Audi Range Drive

There’s a crackling noise coming from the front armrest. The two-way radio stuffed in there lets out a series of instructions, “Stay slightly towards your right and keep on accelerating until you’ve hit the braking point.” Few seconds later it goes live again, “Okay, now gently steer towards the edge of the track and line-up behind the other cars. Good job!”

I’m behind the wheel of a sneaky Audi RS6, having maxed it across most of the 2.1 km long runway at the Hosur Aerodrome. Thankfully, the patchy drizzle that seemed to beckon the previous night has cleared for the day and it’s all looking good. Sure it’s fun and yes, the grin on my face is as wide as those wildly flared wheel arches on the wagon but the reason we are here at this private airfield is to get a brief taste of Audi India’s entire product range.

Our day began with a brief overview of the experience that would lead us to drive not just on a fancy airfield but also across a scenic route nearby and over a simulated off-road course.

With the safety briefing over and all our doubts cleared, we were quickly summoned to the long and empty stretch of tarmac, one that’s wide enough to handle Boeing B737s and Airbus A 320s.

On arrival we were greeted by Audi India’s entire fleet, and some. A4, A8, RS6, Q7, TT… you name it it was there. Oh, about that pointy looking thing in the foreground, that’s the second-gen R8 V10 Plus.

Here’s the RS and S range of cars. Fun fact: the first four cars alone (a pair of RS6 and RS7) produce in excess of 2,500 horsepower and probably enough torque to reverse the Earth’s rotation.

Our first exercise of the day is pretty straightforward i.e. getting from one end of the runway to the other as fast as we dare and our weapons of choice are the RS6 and the S5. Sounds simple? It’s not. Firstly, the runway is not truly empty as it’s littered with cones at places and there are acceleration and braking points with a few marshals around them. Secondly, the crucial thing with these high power cars is that they require a huge deal of concentration and energy on the driver’s part. I gave it all way before approaching the acceleration point and kept the pedal to the floor, with the RS6’s electronic brain controlling all of the car’s stability systems to keep my line straight and true throughout the run.

Time to repeat the same run in the less potent but glorious sounding S5. Whereas the big and heavy RS6 is a complete assault on your senses as it puts down a relentless surge of power in every gear, the S5 is much more docile and easy to go fast in. Switch to the S5 right after you’ve had a go in the RS6 and you can immediately feel it doesn’t have as much weight in front of it. Naturally, the S5 was nowhere as quick as the RS6 by the time we hit the braking point, though it certainly made a better noise, if I may say so.

Next up was a brief scenic drive that would see us go through the Hosur-Thally road up until the frankly beautiful Thally lake. This stretch of tarmac that runs near the Tamil Nadu border is surrounded by dense greenery and if you don’t have somebody driving on your bumper like I did, it’s worthwhile to slow down and take it in.

While the A6 may not feel like the ideal choice for this narrow road, it was actually pretty fun to punt through the corners. The firmer setting on the air suspension and the quick-shifting DSG gearbox made this big and heavy luxury sedan somewhat enjoyable to barrel through at speed.

Leading here are the A8 and the A6 equipped with Audi’s matrix headlights while the A4 and the A3 round up the back.

The next phase of the day included some serious axle bending over an off-road course. Now although off-roading is a fairly popular sport here in India, owners of SUVs costing upwards of Rs 35-40 lakh usually refrain themselves from getting their cars dirty…

…but as we looked at this rather dusty Q5 going down a steep slope with one wheel in the air, we realised the scale of obstacles that lay ahead.

Despite its mahoosive proportions, the Q7 fared the best thanks to its adjustable ride height and the Quattro all-wheel drive system. The smaller Q5 and the Q3 also get Quattro but it’s the Q7 that defied its massive girth and cleared all the obstacles with ease.

Taking on the 35-degree slope laterally was definitely the highlight of this exercise. As luck would have it, I wound up in the least off-roady Q vehicle of the lot – the Q3. So what it’s merely a jacked-up hatchback made to look like an SUV, the Q3 still cuts it. Thanks to all-wheel drive and the relatively low centre of gravity, the Q3 went around the banked pile of solid mud without breaking a sweat.

However, the same cannot be said for my co-driver who had a pretty close view of the grass and mud on the embankment.

Post lunch, we headed out to the track for one last time. After being in the RS6 and the S5 over the same surface, it was time to jump into the R8 V10 Plus for a one-way blast down the runway.

Having admired it all day long as we went about our work at the track, I was more than chuffed to get behind the wheel and press on the flaming red starter button. However, since we had extremely limited time with the R8, I quickly dialled it in and set everything (including gearbox, exhaust and dampers) on auto to let the electronics slingshot me off the line.

Despite its face-ripping grunt, the R8 gets off the mark in a remarkably composed manner. There’s no squirming of the tail and virtually no wheel spin either as the Quattro clever splits power between the front and rear axles.

Few seconds into the run, I’m well past the acceleration point with the R8 pulling just as hard. Needless to say, the car is reeling in the horizon quicker than ever and soon enough, I found myself at the serious end of 270kmph.

The R8 V10 Plus, then, is noticeably quicker than the next most powerful car here, the RS6. But if I had to pick one, it's got to be the RS6 simply because it serves up a delightful balance between raw power and practicality. It’s a shame our press hand-outs didn’t include a key to an RS6.