Barcelona Audi RS4 Driving Experience

My inner child has always wondered what life would be like if I were a Deutschen Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) Audi RS4 driver, like Mattias Ekstrom. How could I fulfill this dream when the holodeck won't be invented for another 250 years? Fortunately, I found a way to satisfy my dream in the current century: The 2006 Barcelona Audi RS4 Driving Experience. Instead of letting my inner child continuously wonder, I decided to make this dream a reality even for a brief moment.

The Circuit

This event is taking place at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, the home of Formula 1 racing. Skills, technologies, teamwork, and physical endurance are battle tested at this very challenging and technical circuit. Winners are born here every year. This circuit has all the challenging features one can expect from any famous international raceways; long and short straight stretches, chicane, switchbacks, decreasing radius turns, sweeping half circle turns, and hairpin turns with elevation changes throughout the circuit.

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I am sitting in my silver RS4 waiting in queue in the pit area for my turn to go on the track solo. In front of me there are 9 other RS4´s, 4 in Daytona Gray Pearl Effect , 3 in Missano Red Pearl Effect, and 2 in Avus Silver Pearl Effect. Sepp Haider - first place champion of OSK Rallye Cup, German Rallye, and New Zealand Rallye - is releasing each car every 10 seconds. Finally, it is my turn. Sepp waves the checkered flag for me. I put the car on the first gear and, almost forgetting, I quickly press the S button on the F-1 style steering wheel, before I release the clutch.
The bolster seat closes up to give me more support for the upcoming high G-force turns, the burble of the engine exhaust gets louder as the car releases its inhibition and makes all mighty raw 420 hp and 317 lb-ft of torque available to me. My body is pressed against the Recaro bucket sport seat as I am accelerating effortlessly the second I leave the pit area to 90 mph in no time. Shifting to second and third gears, I savor every second of this exhilarating launch; the moment I have been waiting eagerly since I arrived in Barcelona two days ago.

Hotel Arts

On the arrival day, I was greeted by Alexandra Hase, our host for this event, at the Ritz Carlton´s Hotel Arts in Villa Olimpia neighborhood. She has been working for Audi Driving Experience for 10 years. If there were a six star hotel rating, this hotel would qualify for such. Unlike most Ritz´s properties, Hotel Arts has a very modern open and spacious architecture and soothing design filled with modern dark colored furniture. This property can easily be mistaken for a Four Seasons´property judging from its architecture and design.

My corner room has control panels that host more buttons than the RS4 cockpit to operate the settings of the lighting in the different sections of the room to any mood I desire, the automatic window blinds that covers the panoramic double-pane noise-reduction glass windows, the Bang & Olufsen LCD TV, CD, and Radio, and the room weather system. And of course there is one special button to call the room service for any needs you can imagine. The bathroom is as big as the $300K studio condo in San Francisco. Audi really knows how to pamper its customers.
This hotel is located at Villa Olimpia, one of the athlete villages built for the 1992 Olympic game. This location is also the most sought after beach in Barcelona. It has wide long beaches with cheerful and colorful seafront. There are many aromatic seafood restaurants, bars with live music, and discos. And the parties start at midnight and go on till the city cleaning crews arrive at dawn.

Quattro Weather

After two laps pushing the limits of my driving skill, I am able to comfortably follow the suggested best line for this circuit cleanly. I am reaching 140 mph on the longest straight stretch in front of the main podium and pit before it is time to slow down for the chicane. All of the sudden as I am passing the finish line at this high speed, the gray clouds that have been hovering above the circuit on and off through out the day release their omnipotent force dropping giant droplets of water. At first, I am glad that my wish to have the Quattro weather for this last day of the Audi Driving Experience has been granted by the mother nature. But then, the second realization comes to mind. I quickly perform the mental and brain calculation on how much I should slow down to enter the fast approaching and very wet chicane.

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As I am doing this, the rain pours harder, pounding the black asphalt. The water gushes down steady and thick from the now black clouds. When I see the giant water droplets pockmarking the sheet of water on the asphalt like pebbles, I know I am way too fast to come into the chicane. The black markings on the guard rails and the walls at the end of this long straight stretch remind me of the near death experiences that have occurred here. Our instructors who monitor us from strategic places along the circuit are telling us to slow the pace through the two-way radios installed on all cars. As a matter of fact, they have been reminding us to slow the pace down and take extra pre-caution since this morning semi-wet lead-and-follow exercises. Now, their words mean a lot more to me than ever!

