TEMPLE OF SPEED
India now has an absolutely world-class automotive proving ground in the NATRAX. We open the taps wide on the new Audi RS5
1.3 KILOMETRES LONG. 18 METRES WIDE. A neutral speed of 250kmph. In the fastest lane on either of the two bankings you can theoretically take your hands off the steering wheel at 250kmph and it will not change lanes. 2 kilometre straights connecting the bankings that are absolutely flat and level. A surface to ensure repeatability of performance test readings many, many years later. Not one bump, not one ripple. The two bankings that make up the oval are longer than the straight — 2.66 kilometres long — and they inscribe such a wide arc — the radius is one full kilometre — that the resulting banking gradient is the least steep of all such tracks. It makes it the safest and least scary of all such tracks in the world when you are pushing max speeds. And you can achieve max speeds in excess of 375kmph.
Welcome to the National Automotive Test Tracks, NATRAX, and welcome to the crown jewel, the High Speed Test Track. Spread over 3000 acres in Pithampur outside of Indore, this is India’s newest automotive proving ground and right up there among the best in the world. To give you a frame of reference, the legendary Nardo high speed bowl in Italy is little over a kilometre longer at 12.5km. In fact NATRAX boasts the world’s fifth longest high speed track, only Volkswagen Group’s Eehra Lessien track in Germany (21km), Nardo in Italy (12.5km), Transportation Research Centre in Ohio, USA (12.1km) and ATP in Germany (12.1km) are longer. Notice that not one track in Asia is on that list. And only two tracks in the world have a higher maximum neutral speed capability on the bankings, Balocco in Italy (300kmph) and Michigan Proving Ground in the USA (288kmph).
One really needs to sit down and soak it all in. High speed test tracks are such a monumental undertaking — both financially and in terms of the engineering challenges — that the newest of the aforementioned tracks, ATP, was commissioned back in 1998. Nardo, the most famous of them all, has changed hands multiple times despite being in the heart of one of the world’s most vibrant automotive markets, such are the pressures on the business model. The scale of such a project is so gargantuan not even the most enthusiastic glass-half-full types would have imagined such a facility coming up in India.
Yet, here we are. A world class, wait let me reemphasise that, WORLD CLASS, proving ground right here in India. The NATRAX is a project that we can take deep pride in. No compromises on quality of construction, on safety, on sheer size and scale. And the High Speed Track is just one of 14 tracks to test every single aspect of an automobile from performance to braking, handling, stability systems, comfort, durability plus labs to test emissions, suspension, EV systems and more. This is not just India’s temple of speed but also a centre of dynamic excellence.
A WORLD-CLASS FACILITY DEMANDS A MONSTER car and we have with us Audi’s M3-, C 63S-fighter, the RS5. For all the buzz around the excellent e-tron electric SUVs, fact is, Audi is not giving up on the internal combustion engine. In fact Audi India boss Balbir Dhillon confirms that even by 2025, 85 per cent of the portfolio will be combustion-engined. And making lots of noise at the top of the range will be hero cars from Audi Sport, like this new RS5 Sportback.
And it is new. This is not a facelift of the old RS5 — what we have is a revised MLB platform and even bigger news is the atmospheric, epic, V8 is replaced by a twin-turbo V6 codeveloped with Porsche. In step with the inexorable rush towards downsizing, the V6 displaces 2.9 litres, a significant 1.3 litres down on the V8. Equally in step with the pace of progress, the motor drops not even one horse to the big V8, putting out an identical 444bhp. Yet, thanks to two turbos, torque has gone up massively, to a whopping 600Nm. That’s diesel-like torque, and it peaks at 1900rpm and stays flat to 5000rpm. For muscle, the V6 doesn’t lack for anything.
Yet we must shed a tear at the demise of one of the world’s great nat-asp engines; one that would set your synapses on fire at 8250rpm. Or we can stick with our half-full glasses, enjoy the combustion engine until it lasts, and chant a very vocal prayer of gratitude for the test track we find ourselves on.
