Many of us at one point or another have experienced that 'new car smell' and many of you reading this will soon be collecting a new car from your local dealer. Relish that first drive home regardless of what it is. But when you're going to be collecting something that little bit more special, shouldn't the process of collection reflect that too? Audi thinks it should, which is why it allows buyers to go to Germany to collect their car. We travelled to Neckarsulm to see what the process involves while collecting Audi Ireland's new RS 3 Sportback.
The Audi Forum at Neckarsulm is located 60 kilometres north of Stuttgart and is home to the factory that produces the A4 Saloon, A5 and S5 Cabriolets, A6 Saloon and Avant, S6, A6 allroad quattro, A6 hybrid, A7 and S7. In a separate facility it produces the A8, A8 hybrid, A8 L and S8, while the RS 5 Cabriolet and RS 6 Avant and RS 7 are also produced there. Further down the road work has just completed on the facility that will manufacture the new R8 and R8 Spyder. So, as you can imagine, it is a fairly sizeable location.
Arriving through the front doors you are met by an amphitheatre of clean, crisp architecture that very much reflects the design philosophy of the cars made here. Despite its vastness it is a surprisingly quiet venue and one that seems all very calm and relaxed. It's quite a surprise when our guide for the day, André Lugert, informs us that approximately 110 cars per day are collected from here each day. We were also surprised to learn that, despite the grand forum and exquisite facilities the cost to customers who wish to collect their new car directly from the factory is nil. All Audi requires is that customers make their own way there and everything else is handled by Audi.
It isn't just a European thing either, as André tells of customers from as far away as California coming here to pick up their new pride and joy. Many combine it with a road trip holiday around Europe before dropping their car to one of a number of European shipping ports that Audi use to then ship the car onwards while the new owners fly home.
From the second floor coffee area we spy our RS 3 sitting below in the collection area looking resplendent in Catalunya Red. Before any driving we are given a full tour of the factory facilities by André and, unlike the walking tours that are open to the public, we are given the full Audi treatment and will be driven from point to point in the company's new Q7. Sadly, and as is often the case, photography in this area is not permitted but the tour delivers a fascinating insight into the production methods involved in the various cars that are produced here.
A large portion of the production process is automatic, starting with the Press Shop. This is where huge rolls of aluminium and steel are brought in via autonomous transporters and loaded into the machines. These 30-ton spools and drawn into the heavy-duty machines, each the size of a small house, and the pressing process begins. Each panel can pass through four or five presses before being completely formed. It runs like clockwork and is bizarrely therapeutic to watch. You can feel the ground tremble every time the press comes down, although the noise level is nowhere near as loud as what you might expect.
Car production at this site dates back more than a century and in more modern times the then NSU brand merged with Auto Union GmbH. The company was known from 1969 as Audi NSU AUTO UNION AG, but in 1985 became AUDI AG. Of course, the facilities these days are amongst the best in the industry and even though Audi has introduced large-scale automation of many of the production stages key points in the process are still done or overseen by a human.
Nowhere is this more evident than on the A8/S8 production line. Housed entirely in its own building, only Audi's flagship saloon is produced here and has been since its introduction. The attention to detail appears meticulous and even though highly precise machinery helps with the assembly process we see a number of cars taken aside at the end of the production line to receive even more detailed fine-tuning.
Once cars are produced here they are taken on a short drive at the factory's purpose-built test track. Naturally André, being the good sport that he was, took us out for a blast around it to see just what the cars are put through. There's everything from cobbled sections to seriously banked corners, chicanes and kerbs to mount, all of which is designed to highlight any potential areas that may require attention.
With the factory tour finished we were whisked back to the special entrance of the Forum and just in time for lunch, which for today would mean a table in the Nuvolari restaurant. The culinary delights are every bit as special as the whole collection process thus far and should you decide to collect your future Audi from Neckarsulm dining here is a must-do.
It's easy to lose hours and hours looking around the Neckarsulm Forum, as 1.7 million people have done since it first opened in 2005, but we do have some work to do and first things first there is a small bit of paperwork and documents to sign before we can officially take delivery of the car. Thankfully much of this is taken care of in advance so once the formalities are done with I am then shown through the car as part of the detailed handover process.
This typically takes between 15 and 30 minutes depending on the car, equipment levels and whether the customer is familiar with the Audi switchgear and infotainment systems. Details such as pairing your phone to the car's Bluetooth system are all taken care of and finally, with temporary export plates fitted, André finally hands over the keys and opens the main doors.
What lies ahead is a 1,480-kilometre drive home, plenty of time to run in that new 367hp 2.5-litre five-cylinder engine. One of the points of interest along the route home just happens to be the Nürburgring. Oh well, it would be rude not to...