I apply the 8-piston cross-drilled Brembo brake as smoothly as I can, simultaneously downshifting from 5th to 4th and then to 3rd leveraging as much engine braking as possible, to prevent the car, actually my driving, from getting nervous. The automatic drying function on the Brembo system is definitely a big welcomed help. Even the 19-inch 255/35 Pirelli PZero has its limit when it comes to dealing with a sheet of water at this very high speed. My mind drifts to the memorable dinner scene in which Altfrid Heger - first place champion of 24 hour Nurburgring, Sandown Parc, Alpine Europapokal, DTM, Spa-Francorchamps, Tourenwagen Grand Prix Macau, Porsche Carrera Cup, and Grand Prix Magny-Cuors - and I were having discussion about the importance of smooth braking and steering to maintain the precise line in all conditions.

Tapas

Experiencing Barcelona would not be complete without going for Tapas. Audi took us to the emblematic Catalan cuisine restaurant Can Travi Nou. The restaurant host seated us, the Audi group, in a rustic, charming, and inviting dining room with an antique cabinet filled with china and bottles of spiced olive oil on one side, and barn-size wooden-frame glass doors on the opposite side. The doors were open and we could feel the Barcelona balmy and crisp air. Just outside the doors was the ambrosial green terrace with ornate stone tiles. The terrace overlooked the hill with houses perching on its steep sides. The lights from the houses made the hill look like a majestic lit-xmas tree.

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The Tapas from this place woke us up as we were exhausted for the track exercises. The mouth-watering taste and aroma came from the pan of the true master; the iron chef. The menu included what I considered exotic dishes; oven baked snails, black rice with cuttlefish, squid, and squid ink, and saute Ganxet white beans, broccoli, cabbage, and Morcilla (pig´s blood). For the brave hearts, the tastes of these foreign dishes were unearthing discoveries.

Even the simpler Tapas from this place were heavenly. The grilled fresh vegetables, and the toasted country bread with tomato dribbled in spiced olive oil tasted ridiculously fresh and healthy. The friendly, attentive, and humorous waiters and waitresses added to the list of many little things that made this place an unforgettable Audi dining experience. After this wonderful and heavenly dining experience, Audi took us on the Barcelona night city tour.

Barcelona Old Town

There are places that make you forget about home. There places where you get to know strangers more than you know most of your friends. There are places that make you fall in love with the people, the food, the architecture, and the culture. Barcelona is one of these places. Like first love, you want to experience it over and over again.

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It is almost impossible to get tired of the Spanish architecture with the incredible details of stone carvings and statues, intricate hand carved panellings, and antique furnishing. Almost all Spanish buildings have balconies adorned with vibrant red, yellow, purple flower arrangements. The city´s colors are brown and gray, the colors of stone bricks that make up the structure. Apple green, peach orange, cherry red, and grape blue colors are often used on doors, wooden window covers, window or door frames bringing zestful contrast to and accentuating the already delightful two century-old Barri Gothic neighborhood.

The collection of Gaudi´s buildings around town gives me the impression that Barcelona is a giant outdoor open museum. The sight of the Gaudi´s Sagrado Familia in Barcelona at night is out of this world. No words can describe it. Looking at it, I wondered whether I had been teleported to a civilization distant from the earth´s solar system. But I didn´t recall that our bus had gone through a stargate. This site alone makes Barcelona an obligatory visit in Spain.

Even late at nights, every Cafe, from Tapas bars to Sushi bars, brims with conversations. Many tourists take refuge from all day urban hiking, exploring the nooks and crannies of Barcelona. The streets and alleys are merging at plazas from many different angled directions like synapses connecting neurons. Looking at Barcelona old town map is like looking at many spider webs connected with one another. Finding a place here is like treasure hunting; mysterious, exciting, and full of hope of discovering the magical places and moments.

Chicane

The ABS clicking sound snaps me back from my brief trip in the memory lane. I am now hydroplaning towards the end of the runway. I have to turn now smoothly if I want to not miss the first apex. But I know I am too fast for any smooth turning and I am having images in my head of the car plowing through the gravel zone and scrapping the barrier because of understeer. Then, I remember the lesson from the previous day on how to induce oversteer on a all wheel-drive car. That´s the only safe option I can think of at this adrenaline pumping moment. And I hope that the ESP will help me correcting the oversteer.

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I induce the oversteer. The Recaro sport bucket seat communicates the back drift to my spine. The ESP version 8 kicks in immediately and I can hear the clicking sound from four corners of the car at different times. At this time, I am off the accelerator, I press the clutch to prevent any power going to any wheels. I only focus on the steering and the two apexes in front of me.

I miss the first apex by about three tire contact patches, but I am relieved that the images of the car plowing into the gravel zone don´t materialize. Then, it is time for me to change direction to get to the second apex which is only three car length distance from the first apex. I continually hear the clicking of the ESP aiding me to maintain my line. I hit the second apex almost perfectly, and now it is time to accelerate again before I enter the sweeping, large-radius half circle turn.

