Heading
Close X
Menu
Just three words can take you to amazing places these days, literally. So Audi decided to find out exactly where their motto, Vorsprung durch Technik, would take them. Armed with the new mapping system called what3words and an Audi Q7, the journey to find Audi’s motto began.
The app is simple; by dividing the globe into 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares and labelling each area with three random words, a unique address is created, meaning even the most far flung or isolated places can be precisely located. Typing Vorsprung durch Technik into the app, the map highlighted a square deep in the Brazilian rainforest. Naturally, it seemed the perfect opportunity to test out the Audi Q7 and visit an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Beginning in Rio de Janeiro, about 300 miles away from the destination, the first visit is to Rocinha, Rio’s largest favela. It is here that the amazing uses of what3words can be seen in action; as most favelas sprung up illegally, very few people have recognised addresses and therefore cannot rely on a postal service that seems to be taken for granted in modern towns and cities. The app therefore gives addresses to those who need them most.
Back in the Q7, it is time to begin the journey. By simply connecting a phone to the Audi MMI (Multi Media Interface), opening the app and typing in vorsprung.durch.technik, the car is ready to go. The first leg flies by in a blur of tropical colour; after a couple of hours of stunning scenery, the Q7 has barely broken a sweat, and arrives at the colonial town of Paraty to stay the night with not even a scratch.
The calm is not long lived. Heading to the Serra do Mar National Park, the road becomes so deteriorated it is impossible to go any faster than 10mph, the Q7 audible as it growls its disappointment. The quattro all-wheel-drive system has no problem navigating the deep rutted track built for all-terrain HGVs, and it is not long before the small square of vorsprung.durch.technik is found.
Seeing the Q7 standing proudly in the midst of the Brazilian rainforest seems to echo the essence of what Audi strives to create, perfectly serendipitous when you think the what3words map could have landed on a drab council estate under grey skies instead.
If you want to see more of what the new Audi Q7 can do, take a look today at Jardine Motors Audi.
