Audi RS experience @ Silverstone

[T-800]

Going down to Silverstone circuit tomorrow, staying overnight then on Wednesday it's finally here ! The RS experience day.....

According to the welcome packs there should be R8, RS4 and TTRS plus........

 

[Kelza]

Very nice sounds awesome :thumbsup:

 

[rjm180]

Would love to be doing this experience.
Have a great time and post up some pics

 

[dbm]

Awesome, have a great day! They will teach some useful skills, too.

 

[45bvtc]

Us too: BLUEY me and RS3copilot...

 

[Av4nt]

need to get me one of these!

 

[45bvtc]

See the thread: "2014 Audi Driving Experience at Silverstone" I posted January 2014

All details were listed and all dates shown - maybe see you next time Av4nt...

 

[MrAudi]

Going down to Silverstone circuit tomorrow, staying overnight then on Wednesday it's finally here ! The RS experience day.....

According to the welcome packs there should be R8, RS4 and TTRS plus........

expect rain,rain & more rain i live not a million miles from silverstone & forecast persistent rainfall week

 

[warren_S5]

Enjoy, they are very good days. One of their teachers (Jochi Kleint) is so skilled at what he does he can monitor your skills and ability from physically watching the cars pitch and then feeding back based on what he sees. He's also very good at helping set up your seat position which I had set way out for optimal driving. Enjoy!

 

[45bvtc]

So you think you're a good driver?

Save, beg, borrow, and/or steal the money to have an Audi Driver Experience day at Silverstone.

PRAY for weather that's as WET as it can possibly be.

Hope that Audi provide a trio of professional German drivers to demonstrate driving skills you can only dream of, and then dream of again...

One of the best days ever, tiring in the extreme, but just brilliant.

What an Audi R8 V10, RS4, and/or TTRS plus, can do with a little tuition and some serious encouragement on a wet/flooded track was/is beyond belief.

Save, beg, borrow, and/or steal the money...

 

[MrAudi]

so you liked it then.......

 

[MB RS3]

So you think you're a good driver?

Save, beg, borrow, and/or steal the money to have an Audi Driver Experience day at Silverstone.

PRAY for weather that's as WET as it can possibly be.

Hope that Audi provide a trio of professional German drivers to demonstrate driving skills you can only dream of, and then dream of again...

One of the best days ever, tiring in the extreme, but just brilliant.

What an Audi R8 V10, RS4, and/or TTRS plus, can do with a little tuition and some serious encouragement on a wet/flooded track was/is beyond belief.

Save, beg, borrow, and/or steal the money...

When's the next one John?!

Sounds like you had an amazing day mate!

 

[45bvtc]

so you liked it then.......

An education... Simply too wonderful to describe and far too much to remember that you've just gotta do it for yourselves...

 

[T-800]

Fantastic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!............

Exactly as John says, you can't comprehend how fantastic these cars/machines are in the wet !

It's better to drive these in the conditions we had today, only then can you experience HOW well they grip the track, the V10 R8 / TTRS were unflappable !!!!!

And the chance to go around the circuit with a instructor driving at the end in the R8, WOW

 

[45bvtc]

Still BUZZZZZZING....

Captions invited but for us it was: "zis is de vey you do it but FASTER!!" "And zee brakes; you av to STAMP!! on ze brakes..." "and dont break my cones..." "or my water bottle", the remains of one by his right-foot...

 

[45bvtc]

And this one's: "OK! Here ve go, keep up please..."

 

[45bvtc]

We, RS3copilot and myself, could not have driven any of these cars harder than we did, and we would have been allowed to...:thumbsup:

If you do go to one of these events the one piece of advice would be to learn to brake HARD!! REALLY HARD!!...

For sure, the capabilities of these cars are far greater than ours...

 

[T-800]

Just looked on Audi website this is the availability for this year

Venue: Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN

Availability:

Tuesday 17th June – Limited Availability
Thursday 19th June – Limited Availability
Friday 18th July - Limited availability
Saturday 19th July
Wednesday 3rd September
Friday 5th Sept - Limited availability
Thursday 23rd October


I think i'll be on another one before the years out !!!

 

[warren_S5]

For sure, the capabilities of these cars are far greater than ours...

Quite humbling aren't they. I used to think I was competent before I went on one of these days! Now I realise I'm safe / average! The understanding of the physics is one thing, but the method is something else.

If I try to drive flat out on track I look way less than calm, these guys have a knack of making it look like they're barely concentrating.

