Drivers with a need for speed will have the chance to walk in the shoes of professional racers at the 2012 Audi Driving Experience, the company's luxury test-drive activity, which kicked off at the capital's Carnival Automotive Cultural Square on April 25.

Selected scenes from previous Audi Driving Experience activities were shown during the opening ceremony. Eye-catching Audi car maneuvers by drivers wowed audience members.

The presence of Olympic ping pong commentator and hostess Yang Ying, Olympic gymnast Mo Huilan as well as Olympic shooting sports champion Yang Ling added fun to the opening ceremony.

Starting in Beijing, the test drive activity will have 20 competitions and 30 regional experience activities nationwide. The cities taking these events include Beijing, Hangzhou, Yiwu, Nanjing, Shanghai, Changchun, Xi'an, Xiamen, Dalian, Erdos, Changsha, Ningbo, Chengdu, Tianjin, Chongqing, Qingdao, Suzhou, Wenzhou and Zhuhai.

Participants can test drive Audi's luxury sports cars and the latest car models. Professional coaches will carefully train the participants.

After an eight-month national tour, 180 winners will be given Audi in-depth training and compete in a final competition held from Dec 7 to 11 at the Shanghai F1 Circuit.

Sixteen first-prize winners can have the opportunity to take part in the Audi Overseas Ice and Snow Training program and get professional racecar driver certificates approved by China's Federation of Automobile Sports (FASC). Ten second-prize winners can join the Audi Ice and Snow Experience in domestic destinations.

The Audi Driving Experience is one of the most notorious luxury vehicle test-drive activities. It has five parts, including sports car training, in-depth training, circuit special training, test drive and test ride, and a journey of exploration.

The globally synchronized professional test-drive curriculums fully showcase Audi's highly efficient, intelligent and safe Quattro all-wheel drive, stop-start adaptive cruise control, Audi pre sense and other technological highlights.

The test-drive circuits where the Audi Driving Experience will take place are designed using international competition standards. This allows them to offer participants an unprecedented test-drive experience and understanding of Audi's advanced technologies.

The Audi Driving Experience activity entered China in 2003, and the first updated large-scale campaign under this nameplate was held in 2010. Although it only had 13 stations, the highly professional and well-organized test-drive tour soon became a widely acknowledged test-drive platform on domestic luxury vehicle market.

The 2011 Audi Driving Experience was inaugurated on June 27 at the Shanghai F1 Circuit. It took half a year and had 15 stations, attracting more than 6,000 people to participate in it.

The final competition was held on the Shanghai Audi International Circuit on Dec 12. Six first-prize winners were invited to receive Audi Sweden Ice and Snow Training and got professional racecar driver certificates approved by China's Federation of Automobile Sports.

Ten second-prize winners took part in the Audi Ice and Snow Experience, which was held in domestic locations.

A participant in the 2011 Audi Driving Experience wrote in his blog after the first day's test drive: "Although I have been driving for a long time, it's my first time on a F1 Circuit. I was over-excited on the spot." He continued, "The test-drive models included Audi R8, TT, Q5 and Q7. Although I just sat on the passenger seat of a R8, the experience lead by a professional coach on the F1 circuit was stimulating enough to be described by two words - 'dazzling' and 'exciting.' "

As another participant said, the Audi Driving Experience provides car and driving fans the opportunity to feel the brand's charm up close.

xuxiao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 04/27/2012 page24)