Since it is very wet, and I am still trying to slow my heartbeat down from the acrobatic act, and I don´t want to come into the next turn too hot again, I apply the accelerator half as much as I would have in dry condition. The 60/40 (rear/front) Quattro silently works its magic behind the scene to put the right amount of power on each wheel. The 4.2 V8 FSI burbles confidently. The sonorous and refined throaty sound announces how much power the engine has effortlessly applied to the wheels and how much more Herculean power I can have whenever I wish it without requiring me to look at the tachometer.

After these adrenaline pumping maneuvers, I adjust my speed for this very slippery condition so that I can have my best line through the circuit. After two more laps through the long and short straight stretches, chicane, switchbacks, decreasing radius turns, sweeping half circle turns, and hairpin turns with elevation changes I gain more confident driving in this Quattro weather.

Going through switchbacks and hairpins is a very sublime experience. The Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) expands the outside suspensions and contracts the inside suspensions to keep the car level, tight, and confident in going through the abrupt changes in momentum.

The rain has not let up. I progressively increase my speed and pull back slightly when I stray of my line. I learn from Audi Driving Experience that getting the fastest lap time is not about having the most power or being the most aggressive. It is about Zen, patient, balance, and smoothness. And of course never forgetting the laws of physics as no one on earth can defy them, just yet.

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The Company

We all come from many different background, but yet we feel that our passion for driving and Audi cars brought us together. The students are from America (California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Colorado), Puerto Rico, and Latvia. The seasoned instructors (Altfrid Heger, Sepp Haider, Markus Fiechtl-Kerschner), the hard-working and caring mechanics (Alexander Heel, Helmut Schalk), and the attentive host (Alexandra Hase) are from Germany and Austria.

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We bond over the thrilling, electrifying, and gripping track exercises and track times, lively exciting lunch conversations, delicious and heavenly dinners, and relaxing drinks at the Gaucho hotel bar. Even the bar crews remember our individual favorite drink orders.

We discuss and ponder about the optimum speed to enter the chicane and the hairpins, the maximum speed in the sweeping turns, the switchbacks, the straight stretches, the brake timing, memorable personal past Audi-related experiences, various driving schools, diesel and bio diesel technologies, favorite food and drinks, favorite vacation spots, pet peeves, and many other random topics.

Despite the short time we have together, our same passion brings us so close that many of us are making plans to meet again at other Audi Driving Experience events (Finland, Sweden, and Nurburgring), as well as to visit each other in different countries!

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5.2 V10 S8 Rides

Markus Fiechtl-Kerschner, the humorous, cheerful Audi instructor, takes some of us on the new V10 S8 around the track for the ride of a lifetime. He has been an Audi Driving Experience instructor for 12 years. I took an earlier opportunity to ride with Altfrid on the S8 instructor´s car when it was my co-driver´s time to be on the RS4 during the lead-and-follow exercises.

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While it was easy to accept the nimbleness, the agility, the precision, and the swiftness of the smaller RS4, my mind had trouble believing the experience I had while Altfrid was piloting the S8 on the circuit as if it were a LeMans LP1 car! The size, the luxurious styling, and the spacious interior deceive you; hiding the true strength and talent of this car. Deep under the pretty and glamorous skin, the true soul of the historical record-breaking LeMans LP1 R8 is alive and kicking!

The 5.2 V10 FSI doesn´t really care about the elevation changes. It makes the cicrcuit as flat as the Arizona dessert. Once Altfrid put the tiptronic in the S mode and catapulted the car as he was reliving his glorious championship days, I forgot about the MMI, the magnetic automatic suspension, the smart dual climate system, the perimeter lighting timer, the continuous tire pressure monitor, the seat memory, the Virgin Atlantic business class leg room, proximity keyless entry system, finger print start/stop button, the automatic sun shades, the Boeing 787 ambient lighting, and all other features that an oil sheik would want.

All of the above went away because the car accelerated like a frictionless magnetic bullet train. It griped the road while cornering like a Cheetah racing and closing in on its prey. Was I hallucinating? But I hadn´t had Coca leaves since I left Cusco, Peru a month ago. I finally buckled and accepted the mind-boggling and extraordinary S8 experience.

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Till We Meet Again

I will remember the Barcelona RS4 Audi Driving Experience not only for its intoxicating and exhilarating track times, but also for the people I encountered, the places we visited and stayed, the food and culture I experienced. I joined this event to simulate the life of a DTM driver. Instead, through the Audi Driving Experience, I found the reality of genuine, fun, learning, social, and cultural experiences. It is also a lot more cost effective than the cryogenic procedure to preserve my body till 2256 for the holodeck experience.