sell a timeshare in Florida.
Some items of possible interest:
* Apparently the 2009 A4 is an all new design and not many people have driven it other than journalists, some dealership VIPs, and other Driving Experience participants.
* They make a big deal about this feature called "Drive Select" which lets you fine tune the car to your liking. More on that later.
* Audi is trying hard to be perceived as a performance brand. They were touting the advantages of quattro in motorsports but neglected to say how heavy their cars are. More on that later as well. They also mentioned that weight distribution was greatly improved but left out the little detail that 60/40 of the old car was god-awful and the 55/45 of the new car is merely adequate.
* Just like any HPDE with newbies, there will be someone asking questions and making comments to let everyone know that he (it's always a guy, girls never ask questions) is a car genius.
driving:
They divide the people into two groups based on the name badge they give you at registration. One group does some laps in the A4, the other test drives the A4 and its competitors in a mini autocross type setup.
I was in the autox group first. They had a 328xi, IS250 awd, and a C300 4matic. No G37x but I'm not sure if they are available yet. The Pete Carroll guy said they tried to bring the IS350, which would be a more fair comparison (both in specs and price) than the IS250, but "weren't able to acquire any." Yeeeahhhh, right.
All cars had automatics. The IS had the most intrusive stability control of the four and, like a disgruntled employee, grumbles to let you know it***8217;s hard at work by beeping five times whenever it is activated. The A4 lights up the hazards when you come to a rapid stop. The brakes in the C300 felt weird.
Honestly I think all the cars kinda sucked at this type of driving. My initial impression was the A4 sucked the least but in retrospect, I***8217;m thinking otherwise. The A4 handled well but it is one heavy car. Its suspension does a really good job hiding this fact but it can***8217;t defy the laws of physics. I checked audiusa.com for the curb weight and it isn't listed :rolleyes: My guess is it weighs around 3800 pounds.
As mentioned earlier, Drive Select allows you to tailor the car setup to your preference. It can adjust the variable ratio steering, unlike BMW***8217;s system, because it uses a different mechanism. You can also fiddle with the suspension and throttle response. Adjustments are made with the MMI knob through a tiered menu. There are also preset levels that can be toggled with buttons that are located on the dash next to the hvac controls.
Drive Select is a total gimmick. I know there will be people that swear it makes a difference between settings. It really didn't, not at this venue anyway. The automatic is still sluggish when shifting, even when using the steering wheel paddle shifters. The throttle may have been slightly more responsive but at the cost of making (smooth) throttle modulation more difficult. Suspension compliance/tautness felt about the same. The steering did feel a bit heavier (probably my imagination) but that***8217;s not significant enough to make this feature worth the $3k or so asking price.
Lapping:
I got to do some laps after that autox portion of the program. It's on a modified Shenandoah circuit that is run in reverse. So yes, what is now the exit out of Karousel is as bumpy and abrupt as you think it will be due to the rough surface transition from concrete to asphalt. I think they ran it this way because it would make other parts of the track safer for all the knuckleheads that think they can drive because they play GT4/Forza.
They have Arai GP5K helmets for loaners. So if you plan on going, you can leave yours at home because I'm pretty sure theirs better than what you have ;) They give you a surprisingly nice headsock so you don't have to worry as much about cooties.
They take people out in several groups, each with one instructor followed by two or three cars. Do about five laps, then switch seats with the person riding with you. There were radios in the car and the guy leading kept a pretty good eye on what was going on.
The suspension on the A4 was probably the best part of the car. I ran over some fairly high flat-topped curbing to get to some of the apexes and the car remained very stable. Good compliance yet relatively minimal floatiness and wallowing. Also the car wasn***8217;t too upset by my adding in throttle while exiting out of Karousel.
The lapping session was ok for me. If you've done HPDE's before you may be a bit bored. I had more fun playing instructor by telling my codriver where to look, when to start tracking out, when to hit the gas, etc.
Afterwards:
When you're done, you go to a kiosk with a dozen or so ipod Touches to fill out a quick survey about the experience and the car. Hit "submit" and they will give you a baseball cap.
You can then go back to the lapping area and they will let you take another Audi on the track. Choices were an A5, A6, A8, Q7, and I think there was an A3 as well.
Same thing as before, follow the leader for a couple laps, then switch with your co-driver.
I really wanted to drive the Q7 (don't get to drive an SUV on the track too often) but that was already spoken for. I got into the A5 which I think shares the same platform with the previous A4. It is distinctively worse than the new A4. Felt even heavier and the steering was light and numb.
Summary:
The new A4 is a decent car. Looks nice, drives ok.
The Audi people were very friendly and courteous. If you have never done any sort of performance driving (autocross or DE), or maybe only an event or two, this will be a lot of fun and a good learning experience. I still had fun though, as it was a great way to spend a beautiful sunny day outside :)
Here are the program details:
http://www.audiusa.com/audi/us/en2/experience/Audi_Driving_Experience/ADE_US.html
schedule:
http://www.audidrivingexperience.com/2008/?class=ADE&area=city&a96rfdev=&b10PUi=&096mi=&event=&track_id=