Audi 2011 Annual Report Download - page 31

with your best friend and not to
Florence with me? Yes, that too. But
even more – and I know you can see
this coming – it’s to do with what
happened to me when I traveled
from Munich to Siena with the Audi
driving experience. This was a trip
that changed a lot of things for me.
It started one normal weekday.
On the Internet, I stumbled upon
the Audi driving experience. I was
fascinated by the prospect of a one-
week journey through Tuscany in an
R8 Spyder. You share a car with a
second driver, taking turns for each
stage. Set out in the morning and
meet up with the other three or four
teams at the hotel in the evening.
So what, do you ask, is enjoyable
about doing mainly one thing for
days on end: driving? “You’re always
complaining about spending too
much time sitting in your car!” Well,
at fi rst I had no answer to that. I’m
really not much of a horsepower
freak, and we have a normal vehicle.
But later, I found out that there’s
that yearning in my soul, too, that
yearning to get behind the wheel of
a car that is impressive in its way.
The trip began one fall day, with
driving instructor Markus Fiechtl-
Kerschner explaining the R8 GT
Spyder, one of a limited edition
of only 333, and one which I was
allowed to take on the tour just
this once. Its ten-cylinder FSI
engine generates 412 kW (560 hp),
accelerating the car from 0 to
100km/h in 3.8 seconds and up
to a top speed of 317km/h. But
Markus – we’re all on fi rst-name
terms – isn’t one to wow you with
fi gures. What he cares about is
handling: The car’s quattro drive is
weighted toward the rear wheels,
so that’s where most of the power
goes when you put your foot down.
So be careful with the gas. Ceramic
brakes and extra-wide tires are there
to bring the Spyder to a stop, so
be careful with the brakes. Put the
transmission into sport mode, and it
will fi ght for every tenth of a second.
Oh, so you think that’s just a lot
of abstract numbers? Well for me,
they held pure promise. I asked
Markus how much an R8 GT Spyder
will sell for. He replied that the
listed price is more than 200,000
euros. And he handed me the key.
My palms were damp.
I knew that the R8 has limited
luggage space, so I packed light,
though I did throw in a memory card
with music – club sounds for highway
driving, classics for country roads.
I let myself slide into the driver’s
seat, buckled up and started the car.
The engine roared, then dropped
back into a gurgling idle. A hoarse
rumble, and the Spyder pushed
forward, weaving into autobahn
traffi c playfully and going with the
fl ow. Just a slight push on the gas,
and it powered forward. A few more
miles, and I knew that I would not
be putting on any music in this car.
What I wanted to listen to was the
symphony coming from the engine
compartment behind me.
Before the trip, I had gone for a few
practice laps at a kart track following
a friend’s recommendation. Claus
Peter said that was the best way to
get acquainted with the handling
and especially a sports car’s direct
steering. And it’s true that this was
one of the key experiences I had,
how precisely the Spyder entered
turns, how it went through them, and
what a thrill it was to accelerate out
of them. But you don’t necessarily
drive a supercar fast; you drive it
intensively, looking for the clean line,
the direct route. I hate to admit it,
Experts confer
“You don’t drive a supercar like this fast, you drive it intensively.”
Markus, an Audi driving
experience instructor,
shows the travel writer
the most beautiful
roads through Tuscany,
including some of the
classic “strade bianche.”
28
_ Experience
Fuel consumption and emission fi gures at the end of the Annual Report