I’m layered for the cold of Muonio, but nothing prepares me for such a sight of white. Snow blankets the ground, hangs off rooftops and weighs down the pine trees. The setting looks straight out of a fairy tale.
Muonio sits in Finnish Lapland, around 200km into the Arctic Circle. This is properly up there. In winter, daylight is limited, temperatures are extreme (-15°C is a good day!) and nature dictates the pace of life. I find myself here for some serious work. To learn the art of car control at Audi’s mega Ice Drive Experience.
My ice dancing partner for two days is the Audi S5 Avant – the hotted-up estate version of the new A5. The long roof, tight proportions and muscular haunches make it look the business, and it’s got the go to match the show with a 367hp, 550Nm, 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6. It’s also got a key detail that will make all the difference in this environment – Quattro all-wheel drive. Also essential here are studded tyres. Think of the metal studs as crampons for cars.
Ice to meet you
Our driving day starts at 8am. Except 8am looks no different to 4am. It’s pitch dark, and the sky’s still in night mode. First order of business is to switch on seat heating and steering heating, which are saviours here. Our convoy of Audis sets off into the white wilderness, with tall, snow-laden trees forming a corridor on either side.
Our playground is a vast ice track, carved out on a frozen lake. We begin with a basic loop; think an ice speed skating track, but for cars. It’s lined with high snow banks. Get it wrong, and you won’t hurt the car or yourself. ESC is switched off. Go time!
The first lesson is simple: control the car on the throttle. Unsettle it first with the steering. Induce weight transfer and feed in power to rotate. I get the hang of it quickly. The sensation on getting it right is intoxicating. The rooster tail of snow behind you, the car sliding neatly on throttle. You feel like a driving god. For a fleeting moment, I’m convinced I’d cut it as a rally driver.
Track two is called ‘The Snake’ – a flowing ribbon of gentle lefts and rights. A few corners in, and I realise this is trickier. There’s more to process. More to anticipate. The biggest learning here? “Look where you want to go” isn’t just life philosophy but at the very core of driving here. Lock onto the corner exit, and your hands will instinctively guide you there.
Easier said than done when everything is white. Reference points are vague at best. I get it wrong. Again. And again. Looking straight through the corner of the windscreen – sometimes through the side window — doesn’t come naturally. I graze the snow bank occasionally but somehow stay off the instructors’ radar. They’re on the walkie-talkies in overdrive, sounding like teachers managing 20 over-enthusiastic kids on a school trip.
Not everyone has a clean run. My driving partner enters a corner too hot – ironically – and understeers straight into the snow bank. Once you’re in, you’re in. No heroics. No rocking it free. You’re stuck. Then comes the walkie call of shame. The recovery tractor is summoned. We’ve all been issued ‘Tractor Cards’ – stamped each time you need rescuing. The cruel twist? As the passenger, I have to step out into the cold to attach the tow rope, while the guilty driver stays warm inside to steer the car out. Character building, they call it. I return home with a clean tractor card. Finally, a report card to be proud of.
Brake, dance
Between sessions, we retreat to the Kota – a traditional heated wooden hut. Inside, it’s warm, almost cocoon-like. Gloves off. Hot chocolate in hand. Debriefs with instructors. The contrast between the brutal cold outside and the comforting warmth within is dramatic. You feel your fingers thaw. Conversations flow. Lessons sink in. Among our group is a special guest – Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra. He picks it up alarmingly quickly. There’s a focus to him. The competitive fire is unmistakable.
Later in the day, we graduate to a larger, more complex course. Different radii corners. Quicker changes of direction. Now the skill in focus is braking. Shedding speed to point the nose in. Just a tap – any longer, and ABS intervenes, lengthening your stopping distance and sending you sliding wide into the snow bank. It’s a delicate dance – brake to load the front, steer as the nose dips, then squeeze the throttle to let the rear rotate and power out.
My instinct is to play only with the throttle, but on this tighter layout, it leaves me scrambling to line up for the next corner. It’s still fun – sideways is always fun – but I know it’s not clean. Our car is summoned over the radio. “Be gentle. Be precise. Speed comes from smoothness.” Ego hurt, I do get smoother, but it’s not coming together as well as I’d hoped. I need more driving time. You’ll always want more driving time here.
Over the next session, things begin to click. Corners start stitching together. There’s a rhythm. When it flows, it’s grin-inducing fun.
Ice-capades
Day two starts with a recap. Then we’re unleashed on the longest course. Narrower. Trickier. Slipperier. The colder temperatures (it touches a low of -30deg C!) have reduced grip even further. It becomes an intense game of concentration. I’m sweating inside my thermal layers by the end of my first stint. Feedback from the coach is blunt: too much steering, because I’m using too much throttle and too little braking.
I adjust. Brake easy, feel the weight transfer forward, steer as the nose bites, then ease into throttle and feel the rear rotate progressively. The gains are immediate. The car feels settled. Confident. Controlled. You remember when I said I feel like a rally driver earlier? Scratch that. This is when I actually feel like a driving god.
Nailing a series of corners with the car sliding in, perfectly balanced between throttle, brakes and steering, is addictive. Get it right, and it’s poetry in motion. Get it wrong, and you’re either pointing the wrong way or worse, buried in a snow bank. My S5 Avant does bear the brunt of my bravado on one occasion. I clip the rear right tyre on a botched left-hander, and soon, the pressure loss indicator lights up. I’ve picked up a puncture. As it turns out, the soft-looking snow bank is concrete hard ice underneath. I limp back, sheepish. Audi’s service team changes the tyre in biting cold efficiency. I feel guilty watching them work at -30deg C.
The final act is a timed race between participants. I drive over-zealously, spinning once and losing precious time over what was shaping up to be a slick lap. Aargh! I’m not alone though. Many botch up their hot laps, including Neeraj Chopra who has his first Tractor Card entry. Evo India’s Sirish Chandran and YouTuber Gagan Choudhary emerge the fastest drivers.
Must do
As the sun arcs higher in the sky – pale but present – the frozen lake glows faintly golden. It’s still -25deg C. It’s still brutal. But none of that matters.
Driving on ice isn’t just about learning car control. It’s about feeling the physics. About understanding weight transfer viscerally. About recalibrating your senses. It’s thrilling, and some parts therapeutic too.
Bucket list item? Absolutely. Among the highlights of your automotive life? Without question. And the best bit? You can do it. The Audi Driving Experience in Muonio is open to enthusiasts. If you ever get the chance, take it. The Arctic will test you. The ice will humble you. And somewhere between the snow banks and the rooster tails, you’ll discover a version of your driving self you didn’t know existed.
Uday Singh
Saptarshi Mondal
Rivan RS 
Dipan Sur
Saumil Shah