To the High Speed Track then. Over 50 lakh cubic metres of earth was moved to ensure the altitude difference of 20 metres
from one end to the other of the 2km straight was levelled to attain zero percent longitudinal slope. Factor out wind speed and direction and this ensures repeatability of testing no matter which side you launch from. We are running in the anticlockwise direction and it is wet, though that doesn't make much of a difference to Audis in general and the RS5 in particular — Audi was doing all-wheel-drive long before M and AMG jumped on the bandwagon! Punch the RS button on the steering wheel twice to engage RS 2 mode (much like BMW’s M modes these can be individually programmed, I’ve set it to full dynamic in RS 2), brake-torque to engage launch control, and go.
If there was any fear that the new RS5 won’t launch as hard as in the past, well, this grips and goes even harder; even more ferociously. The claimed 0-100kmph time is 3.9 seconds and on the wet track with our VBOX strapped on, we got 0-100kmph in 4.03 seconds, ESP furiously flashing away, the drivetrain evidently fighting and clawing into the surface for grip. 160kmph takes 9.24s, the 8-speed torque converter automatic thumping in shifts that are as aggressive as a twin-clutch. 200kmph takes 14.77s and you don’t even need a VBOX to know the acceleration times because the RS5 has an acceleration and lap timer, both very accurate (0.5 seconds difference for 0-200kmph). The quarter mile takes 12.26s at a speed of 184.2kmph. And it keeps going, topping off not at 250kmph but 267kmph. The claimed top speed is actually higher at 278kmph but I suspect this car needs to be run in before it can be maxed out. And it stays absolutely flat, rock steady as I lap the HST at top speed — a testament to both the car and the track.
Let’s talk about the latter, particularly how smooth it is. Keep your foot pinned in, look as far ahead as you can (at 267kmph things flash by you very, very fast), apply minimal input on the steering, stick to the fast lane and you can just keep going, on and on. Even Formula 1-spec race tracks have big bumps that have to be dealt with. Here? Nothing. From straight to transition banking to the main banking, you do not feel a thing. It’s absolutely level, a massive testament to the quality of construction. And the HST is just one of 14 tracks at the NATRAX.
IT STAYS FLAT AS I LAP THE HST AT TOP SPEED — A TESTAMENT TO BOTH THE RS5 AND THE TRACK
THE RS5 HAS MASSIVE DIRECTIONAL STABILITY, ITS attitude and manners on the HST evident proof of that. But what about handling? To test that we have the Dynamic Platform and the Handling Track, and we first head to the latter. Now this is not a race track, at 8 metres wide it is too narrow, the run-offs aren’t sufficient enough and neither are the kerbs. But the mix of corners — hairpins, slow and medium speed corners, even two negative camber corners over the generous 3.6km length — are perfect to judge real-world handling.
First impression is the RS5 feels lighter. 31 kilos has been reduced over the front axle thanks to the lighter engine and another 29 from the rest of the body so that impression is backed up by the numbers. The RS5 gets an evolution of the VW Group’s MLB platform with a longer wheelbase and five-link suspension front and rear. The RS5 gets the mechanical sport differential that together with wheel-selective torque control and the rear-biased quattro system (up to 85 per cent can be sent to the rear axle) can torque-vector the outside rear wheel to get it to oversteer ever so slightly and straighten out the corner. Predictably the RS5 generates a mountain of grip — throw it into a corner, boot the throttle and the torque control system and locking differential will sort out where to send power, even pivoting the RS5 round the bend. But, there’s a limit to how much you can play with it. Even with the stability control fully switched off, the RS5 will only do a wee tail wag before ESC reports for duty to tidy things up. There’s no drift mode, no way to smoke the rear tyres. Get over ambitious and you’ll end up having to lift to tidy out the understeer.
Which, on a new (and wet!) test track that I do not know the corners to, and with minimal run off, I am quite thankful for. As a point and shoot bazooka the RS5 works incredibly well, saving you from the embarrassment of being the first to bend expensive metal at the NATRAX. On unfamiliar roads, particularly so in the wet, you will appreciate its unshakable traction and inexorable rush of performance from the V6.
