Powerful, fast and reassuringly composed, the Audi R8 V10 was great fun to drive at BIC
Back
in 2012, I had a chance to participate in the ‘Audi Sportscar Experience,’
hosted by Audi India at the Buddh International Circuit. This was basically an
hour spent hooning around India’s only F1 circuit – what more could one
possibly ask for! Here is the article I wrote back then, for Man’s World magazine.
‘Car number 3, you’ve turned in too early again. Don’t look down, look through the corner,’ the radio cackled, as the Audi instructor’s voice made it clear he wasn’t too happy with my driving. ‘Use all the circuit, don’t shortchange yourself while coming out corners. Anyone can press the throttle and go fast – this is not just about speed, it’s about control, it’s about finding the right lines,’ he thundered again, even as I struggled to match his pace around the 5.14km long Buddh International Circuit.
No, I hadn’t suddenly decided that I wanted to be a racing driver. I was at BIC at Audi’s invitation to be a part of their new Sportscar Experience (ASE), a programme designed for driving enthusiasts that lets them experience the sheer adrenaline rush of driving a high-performance supercar – the 525-horsepower Audi R8 V10 – around the spectacularly fast and challenging BIC. Of course, like the Audi instructor kept reminding me, the programme is not just about jumping into a car and flooring the throttle. It’s about learning from Audi’s expert instructors, understanding the intricacies of handling, steering, braking and cornering and ultimately becoming a better, faster, more skilled driver.
I’ll freely admit I’m not very good at driving around a racing circuit. With my short attention span and lack of concentration, my driving can be a bit erratic, which means I’m fast and focused at times (or so I’d like to think!) and meandering all over the place the minute I lose focus. I suspect a lot of other drivers might also be a bit like me, and like me, they would probably benefit from the expert instruction available at the ASE. My ‘class’ consisted of doing 10 laps around the circuit in an R8 V10, following the instructor’s car, with him providing useful instruction and feedback on the radio. At the end of it, I guess I knew a bit more than what I started with, about driving a car quickly around a racetrack. I was beginning to learn to pay more attention to my braking points, turning in at higher speeds with more control, finding the apex and powering out of fast bends, using every inch of the tarmac available. Yes, I’d happily vouch for the ASE’s effectiveness – it might not suddenly turn you into a driving God, but it will certainly help you understand your weaknesses and help you overcome those, making you a better – and hopefully faster – driver in the process.
Additional Notes:
The Car: Audi R8 V10
One of the best things about the ASE is that the car used is Audi’s top-of-the-line supercar, the dramatically good looking and very powerful R8 V10 5.2 FSI Quattro. With its 525bhp normally aspirated 5.2-litre V10, the R8 accelerates from zero to 100kph in 3.9 seconds and can hit a top speed of 315kph. Its 6-speed R-tronic gearbox can either be left in fully-automatic mode or, if you wish, you can shift gears yourself via paddle shifters mounted behind the steering wheel.
The Audi R8 V10 is equipped with Quattro all-wheel-drive which probably makes it a bit safer because of the additional mechanical grip available at all four wheels. The Quattro drivetrain also makes the R8’s handling a bit more predictable than what you’d find on comparable rear-wheel-drive supercars. That said, the R8 is a very high performance machine that demands finesse and requires some learning before you can get the best out of it.
Despite its high-performance intent though, the R8 V10 is also actually a practical, comfortable car that you can use everyday. It rides on handsome 19-inch alloys, has generous seating for two, some luggage space, and bits like LED headlamps, fine leather upholstery and a high-end Bang & Olufsen sound system. And at up to 8kpl, even the fuel economy is not too bad, though you can expect that to drop to around 4kpl once you start driving the car flat out. What a car!
The Track: Buddh International Circuit
Situated near Greater Noida, about 40km from New Delhi, the Buddh International Circuit – which hosted the inaugural Formula 1 Grand Prix of India in November last year – really is quite a spectacular place. It’s a deceptively fast circuit and the first time you drive there, you’ll probably struggle to ‘learn’ all of its 16 corners, some of which are tricky. BIC is a 5.14km circuit which has a 1.1km long back straight, on which supercars like the Audi R8 V10 can hit speeds of up to 280kph.
Driving around a racetrack is being in a different world from driving on the street. On the track, with no oncoming traffic and huge run-off areas, you can learn to push harder in a relatively safe environment. You also learn what you and your car are truly capable of, as you get to explore the outer limits of the car’s capability and your own talent. You learn to brake harder, you learn to figure out the quickest line through corners, you learn to modulate the throttle and steering and, perhaps most important of all, you learn to build confidence in your abilities as a driver.