I went up the Goodwood Hill climb with one of these guys a couple of years back. I did my best to keep hold of the camera but it was a lot of fun. He was just laughing and arsing about whilst almost skimming the walls at 125mph!

 

[T-800]

This is waiting to start the slalom run, I kept getting told off for "Turning after zee cone No No !! Turn before zee cone then you have zee straighter line between cones"

Am doing my best mr instructor

 

[T-800]

Also these days aren't half Knackering !!!!

Like a sodding Zombie this morning !!

The concentration while you are driving round and round is immense !

 

[warren_S5]

They say it as if it's the easiest thing in the world!

On an unfamiliar track with inanimate objects flying at you at 3 figure speeds it all gets a bit stressful doesn't it. It can be hard to just let your head follow the instruction as your driving style becomes so pre-programmed over the years.

I get out after an afternoon track daying and my head is fried, you have to think in such a different way it blows my brains out!

 

[T-800]

They say it as if it's the easiest thing in the world!

On an unfamiliar track with inanimate objects flying at you at 3 figure speeds it all gets a bit stressful doesn't it. It can be hard to just let your head follow the instruction as your driving style becomes so pre-programmed over the years.

I get out after an afternoon track daying and my head is fried, you have to think in such a different way it blows my brains out!

Exactly Warren,

One of the "Tasks" Is to Floor it in the RS4 from a standing start, then upon entering a row of cones come off the accelerator (at which point you are doing 65 ish) then steer to the left to avoid some cones (acting as an obstacle) then steer to the right and on to 2 more cones that where the finishing line......

Trying to override your brain and not brake is weird !!! I lost the car on the 2nd attempt with the ESC turned off !!

 

[warren_S5]

I've been on instructed track days at:

SEAT Cupra Championship training 1/2 day @ Prodrive
Mercedes Benz 1/2 day SLS Experience @ Brooklands
Ferrari / Aston experience @ Silverstone
Skids & Skills (Skid pan testing) 1/4 day @ Silverstone
Single Seater Experience @ Silverstone

All of the above ****** my brain in some form or other. By the end of the SLS 1/2 day you've done so many disciplines your brain stops taking instruction effectively and your concentration really starts to lapse at the end which is frightening in a £180k car.

That said 5 laps un-instructed at Nurburgring in mixed conditions left me stripped out beyond all recognition. God that place make you think hard!

 

[MB RS3]

Just looked on Audi website this is the availability for this year

Venue: Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN

Availability:

Tuesday 17th June – Limited Availability
Thursday 19th June – Limited Availability
Friday 18th July - Limited availability
Saturday 19th July
Wednesday 3rd September
Friday 5th Sept - Limited availability
Thursday 23rd October


I think i'll be on another one before the years out !!!

Think I'm going to have to try one of these days this year too! Sounds like great fun!

 

[45bvtc]

ANYONE thinking of doing this for the first time needs to think about these few points of advice from Steve Deeks at the Audi Experience; Steve tells you this at the very beginning but it's only 2-days later that you begin to fully understand:

"Have you got the right line?

Are you in the right gear?

Have you looked through the corner?

Have you worked out where the apex is?

Do you know where your braking zone is?

All of this has to be sorted out before you even stamp on the brakes."

10-minutes later your in a car you've never even sat in before, an Audi R8 V10, and your just one in a group of six Audi R8 V10s - ALL carrying R8 V10 driver/co-driver/passenger virgins; and the track is flooded with more wet coming down, and your right foot is buried in the carpet, and the first, second, and third corners are arriving very, very, quickly; and there's a manic German (Jochi Kleint, a professional World Rally Championship driver - but we didn't know that then) in the lead Audi R8 V10 saying "please try to keep up"

Still BUZZING with this... What a day!

 

[warren_S5]

Jochi Kleint, (a professional World Rally driver - but we didn't know that then) in the lead Audi R8 V10 saying "please try to keep up"

He's quite a character isn't he! At Goodwood he did my hill climb run and some 'bod' who had won Le Mans ran my wife up the road! Jochi used to drive Opels back in the day, but moved to Audi some time ago for the instructor led training days.

If you ever get the chance go to Goodwood on Moving Motorshow Thursday; in the past you show your Audi keys and can book for a great experience being thrashed up the hill climb in the latest high performance Audi by one of these guys. Makes a race track seem like a 6 lane highway!

