The way to the track

First week into the job and I was given a day out! No-that does not translate into a ‘day off’. My colleague Omkar Thakur and I were sent to an off road event- the Q drive, that was organised by Audi Mumbai at The Westin, Goregaon, on October 12. The Q-Drive was to demonstrate the capabilities of Audi's SUV range to existing and prospective customers.

Needless to say I was excited, as it was my first such trip. Omkar and I made it to the venue by 12.10pm for the second round of visitors to the event. Greeting us at the entrance to the Westin’s lobby stood five gleaming Audis, being prepped for round two. Their very sight itself made me impatient and I was waiting for the time I would be seated in one of them. I say seated because, Omkar was going to be driving one of these beauties and it seems he had already made a choice – the Audi Q7.

After the required registration formalities we were ushered into a hall for a small talk. Around 15 of us were going to be part of round two.After a little introduction to Audi’s presence in Mumbai, we were informed about the line-up for the day. We were going to be driving Audi’s Autumn collection which included the Audi Q3, Q5 and Q7. Audi had prepared an off roading track for the benefit of the drivers so that they could feel the vehicles at their best. Two national champions, in off-roading we presume, were going to be our guides for the event.

Prior to getting to the main subject, they gave us a small informative presentation; on how a driver should sit behind the steering the wheel, a brief about the Quattro drive - the technology found in all the Audi cars mentioned here and the benefits of it.

Following this we were asked to get into the cars and led in a convoy to the track at Film City. Till now the gods had been kind to us and it was clear skies all the way, but as we set foot into the waiting cars, heaven’s floodgates opened.

The chauffeur-driven convoy of seven cars made its way out of The Westin like a group of school children on a day out under the guidance of their teachers. We were seated in a white Audi Q3. Twice during our brief drive to the track the convoy had to stop for the last car to catch up.

By now it was pouring buckets and Omkar decided to make the most of the opportunity and began clicking pictures of the convoy and the car in general. While he was busy in his artistic pursuits, I took a good look around the Q3. With the rain outside and the panoramic sunroof over my head, I almost felt as if I were travelling in a glass box.

Ready to go

At Film City, as any curious newbie in Mumbai, I was craning my neck to see if I could get a glimpse of an actor or two out and about their daily work. Unfortunately, with the rain falling in torrents, I had to be satisfied with just travelling on the roads of Film City. We stopped few metres before the track while the lead car went ahead to take a recce of the area. Shutter-happy Omkar was still busy experimenting with the camera lens. After what seemed like an eternity and few songs of Ryan Seacrest’s playlist on the radio, we got the go ahead.

The track, as we had been told had been a dry one, but the change in weather could play spoilsport. Once we entered the track area, we were surprised to see what was in store for us. There was an incline into a trench, then a steeply banked climb to a boulder patch, articulated troughs and a water wading section. To sum it up, it was a great track. However, now with the rains, the ground had turned slushy and muddy.

The exercise began after we had a change of drivers. Omkar decided to see how the first round faired and opted to go second. Meanwhile, camera in hand he made a dash for the umbrella man standing at the beginning of the track, wanting to be part of the action.

It’s a good thing the rain did not dampen our spirits and if anyone had any apprehensions, they were being discussed in hushed tones. While the cars lined up at the entrance to the track, a few youngsters happy to be given the wheel of an Audi Q3 started playing twist and turn with it at the instructions of a sales representative from Audi.

Each car that was part of the exercise had three people seated in it, including a sales representative from Audi and was armed with a radio to receive instructions from the guides.

Up the ramp

The event began with an orange Q3 taking on the incline/ramp. While it looked promising, just at the top of the ramp the driver lost the momentum and was unable to go further and started to go in a slant. The guides shot off instructions to the driver via the radio, asking him to reverse and come down slowly.

A Q7 then decided to try the climb only to meet with the same fate. With the rains and the mud constantly shifting, the incline was a tough nut to crack.

A couple of tries later, the ramp was abandoned. Next on the list was the banked slope and most of the cars were stuck in the muck forcing the vehicles to shift and skid sideways instead of going straight. Much time was spent in getting the amateur drivers to navigate this track and at every twist and turn there were crew members to help those who were stuck. The other sections were comparatively easy and as the drivers got a measure of their cars a bit, they cleared the obstacles ultimately.

Slush pits

After the first round was completed, we got our ride – a silver Q7 4.2 TDi Quattro. The 4.2 TDi is the top-of-the-line diesel Q7 wherein a V8 oil burner churns out 335bhp and a huge 800Nm of torque. We were pretty sure that we needed each one of those numbers to get this massive over-two-ton machine overcome the course.

Fastening our seatbelts we cranked up the car and the first thing we did was to put the car in ‘Off-Road’ mode. The car raised itself up by 35mm more to give us more ground clearance to play with. With the ramp and the trench abandoned, we cut through to the banked slope. As Omkar held a steady throttle, the car made its way ploughing and splashing through slush until we realised that in spite of the wheels spinning we were not moving ahead! The car was slotted into reverse and we backed up a bit and then Omkar put it in D- Manual first gear. This move gave us full torque output to use and we were at the top in a jiffy.

The next obstacle was the second banked slope which seemed like cakewalk after the first obstacle. As we embarked upon the boulder climb patch, Omkar feathered the throttle to keep the momentum without actually going too fast or getting stuck. The Q7 seemed to thrive on each of the surfaces, as we felt nothing of the road underneath inside the cabin. Sitting in the backseat of the Q7 I could barely notice the turbulence, all I could see was the vehicle trying to negotiate the track.

Next, we were looking forward to the articulated troughs part.The car was supposed to be on two wheels only for a very little time. It reminded me of the kind of stunts Bollywood director Rohit Shetty regularly pulls with cars in his movies. As we watched the cars ahead doing it, it looked scary but we were confident of doing it properly. After the first trough as we were entering the next, the car started standing up and we got to have a closer look at the cloudy sky. It was here that we actually got the feel of the massive size of the Q7 and its ability off road. As we inched ahead, the front wheels landed only for the rear wheels to get some air-time.

Feeling triumphant after conquering the difficult parts of the course, we hit the standing water and waded through it comfortably. The car came to a leisurely stop at the end of this obstacle course.

Back to office

Having experienced the Q7 off road, during our ride back to the hotel, the Q7 did not disappoint on road either. Audi’s ability to tackle slippery road conditions was definitely proved. The Q7 certainly passes the test off road but there is scope for improvement as well.

Back from the track as we left for office, the third group for the day was getting ready for their trip and as I saw their excited faces, all I could think of was the mud-caked wheels of the Audis standing in front of me. That is when I decided, it’s a first for me, but definitely not the last.