Top of the world

Due to popular demand, Audi is offering Australian customers and enthusiasts the chance to enjoy the exhilarating Audi ice driving experience in New Zealand set amongst the towering alps on just an hour’s drive from Queenstown.

Given the overwhelming popularity of this course, numbers are strictly limited with places filling fast for this year’s event which will run from the 9th to the 11th of August at what is the only ice driving facility in the southern hemisphere.

A sprawling facility spread over nearly 500 hectares high in the spectacular Southern Alps of New Zealand’s South Island, the Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground (SHPG) is, as the name suggests, a place where automotive manufacturers of all stripes take vehicles for winter testing. It allows manufacturers to conduct what’s called counter-seasonal’ or off-season winter testing, offering a vast array of different tracks, gradients and even snow types (soft or hard packed) as well as specially tailored tests and evaluation courses.

From June through until September each year, this mountainous retreat takes on the feel of a top secret facility because, that is exactly what it is. The staff sworn to secrecy as manufacturers test as yet unseen new vehicles not only in these demanding conditions but also far from the prying eyes of the automotive paparazzi.

It is also the home of Audi New Zealand’s ice drive experience, giving participants the opportunity of utilising not only this world-class facility but also getting to unleash the potential of the brand’s legendary quattro all-wheel drive on the very surface which spawned it more than 40 years ago.  

It’s here, just an hour’s drive up into the mountains from Queenstown that the New Zealand Audi driving experience team put participants through their paces in a combination of the latest Audi models, including a selection of S and RS models including all-electric RS e-tron GT. 

For those who have never driven in this environment, the car control necessary is next level – even with quattro. But the safe surrounds of the SHPG is the perfect environment in which to practice and hone those skills under the watchful eyes of Audi’s highly trained instructors. Utilising a specially prepared handling area of the facility, participants complete a series of exercises designed to familiarise them with dynamics of driving on the world’s slickest surface. From slaloms to rapid direction changes, power drifting and balancing the throttle for optimum balance – as skills become sharper, so too the exercise become more challenging.

At the end of the day it all comes together in a timed gymkhana that is as exhilarating as it is rewarding – all conducted against the breathtaking backdrop of the snowcapped Southern Alps.

With such an outstanding facility right on our doorstep, as well as the numerous enticements of New Zealand and its spectacular South Island, New Zealand’s outstanding ice driving experience is one not to be missed. 

And as this is an Audi event, it’s not just about driving extraordinary vehicles in an extraordinary environment, but has a luxury lifestyle aspect to it that caps off the whole experience. Participants enjoy two nights in the luxurious Rees Hotel in Queenstown and are transported to and from the SHPG in VIP luxury.

Despite being just a three hour flight from Sydney, New Zealand offers up a landscape quite unlike anything available in Australia, with towering peaks reaching up into the heavens more reminiscent of Austria than anything in here ‘at home’. Given its proximity and ease of travel, not to mention the stunning surrounds of Queenstown and its many other winter attractions, make a compelling case for the trip across ‘the ditch’ for some automotive R&R.

For more information and to book your place on the coming Audi ice driving experience in New Zealand, visit Audi driving experience.