Almost four times a year Audi invites a select few of its existing and potential customers, along with their families, to test drive its entire range of cars. These drives are organised to highlight the strengths of each car and are a bit of a feel-good factor for the brand. There’s an off-road trail for the ‘Q’ range of SUVs, a scenic drive for the ‘A’ range of sedans, and some track driving for the performance-oriented cars. We joined these customers to drive three of the most exciting Audis in the range - R8 V10+, R8 LMX and RS6 Avant, in an environment where these feel at home - the Madras Motor Race Track (near Chennai).
Let’s start with the RS6 Avant first. Right from the moment you fire up the motor, the burble from the exhaust reaffirms that this isn’t just any run-of-the-mill estate; it’s powered by a 4.0-litre twin turbo V8 petrol engine that churns out an earth-shattering 700Nm of torque! Out on the track, it was rather enjoyable to max out the revs and hear the glorious sound of the high-revving V8. It’s incredible to see the tachometer needle climb rapidly and the car hit lunatic speeds within seconds. There’s adequate power across the band and the 8-speed torque converter gearbox does a brilliant job of being in the right ratio all throughout. It will rev match when it downshifts either manually or in automatic mode. What the Avant also boasts of is Audi’s Quattro technology, which transmits power to all the four wheels in a 40:60 ratio (front to back) and sends almost 85 percent of the power to the rear wheels should the need arise. Cornering this heavy estate does take some time to master as the car has a tendency to understeer; hence, accelerating out of the corner needs to be late and very gentle to maintain a clean line. The Quattro system sapped out a lot of fun by cutting the power off when it sensed the car going sideways even slightly. Still, for someone looking for a Rs. 1.6 crore car that goes from point A to B rapidly and can accommodate the entire family as well as the weekend luggage, the RS6 Avant makes a strong case for itself.
One of the cars that I was really looking forward to driving was the elusive R8 LMX. Audi made only 99 units of this extreme iteration of the R8 and we got our hands on one. It’s based on the older R8 V10+ but is much sharper and more track-focused in comparison. The bark from the angry V10 is actually more intimidating than the 570hp and 540Nm of torque. However, get moving and, almost immediately, this car feels alive. Throttle responses are sharp and the power delivery is best described as brutal. Before you know it, the rev needle climbs to 8,000rpm and the 7-speed S-tronic gearbox aggressively up-shifts. The steering wheel is extremely sharp and gives the driver great feedback. Even its suspension is a lot stiffer when compared to the ‘standard’ R8 and, as a result, it does tend to feel twitchy when driven aggressively, especially while taking fast corners. Since these cars hadn’t run in properly (we were told), one out of the two LMXs ended up overheating and limped back into the pits.
