Audi MVP Day
The legendary Chris Rawlinson was kind enough to invite me to the second Audi MVP day which is an opportunity for eight geeks to drive around for a morning in the latest and greatest cars that Audi Cape Town have on offer. It was an experience that delivered thrills way beyond my expectations.
The morning kicked off at 09:00 with an introduction meeting with Wernich from Audi Cape Town and some free coffee and snacks. It’s at this point that you basically sign your life over and for a moment I had to wonder if it was worth taking the risk… it was short lived.
Matthew Buckland and I teamed up and we decided to start off small so we took the Audi Q5 for a leisurely drive to Constantia Mall.
The Q5 was the surprising drive of the day for me. It’s a fantastic family car that is somehow less pretentious than the monster Q7 but put your foot down on the pedal and the car accelerates like a sport car. Starting at around R411,000 I suspect this vehicle will become a better seller than the Q7 – but that’s just my take on it.
At Constantia Mall we pitted and swopped vehicles and I saw Matt eagerly take the Audi A5 2.0T keys from Joe Botha’s hands. Initially we thought the A5 was in actual fact an S5 but nevertheless this was still an impressive vehicle.
Matt got to test out the full power of the A5 on the M3 highway when I insisted that we stop halfway so that I could also get a turn. I drove the car from roughly Tokai to Noordhoek where we pitted yet again at Bob Skinstad’s pub The Toad.
Let me just say that of all the cars that were available for the day the Audi A5 impressed me the most. I loved this car and especially loved the multitronic gearbox. Its handling was superb, it’s frighteningly quick and to top it all off it looks super sexy. If I had R424,000 to spend on a car this would be the one I’d chose.
After a couple drinks Chris did a draw to see who would drive the Audi S4 and Audi R8 home. Unfortunately the R8 was occupied for the day but nevertheless Charl Norman’s name was pulled out of the hat and he gets to nail the R8 on a day that suits him.
Sue Rutherford was the other lucky name pulled out of the hat to drive the Audi S4 back. Sue was however not feeling too confident driving the S4 and I was quick on the draw and convinced her to let me drive it – thanks Sue!
I drove the S4 from Noordhoek, down the recently reopened Chapmans Peak Drive and then back to the Cape Grace Hotel where we rendezvoused for lunch. Unfortunately this entire drive was mostly frustrating as traffic really hindered our ability to drive the S4 properly. Sue and I did do a little detour to find some highway and luckily there were brief moments of white-knuckle driving but they were far and few between.
The S4 is a fantastic car as it has two very different modes of driving. In highly condensed traffic the S4 acts like any other A4 in that it is light on fuel, easy to drive and behaves like any other regular car but put your foot down on the accelerator and this R590,000 car turns into the devil. It’s kind of like sex on wheels but strangely much better. The raw power at your disposal is mind-blowing, the handling is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and the braking is superb.
There’s only one major problem with it though – it looks like a boxy family car. I’m funny like this in that I’d buy an A4 as a family car because it’s practical and if I really wanted all that power I wouldn’t buy the S4 but rather opt for an S5. Yes I know people want to have the power and still be practical but seriously it’s just not for me. Give me that A5 any day!
The day ended with a magnificent lunch at the Cape Grace Hotel which could have gone on all day given half a chance.
I must thank Chris and Wernich for what was a truly remarkable day. This is an amazing initiative that is certainly going to take Audi a long way and I’m just glad I could experience it all with some amazing people.
