The roads are beautifully paved with stone, the structures are very traditional and numerous church bells can be heard in the vicinity.
The city has a rich heritage, with most buildings having a story of their own.
You drive through stone arches that have been around for centuries and past sights that seem like they’re from another era.
The cars that we came across also caught our attention.
Our first stop was Audi Forum Ingolstadt, located at the heart of Audi’s headquarters (which was so huge that we were mind blown when it appeared on our GPS map, filling up a large portion of the screen).
The unapologetically high tech centre houses the main offices, Audi museum mobile and ‘Market and Customer’ building.
We were given a tour of the museum mobile (with a hilarious and friendly tour guide) and it certainly felt like travelling through time.
Housed within the circular glass walls were Audi’s heritage and classics from every era of their history, which included cars and bikes from Horch, DKW and Auto Union, in addition to later classics from Audi.
Most were in immaculate condition, with the exception of some, which were kept in their original condition for special reasons.
With its rusty bodywork, split-open seat upholstery and missing headlamps, it stood out like a sore thumb in the shiny gallery.
Story goes that it was a one-off director’s car, which was later brought to the US in 1956 by a soldier.
It was later saved from the crushers by Al Wilson, a car enthusiast from Texas.
After 40 years spent parked in a Texan desert, Wilson’s sons contacted the experts at Audi Tradition and thus the long lost car was rediscovered.
To further indulge in the “Audi experience” and standards the company stands for, we were invited to their Avus restaurant (which has a clay model of its Audi Avus namesake at its entrance) for a fine dining experience with Audi Malaysia managing director, Immo Buschmann and Director Region Overseas, Martin Birkner, who both provided some insight into the company’s vision and plans.
We learned that ultimately the people at Audi truly eat, sleep and breathe Audi, and are very passionate about what they do.
Buschmann said that Audi is seeing great potential in Malaysia and hopes to create more brand awareness in our region.
When commenting on Audi’s edgier new design language, he hinted “it is just a taste of what’s to come, stay tuned”.
Here is where owners of new Audi cars come to pick up their rides.
They are able to look around the car, try it out and have any shortcomings sorted out.
Buschmann explained that picking up an Audi is such a big deal to Germans, that even customers from the other end of the country would make the trip just to drive their beloved new car home.
We then visited Audi Tradition, where Audi stores significant and rare models, many of which that aren’t fit for public viewing – the Holy Grail of Audi’s collection if you will.
It was clear that the guys who work here know the history of Audi by heart.
From saloons to race-worn track cars, seeing so many beauties in such pristine condition in the multi-storey complex was certainly a sight to behold.
Clad in gorgeous Sepang Blue, the row of R8s awaiting our arrival saw many jaw-drops.
Despite being a first-generation, the supercar was certainly still a thing of beauty.
Upon pushing the start button and revving up the V10 engine, it was noticeable that the sound was a little softer than expected.
Neuberg’s proximity to a nearby town required them to have noise-reducing mufflers installed.
It was nevertheless still music to the ears, so despite having a 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, I switched off the radio.
Our cars were intentionally driven out of control, and we had to learn to counter the effects.
Surprisingly, it did not take long to get a hold of the car’s mighty handling, with the R8’s excellent weight distribution and stupendous brakes.
Büttner later led us to the circuit, where we did progressively faster laps with position changes after each round.
Despite a number of driver swaps, I was fortunate to get the beast to myself for most of the run.
The full-time quattro all-wheel drive system made its presence felt, ensuring surreal grip around each bend.
Although a powerful beast, the R8 was surprisingly easy to handle and was certainly a showcase of Audi’s technical prowess.
After our exciting run, Büttner asked if any of us were interested in a taxi ride.
Then he grinned, “A really FAST taxi ride”. I was not one to back down on such an opportunity, so I accepted.
What he did was to drive like Michael Schumacher around the same circuit, with me strapped on the passenger seat.
The final stop of our journey required us to drive to Munich via the autobahn.
Our three Ingolstadt-registered Audis – an A6 2.0, A6 Avant 2.0 and a Q5 2.0 diesel – were a joy to drive.
While the A6s were excellent (honestly, not many cars can cruise that smoothly at 160-170kph), it was the Q5 that really caught my fancy.
Despite their significantly higher speed limits, never did we ever feel unsafe. Drivers stuck to their lanes, and signal before overtaking.
The most fun was when the speed limit signs go off –technically meaning no speed limit.
Audi’s Active Lane Assist certainly did an amazing job in helping inform us if the coast was clear to switch lanes, and our Audis handled like a dream at speeds of excess 200kph.
Another feature I particularly loved was the on-board navigation system, which can be configured to display even on the dashboard, allowing the driver to focus more on the road.
On some models like the A6, it covers almost the entire dash unit!
The dynamic turn signals on our cars were also a refreshing sight and very cool to see in action.
As the roads to the match were expected to be packed, we were chauffeured in the flagship Audi A8.
My unit was chauffeured by Franz Bartosch, who has 33 years of experience driving for Audi.
His car is entrusted to him alone, and he is the guy they’d call when they need to ferry the board of directors.
One feature in particular that got us all staring up front is the night vision assistant, which uses thermal imaging that enables the driver to practically see in the dark – a true marvel of engineering.
Seeing Audi’s seriousness in giving their all in everything they do – from making cars to racing and even football, it is very clear that this is a forward-facing company powered by passionate folks, and I believe that is precisely what they wish to bring over here to Malaysia.