The reason the handling track doesn’t have huge run-offs is because the Dynamic Platform offers acres of it. Until the HST became operational this was the most used track at NATRAX, a 1.5km absolutely flat straight leading up to a massive 300-metre skid pad, one of the largest of its kind in the world. This is not only to test cornering g-forces but also to calibrate ESP systems, and perform all kinds of dynamic tests including the J-turn, fish-hook, slalom, elk test, cow test, whatever you can think of. According to the RS monitor on the RS5, it pulls 1.1 cornering g-forces and after 5 minutes of subjecting my internal organs to this I had to stop and get out to sort out the dizziness in my head. Of grip you will hardly want for more in the RS5, that’s for sure. But with so much space to play with, and nothing to hit for miles if things do go wrong, you want to be left alone — except the RS5’s ESC always has you on a leash.
OF GRIP YOU WILL HARDLY WANT FOR MORE
BUT THE ESC ALWAYS HAS YOU
ON A LEASH
WHAT ALL AUDIS DO VERY WELL IS COMFORT AND we head out to the Comfort tracks where ride quality can be objectively and accurately measured. From rough and smooth concrete to cobble stones, washboards, bridge joints, steps and cleats, even a village road simulation with that typical patchwork road surfacing — ride comfort over every kind of surface you find in India can be tested out. Over the rough asphalt that’s representative of the roads you’ll find on regular commutes, the RS5 doesn’t feel overly stiff. In fact Audi positions this as a grand tourer, and it works very well in that mould, India-spec cars also getting the RS Sport suspension with dynamic ride control that delivers a rather absorbent ride over broken roads in comfort mode.
Then there are the torture tracks at the NATRAX where you can check out real-world ground clearance, axle articulation, water wading, how a car fares over potholes and all kinds of undulations where test drivers can pound test mules (and themselves) to measure accelerated wear. We’re not going to subject the RS5 to that, save to say that it sits lower than the S5 Sportback to which it is quite obviously related. Both have the four-door-coupe Sportback body style (no two-door RS5 for India any more) but the RS5 is ripped and pumped. The wheel arches are blistered to evoke the original Audi Quattro, the nostrils are flared even more, there’s satin silver trim contrasting with gloss black, and a huge rear diffuser with twin oval tail pipes barks its sporty intent.
On the inside too you get more Alcantara, beautiful sports seats, Audi’s Virtual Cockpit and a full-fat, flat-bottomed, steering wheel with metal-finish paddles. You jump in and get going, no familiarisation required. Much like the NATRAX.
TOP SPEED TESTING HAS NEVER BEEN THIS EASY, THIS SIMPLE, THIS
SAFE
In the past car testers spent ages learning test tracks; memorising the location, severity and intensity of every single bump; being coached on the line to avoid one, the angle in which to hit the other, and the correction to apply on the third. We wrestled cars while keeping an eye peeled for all kinds of surprises. Our minds were 100 per cent occupied with skirting the plentiful opportunities for having a big off, so much so that road testers stopped doing top speed runs altogether. The NATRAX changes everything. You of course need full concentration, anybody who tells you otherwise is hardly being honest, but I also have to say that top speed testing has never been this easy; this simple; this safe. The latter is the key takeaway. Manufacturers, suppliers, independent verifiers such as us road testers, everybody associated with the automotive industry in India has been crying out for a track where the maximum potential of a car can be unleashed in absolute safety, where you don’t have to be fighting to keep the car on the straight and narrow while flat out. This is the answer to all our dreams and prayers.
Even the Dynamic Platform has miles of run-off; we saw a mini bus being tested for a violent lane change manoeuvre that would have been impossible anywhere else. You can sit at 200, 250, 300kmph on the High Speed Track and focus on what the car is telling you, not what the bumps will do. And being whipped into shape at NATRAX will result in far, far more dynamically polished (and safer!) cars that you and I will buy in the days to come. That we can now set top speed records is a neat side benefit and nothing — nothing! — in the world is more intense than maxing out a superbike. Here comes the ’Busa! ⌧