SIDEWAYS SOJOURN

Who knew that the path to motoring nirvana was paved with a foot-deep layer of ice?

- PARTH CHARAN

In the constant pursuit of linear speed, the recondite pleasures of driving sideways are often overlooked. Linear speed is easy. It's an instant adrenaline delivery system taking little more than a tap of the throttle. It allows for true democratization of speed-the phenomenon that's enabled the human race to surge past other species and become the dominant life form. As addictive and accessible as it is, straight-line speed's got nothing on the fine art of drifting. Lateral G-forces being served up by the bowlful, while you constantly endeavour to wrest control back from the chaotic forces of gravity. So I was understandably chuffed to discover that straight-line driving was not on the cards as we approached the glistening, white expanse of a frozen meadow nestled within the Tyrolean Alps in Austria: the venue for Audi's "Ice Experience".

The idea behind the Audi Ice Experience is a simple one: Showcase the brand's proprietary tech and how it holds up on surfaces offering limited to no traction. At least that's the official brief. Unofficially, it means having a go in some of the fastest cars from Audi's line-up while simultaneously coming to grips, so to speak, with the vagaries of ice driving. Mind you, it's not like you can learn these things via a YouTube tutorial or by taking a rental car, finding a patch of ice and cutting loose. Intense preparation went into creating what was essentially several acres of flat ice, surrounded by manmade snow banks in case an overzealous motoring scribe bins it. The Ice Experience doesn't deal in express parking manoeuvres, after all.