Open road touring

Think of the Audi driving experience and most people will immediate conjure images of race tracks, high-performance Audi RS models and high-adrenalin motoring. And they would be right on the money. But there is another side to the Audi driving experience program for those who want to get their hands on with the very best vehicles the brand has to offer, but in a slightly more sedate, more ‘real world’ environment, taking in great driving roads, but in a way more in keeping with how most of us actually use our vehicles on a day to day basis. Well, almost.

This concept has long been available on the international stage, with the Audi driving experience Alps tour, offering a unique driving experience through the Austrian or Italian Alps.

The Australian Audi driving experience lifestyle drives are based around this same idea of experiencing a selection of the brand’s most exciting vehicles out in the real world, but with a typical Audi flair, selecting spectacular parts of the country with the appropriately engaging roads to match and building the trip around a couple of days of luxury touring.

Add top flight accommodation to the mix, carefully selected venues that highlight the areas’ food and wine culture to best effect, and you have the makings of an Audi driving experience with a difference.

“We want to showcase the cars in a real world context,” says Audi Australia’s Chief Driving Instructor, Steve Pizzati, but building a trip that is about more than the driving.”

“That means also enjoying great accommodation and dining and all of the things that the various regions we’ve selected have to offer along the way.”

To that end, Steve and his team selected Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland for special attention this year, building itineraries around selected areas in each – all within easy reach of the main cities and affording participants the chance to experience the best cars, roads and hospitality of each region in a safe, curated program that left nothing to be done but enjoy the drive.

The cars chosen for this year’s lifestyle drives represent the perfect blend of what Audi has to offer in the high-performance segment, with customers rotating between the Audi RS Q8, RS 5 Sportback and the RS 6 Avant performance. With trip durations of two to three nights, the programs are designed to give each pairing (a maximum of two people per vehicle) the chance to enjoy and experience first hand the incredible properties of each vehicle along the way. 

Each trip is led by Steve Pizzati himself, on roads carefully selected to not only showcase the cars’ significant abilities, but also to provide the perfect backdrop for the trip and the region.

The Australian lifestyle drives kicked off on the Apple Isle earlier in the year, with programs also set down for Victoria at time of writing and two programs in Queensland in May.

“Starting out in Tasmania was a no brainer,” says Steve Pizzati, who likens some of the roads to those in Europe, with a backdrop in some cases quite unlike anything you’ll find elsewhere in the country.

As well as being home to some of the country’s most spectacular scenery, Tassie also has an international reputation for food and wine and of course accommodation, so no ADE lifestyle series would be complete without a trip or two to the Apple Isle. 

Arriving in Hobart, guests met for the first of their three night tour at the stunning The Tasman hotel, sitting right on the water in the heart of Hobart. After a relaxing evening and a chance to sample some of Tasmania’s extraordinary produce, they got behind the wheel of the RS models and headed for the hills, or up into Tasmania’s Central Highlands to be more accurate.

Driving on specially selected roads, many of which have been used as Targa stages in the past, the drive took in some of the most spectacular vistas in the country, stopping long the way for lunch and ultimately arriving in the heart of the island at the famed Cradle Mountain Lodge for evening number two.

Although only a matter of hours away from Hobart, Cradle Mountain could be a million miles away from anywhere, a place with a unique feel that truly has to be experienced to be appreciated. That the Cradle Mountain-Lake Claire National Park is heritage listed comes as no surprise and Cradle Mountain Lodge is the ideal place from which to take in this breathtaking region.

From Cradle Mountain, the Tasmania ‘tour’ wound its way back down to the lower country next day on equally engaging roads, again stopping for sustenance along the way ultimately arriving in Launceston for the final night. Spent at Peppers Silo Launceston, overlooking the junction of the Tamar and North Esk rivers, it was perfect place for a final night to look back over the preceding three days, before heading home or in some cases, on to extended stays in Tasmania.

Both sold out Tasmanian tours in February were a resounding success, and plans are already underway to revisit Australia’s ‘south island’ next year. The programs for Victorian and Queensland lifestyle drives follow the same blueprint, exploring stunning regions in both states, with all of the special touches and attention to detail that are part of the Audi approach.

The lifestyle drives are a tour and not a race. While Steve Pizzati leads the way, there is no pressure to drive at any particular pace and should the mood take you to stop and enjoy the scenery or capture photographic memories along the way – so much the better. The group regathers at prearranged lunch and refreshment stops and of course each evening at the accommodation venue, meaning that each participant gets to enjoy the experience their way and at their pace.

Whether as a complement to time spent on the track in one of the ADE performance programs or simply as a way of exploring new areas both in Australia or internationally, the ADE lifestyle drives represent the perfect way to combine a driving escape with the finer things in life. Limited places still remain for the Queensland lifestyle drive, or to learn about other Audi driving experience programs, visit the official ADE website.