 

[45bvtc]

He's quite a character isn't he!

Much more than that...



I'm trying to find more of the two other German maestros

 

[T-800]

Interesting about what the instructor said in the briefing about not over using Launch control due to the stresses place upon certain drivetrain components.........

 

[warren_S5]

Interesting about what the instructor said in the briefing about not over using Launch control due to the stresses place upon certain drivetrain components.........

Resonates with the 200 max launches theory! They must know something they don't want to tell Joe Public! At least the journo cars can get a quiet rebuild every now and again, whereas Joe Public buys on the perception of the power / speed etc. not fully understanding there is a caveat!

 

[dbm]

I don't think it's a shock that using something to 100% of its capability regularly will wear it out faster than only using 90%...

Mechanical sympathy is a useful thing to cultivate in my experience.

 

[warren_S5]

I don't think it's a shock that using something to 100% of its capability regularly will wear it out faster than only using 90%...

Mechanical sympathy is a useful thing to cultivate in my experience.

I don't think it's a shock either, I just think they should be more open with the public (in the manual) that it's limited to 200 uses. I've never used it yet, and haven't really felt the compulsion to do so, but there are many who do and were none the wiser when the allocation ran dry. If they're going to offer it as a saleable option it should have info in the manual it has limited uses.

 

[45bvtc]

Interesting about what the instructor said in the briefing about not over using Launch control due to the stresses place upon certain drivetrain components.........

I've NEVER felt the need...

 

[T-800]

Couldn't do it in the R8 anyway as it was chattering its tits off just trying to floor it.........

 

[dbm]

I don't think it's a shock either, I just think they should be more open with the public (in the manual) that it's limited to 200 uses. I've never used it yet, and haven't really felt the compulsion to do so, but there are many who do and were none the wiser when the allocation ran dry. If they're going to offer it as a saleable option it should have info in the manual it has limited uses.

Has anyone anywhere experienced launch stopping after 200 uses? Until someone has, it's just speculation on the internet.

 

[45bvtc]

Couldn't do it in the R8 anyway as it was chattering its tits off just trying to floor it.........

You too Sean... Why was that?

I just couldn't get our R8 V10 to GRIP on that WET surface while booting it away from that standing-start toward the HARD brake and lane change and/or into the next door neighbour's garage: mine was CHATTERING its BUTT off for 20-yards and more before FULL grip was gained. BLUEY would have been up and gone...

GREAT cars the R8 and RS4 may be, but the RS3 is one hell of a piece for UK roads - and that's the one for me...

 

[warren_S5]

Has anyone anywhere experienced launch stopping after 200 uses? Until someone has, it's just speculation on the internet.

Launch control stopped working - Page 2

 

[dbm]

Launch control stopped working - Page 2

Hmm. You live and learn.

 

[warren_S5]

It's still on the internet but it seems feasible. The people I feel most for are those who buy a second hand car thinking they have launch control and the first users used it all up! Would make for an interesting chat going back to the dealers. Also shows audi are keeping an ongoing check on usage.

 

[elton121272]

Has anyone anywhere experienced launch stopping after 200 uses? Until someone has, it's just speculation on the internet.

When i was enquiring about a TTRS+ purchase some months ago - before my 2nd RS3 purchase, my local dealer told me launch mode was only for track use and was not for every day road use - I then asked him what the difference was to Audi (or him, as he also told me he had been on a recent course in Germany!) and he said that the ECU at service time would indicate misuse and potentially invalidate the warranty.....at this point I realised i should consider an approved independent garage in future for my servicing, and not because this guy was in servicing - because he wasn't (surprisingly), he was in customer service (or more specifically sales) but on the main because he was full of sh@t...... The funny thing was about 4 weeks later i was in the changing room in the gym i have trained in for 20 years and I noticed this same young wiper snapper guy give his chat about his love for Audi, and that same day, later in the sauna, he really bummed his chat - pardon the pun - saying that the launch control in the RS models was breathtaking to his surroundings. At this point, remembering he was only willing to offer me £500 off that carbon RS+ which was £51k, and that I wanted to fry his ******** or more so cut them off at that time, or even rip him a second launch hole of his own, I remember asking him "how good is launch control and was it limited" - he answered along the lines of awesome, unlimited and once you start you can't stop - at least I can testify to this part of his commentary and can officially confirm launch control has been extended to 514 starts!

To be fair though, he did tell me that the new RS3 prototype was already experiencing brake squeal ;-)