Volkswagen media drivers’ day

Usually NZCN’s editor, Lynne Richardson, gets to do all the fun stuff we get invited to –. product launches, tunnel openings, moving huge buildings – but not this time. In April, the kind folk at Volkswagen invited me to go to their Media Drivers’ Day, held at Hampton Downs race track in the Waikato. They were planning to spend three days entertaining hundreds of clients and potential clients, but the media (only seven of us) had our own day all to ourselves. Being so few of us meant that we had heaps of driving time and one-on-one attention, which was just fantastic.

The new VW double-cab Amarok – billed as the thinking man’s ute

We arrived at 12 noon not really knowing what to expect, and were met by the lovely Alice. Alice works with the PR company (Mango) who did such a great job of organising the event. After being treated with a really good lunch, we were given a brief presentation by Dean Sheed, VW general manager for New Zealand, and then it was on to the really fun stuff.

First up we took a 40-minute drive through the countryside in a fleet of various new VW models. We stopped every now and then and swapped cars, so that by the time we got back to the track, we had been able to drive three or four different models. My favourite was definitely the Tourag TDI V8. What a fabulous car! I guess it should be, with VW engineering excellence, and a price tag of $140,000. I’m used to driving my little Honda Civic, and I tell you, this was a BIG step up – amazing power, and just a beautiful machine. I was going to ask my boss to get me one as a company car, but I think my chances are a bit slim.

After arriving back at the track we were split into two groups for different activities. Our little group headed off to a specially built four-wheel-drive course on someone’s farm. I first took the brand-new Amorak through the course. We had the help and advice of some professional drivers, and it was an awesome experience. These modern 4WDs can do just about anything. They have special sensors which stop you getting into too much trouble.

For example, you can stop on a steep hill, disengage the clutch, and the vehicle will not roll backwards on you. If you are ascending or descending a hill, you can take your foot off the gas and these wonderful machines will keep moving, at whatever pace you like, just by touching the brakes or the accelerator. We went through water hazards, through deep gullies, and just about tipped over sideways on special piles of dirt. Great fun! The various models all performed brilliantly, even though we only had road tyres on. Heaven knows what they would be capable of with off-road tyres.

Next was a real highlight – some go-fast stuff! A slalom course had been set up on the track. The objective was to go as fast as possible through the course, and screech to a stop in a little boxed-off area. After a couple of goes I was really getting the hang of it. We used a Golf GTI, and what a wonderful gutsy little car. The car has a traction control system that lets you get away with murder. VW were not at all concerned about the treatment we gave these brilliant cars. It was all burning hot tyre smoke, and super-hot brake smells and pure exhilarating FUN!!!

Remind me not to purchase a demo car from VW. Mind you, I think with a new set of tyres and new brake pads, they would probably be as good as new.

I had the second-fastest time of the day. I was not surprised really, because the guy that beat me was half my age, no doubt had 20/20 vision (unlike me), and turned out to be a race driver in his spare time.

Next they announced that we would be doing ‘lane changing’. I thought, “This sounds a bit boring after the slalom.” But I was to be wrong. The objective of this was to accelerate as fast as possible over 150-odd metres, do a really hard aggressive turn to the right, and then instantly throw the car as hard as possible to the left – all this on a pool of water, which lay exactly where the hard turns occurred.

My heart was actually racing hard, and I was a bit nervous, but these cars never ceased to amaze. You could chuck it as hard as possible in the two quick turns – and it just handled it! No skidding or loss of control whatsoever. The water made no difference to it at all! It seems that it would be extremely hard to roll one of these beauties.

Onwards to the skid pan covered in water. We had great fun sliding around and doing 360-degree spins and handbrake turns. And then to cap it all off, we did some hot laps with a pro race driver in a top-of-the-line Sirocco. What a buzz! It was such a great thrill, with huge acceleration and heavy hard braking. Just awesome. I didn’t want it to end, but sadly of course it did.

My thanks for a fantastic day goes to VW. Hope they invite me next year. I’ll beat that young bloke next time, even if I have to get some new glasses, and possibly arrange for him to have a little accident.