Special feature: The call of the open road

If you own an Audi, you’ll be familiar with the joys it delivers. Of course, you’ll feel that perhaps you should be driving your car more often – towards the mountains, along the coast, or closer to the forests – nourishing your passion for both driving and new experiences. The cars from Ingolstadt have always been a stirring blend of sportiness, luxury and emotion. And in them, the journey is always the destination, so to speak.

That was exactly what the German manufacturer had in mind when it partnered with Autocar India and put together a Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) rally. The rally, a part of the Audi Experience x Club Rewards Drive, started from Bengaluru and ended at the plush Serai Resort in Chikmagalur.

Launched in June last year, Audi Club Rewards offers segment-first luxury experiences and privileges for Audi customers, who also earn rewards each time they interact with the brand or with Audi’s partner brands within and around the Audi ecosystem. The experiences are befitting of the brand and the kind of discerning individuals who opt for an Audi. The drive to Chikmagalur is a bracing one, with a mix of smooth highways, B-roads and gentle elevations, surrounded by some becalming scenery.

The action unfolded on a glorious Friday morning at Audi Bengaluru Central, as a clutch of Audis rolled in. There was some serious elan and serious firepower in attendance and this included Q3s, Q7s and Q8s along with some crackers such as the S5, RS5 and even a race-tuned TT. The customers bonded with each other over a sumptuous breakfast at the plush showroom and then got together for a detailed briefing session held by Team Autocar. The participants were familiarised with the route and safety guidelines and with the use of the tulip road book. Soon, it was time for the customers to hit the road to Chikmagalur, and Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head, Audi India, and Autocar India editor Hormazd Sorabjee flagged off the rally.

A TSD rally, of course, is not a race. Instead, it is a precision driving competition that is run on open public roads at legal speeds. A TSD rally is comprised of stages, with participants driving the course at prescribed speeds, halting only at checkpoints along the way. The objective is to drive to each segment of the course in a specified time at a specified average speed. Scores are determined on the basis of the time taken to reach each checkpoint. The participants at the rally were informed about the six checkpoints between the start, lunch point and the destination and were, of course, instructed to stay away from using the maps on their phones! In short, the rally was a great way to give Audi Experience X Club Rewards Drive members a taste of navigating the old way with a tulip chart, like it was done before Google came into the picture.

Bengaluru to Chikmagalur started with the usual bit of big-city madness before the scenery started changing and the highway appeared on the horizon. Here, the Audis were free to stretch – relatively speaking, of course – their legs. The vibrant green landscape was soon peppered with the red, blue and orange of cars such as the Audi S5, the TT, and, among others, the Q8. In less than three hours, builder and developer Chiranth Gowda’s Audi TT rolled in for lunch at Hasan. “This is a crazy car to drive. It is kind of like a jet!” he told us. The rest of the participants, too, glided in, and after a quick lunch the cars resumed their journey towards the next checkpoint. “I didn’t know what I was getting in to, but I’m totally enjoying this,” said IT professional Ramakrishna Gudipati, whose RS5 turned a lot of heads.

Once the cars got on to the Belur Road that led to Chikmagalur, the customers glided along the highway. Around 3pm, Gowda and his co-driver Sagar Reddy were the first of the participants to arrive at the Serai Resort, and the others were not too far behind. Kanuj VS, who owns a Q8, said he never tires of experiencing his SUV’s phenomenal power and the morning’s drive had granted him another opportunity to do so.

“Initially, I found the whole process of navigating with the tulip road book, while at the same time, getting Kanuj to rein in his excitement, pretty tough. But once we got the hang of it, it was fun and intense,” said his co-driver Amogh V. The duo were first time attendees, like several others that day, but the common consensus was that they were game for more such events in the coming months. Longtime Club Rewards loyalists Sunita Cherian and Issac George, on the other hand, loved the different experiences they have savoured with Audi. “We’ve been to so many places with Audi and each drive has been spectacular,” said Cherian and George, who own a Q3. Driver and navigator duo Kiran Vijay Kumar and Prajwal Venugopal, who participated in the rally in Kumar’s RS5, loved driving through Belur. “We’ll be coming back here soon,” they said.

Once they had freshened up at the resort, the participants regrouped for high tea, which was followed by a sit-down with Sorabjee, and discussed – what else – their cars, their favourite roads, and drives they are looking forward to. The day ended with an intimate dinner and a felicitation ceremony, with Cherian and George being adjudged the winners of the TSD rally. The duo received a lot of high fives from their fellow participants, who were already looking forward to the next Audi Experience X Club Rewards Drive. Where exactly will it be? You’ll know soon.

‘We are constantly learning from our customers’

Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head, Audi India, on the Audi Club Rewards program and the evolution of the luxury car customer.

The concept behind Audi Club Rewards: “The Audi Club Rewards Program is available for both our existing customers and new customers. They can join the program through the My Audi app. The program offers various rewards for customers. Every time they spend with us, they get some reward points, which they can use within the Audi ecosystem and even outside. But now, through events such as this one, we are extending the ambit of the program. These events help us to not just communicate our philosophy but also interact with our customers in a better way. At the same time, they also get to interact with the customers of the same strata and make new friends. So this experience is going beyond cars and, for us, it’s a great platform to also learn from our customers.”

On going beyond cars: “So the car is just one product. When it comes to services, we are on a constant endeavour to learn about what our customers are looking for beyond cars, what kind of digitalisation they want, and how we can bring in more and more services into our fold.“

On the evolution of the luxury car customer post-pandemic: “Post the pandemic, we have seen that our customers are driving quite a bit along with their families. I think sometimes it’s challenging to drive and enjoy our cars fully in the city, but thanks to the rapid development of road infrastructure, we see a lot of our customers driving between cities, exploring new cities and the country more often. So, when you drive your car more often, there is a certain emotional attachment. That’s something that is really happening today. We’re also seeing a huge demand at the upper end of the segment and that’s something that we see growing by the day.”