In addition to track days and driving schools hosted by various car manufacturers, BIC also conducts its own track days from time to time, where individuals can bring their own cars and motorcycles and experience the sheer thrill of going flat-out on a world class racing circuit.
‘Car number 3, you’ve turned in too early again. Don’t look down, look through the corner,’ the radio cackled, as the Audi instructor’s voice made it clear he wasn’t too happy with my driving. ‘Use all the circuit, don’t shortchange yourself while coming out corners. Anyone can press the throttle and go fast – this is not just about speed, it’s about control, it’s about finding the right lines,’ he thundered again, even as I struggled to match his pace around the 5.14km long Buddh International Circuit.
No, I hadn’t suddenly decided that I wanted to be a racing driver. I was at BIC at Audi’s invitation to be a part of their new Sportscar Experience (ASE), a programme designed for driving enthusiasts that lets them experience the sheer adrenaline rush of driving a high-performance supercar – the 525-horsepower Audi R8 V10 – around the spectacularly fast and challenging BIC. Of course, like the Audi instructor kept reminding me, the programme is not just about jumping into a car and flooring the throttle. It’s about learning from Audi’s expert instructors, understanding the intricacies of handling, steering, braking and cornering and ultimately becoming a better, faster, more skilled driver.
I’ll freely admit I’m not very good at driving around a racing circuit. With my short attention span and lack of concentration, my driving can be a bit erratic, which means I’m fast and focused at times (or so I’d like to think!) and meandering all over the place the minute I lose focus. I suspect a lot of other drivers might also be a bit like me, and like me, they would probably benefit from the expert instruction available at the ASE. My ‘class’ consisted of doing 10 laps around the circuit in an R8 V10, following the instructor’s car, with him providing useful instruction and feedback on the radio. At the end of it, I guess I knew a bit more than what I started with, about driving a car quickly around a racetrack. I was beginning to learn to pay more attention to my braking points, turning in at higher speeds with more control, finding the apex and powering out of fast bends, using every inch of the tarmac available. Yes, I’d happily vouch for the ASE’s effectiveness – it might not suddenly turn you into a driving God, but it will certainly help you understand your weaknesses and help you overcome those, making you a better – and hopefully faster – driver in the process.
Additional Notes:
The Car: Audi R8 V10
One of the best things about the ASE is that the car used is Audi’s top-of-the-line supercar, the dramatically good looking and very powerful R8 V10 5.2 FSI Quattro. With its 525bhp normally aspirated 5.2-litre V10, the R8 accelerates from zero to 100kph in 3.9 seconds and can hit a top speed of 315kph. Its 6-speed R-tronic gearbox can either be left in fully-automatic mode or, if you wish, you can shift gears yourself via paddle shifters mounted behind the steering wheel.
The Audi R8 V10 is equipped with Quattro all-wheel-drive which probably makes it a bit safer because of the additional mechanical grip available at all four wheels. The Quattro drivetrain also makes the R8’s handling a bit more predictable than what you’d find on comparable rear-wheel-drive supercars. That said, the R8 is a very high performance machine that demands finesse and requires some learning before you can get the best out of it.
Despite its high-performance intent though, the R8 V10 is also actually a practical, comfortable car that you can use everyday. It rides on handsome 19-inch alloys, has generous seating for two, some luggage space, and bits like LED headlamps, fine leather upholstery and a high-end Bang & Olufsen sound system. And at up to 8kpl, even the fuel economy is not too bad, though you can expect that to drop to around 4kpl once you start driving the car flat out. What a car!
The Track: Buddh International Circuit
Situated near Greater Noida, about 40km from New Delhi, the Buddh International Circuit – which hosted the inaugural Formula 1 Grand Prix of India in November last year – really is quite a spectacular place. It’s a deceptively fast circuit and the first time you drive there, you’ll probably struggle to ‘learn’ all of its 16 corners, some of which are tricky. BIC is a 5.14km circuit which has a 1.1km long back straight, on which supercars like the Audi R8 V10 can hit speeds of up to 280kph.
Driving around a racetrack is being in a different world from driving on the street. On the track, with no oncoming traffic and huge run-off areas, you can learn to push harder in a relatively safe environment. You also learn what you and your car are truly capable of, as you get to explore the outer limits of the car’s capability and your own talent. You learn to brake harder, you learn to figure out the quickest line through corners, you learn to modulate the throttle and steering and, perhaps most important of all, you learn to build confidence in your abilities as a driver.
In addition to track days and driving schools hosted by various car manufacturers, BIC also conducts its own track days from time to time, where individuals can bring their own cars and motorcycles and experience the sheer thrill of going flat-out on a world class racing circuit.
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