It’s been a minute since the AA attended the Audi Ice Experience. Twelve years in fact, but who’s counting, right?  

When the invite arrived for the 2024 event, straws were drawn to decide which AA Motoring Expert would attend. Suffice to say, as a bucket list experience for the AA team, there was Olympic-medal-winning euphoria for the winner; the runners-up required a counselling session. 

The SHPG was recently visited by a Tesla CyberTruck and the insanely fast Lucid Air EV. But you won’t find photo evidence of these claims – strict privacy is the modus operandi at SHPG, phones are even handed over to the mountain’s minders during certain stages of the programme. 

Our day starts before the sparrows are up as overnight compaction makes for better ice driving conditions. We arrive at the SHPG as the sun first peeks over snowcapped pinnacles to see a line-up of freshly minted Audis, white plumes of condensation exiting icy tailpipes. 

First up we learn the basics from instructors with impressive race pedigrees from Downforce. We are taken through ice driving fundamentals like the definitions of oversteer and understeer. Basically, oversteer is good, understeer, not so much.  

Then, I am behind the wheel of a fire-breathing, RS-4 Avant V6 Turbo. It’s a counterintuitive feeling, looking at nothing but ice while a voice over the radio says, “make sure the traction control is turned completely off.” But that’s the whole point of the day. We are learning how to control oversteer (and eliminate the dreaded understeer) with the help of some incredibly intelligent Quattro technology. 

Quattro means ‘four’ in Italian, signifying four-wheel drive. In a nutshell, it’s a system that sends power to any individual wheel that is not losing traction, creating maximum grip. Audi’s torque splitter technology (on the RS3 models) delivers torque to the outer or inner rear wheels, depending on the surface. The result is reduced understeer, meaning the car straightens itself under slippery conditions. We are experiencing how Audis react in their natural habitat. 

We run through a series of driving exercises, from a controlled figure eight drift to a winding circuit called ‘little Finland,’ to the final shoot-out against a rival team member on a gymkhana inspired racetrack. It’s absolutely bonkers and insanely thrilling – sliding sideways at speed, with huge snow plumes streaming from the rear tyres.  

There’s a noticeable transition between our morning and afternoon sessions. Early on, it’s heart pounding, road cone squashing madness, with the gracious Downforce team maintaining incredible professionalism by not laughing at the unfolding folly. By afternoon, most drivers are traversing a complex ice circuit at speed, understeer has been eliminated, theoretical classroom notions are replaced by real world understanding. 

At sundown, our cheeks are sore from a day of smiling. The bus drops us at the Ayrburn food and wine precinct in Arrowtown, a 160-year-old sheep farm with individual buildings remodelled into chic bars and restaurants. There’s exposed brick, rusty corrugated iron, fairy lights and wickedly good pinot noir, all under the picture-perfect gaze of the Southern Alps.  

Even if it’s another twelve years before we experience Audis on ice again, it will be worth the wait.