News

Her voice hits the airwaves weekdays on CHUM FM. She's a fixture at the station, having logged nearly 31 years there.

In her career, radio broadcaster Ingrid Schumacher has moved up the ranks. And on the road, she has done the same with her cars.

In the past, she's driven a Dodge, a Hyundai and a Saturn. Now she has shifted gears and focused on German luxury. Her latest ride is a 2007 Audi A4 2.0 Quattro sedan.

"I've driven Audis now for my sixth year; I love them.

"It's my second Audi. I had one prior to that. I just fell in love with it and when the lease expired on that one I decided to get another one. It's a great ride. It's a very smooth comfortable car.

"When I get out on the highway with this, it's just a high-performance, great, great car," says Schumacher, who has hosted the CHUM FM Midday show for a decade.

"I looked at other kinds of cars — I looked at BMW, Volvo, Acura. I settled on an Audi after taking a test drive. It just blew me away. It seemed like it was heads over all the rest of the cars.

"When it came to renewing my lease, I again test drove all kinds of cars. … But honestly, none of the other cars felt the same at all. They were hard and didn't feel as smooth. And they didn't have as many features in the interior as well."

Her last vehicle was also an Audi A4, but it had a bigger 3.0-litre engine. "I really don't need an engine that's 3.0 because it consumes a lot of gas, especially in the city when you never really get going.

"In terms of the fuel consumption, I thought a smaller engine would be better," says Schumacher, whose calendar is jam-packed with charity events.

Next month, she's hosting the 4th Annual Toronto's Finest Bachelor and Bachelorette Auction on May 7 — it's a benefit for juvenile diabetes. (Okay, full disclosure — I'm one of the bachelorettes on the auction block; my date includes a BMW Driver Training Course.)

But there's one thing she'd add to her wheels. "Next year, I think I would elect to put snow tires on it in the fall.

"I did not do that this year. It rides on all-performance tires that are all-season, although I understand that's a bit of a misnomer. I don't have snow tires on it. I did fine with it this winter, but if the performance is as good as it was with all seasons, I think it would be spectacular with winter tires."

While this Audi has never let her down, her last one did. "I've never had any really scary moments other than weather-related things, but that's not the car letting you down as much as Mother Nature.

"My previous Audi, a couple of times, I had issues with it where all of a sudden it seemed like it wasn't getting gas. That happened to me once and I had it towed away. It was some kind of electrical problem — literally a $4 part. But then it happened again about two weeks later.

"As a driver in the city that kind of thing is frustrating when all of a sudden you're at the side of the parkway and you have to call a tow truck.

"With this one, I haven't had any issues at all. … But it's a car. It doesn't matter what you buy. They come with no guarantees."

Schumacher has been driving for decades; she learned to drive on her sister's VW Beetle. "I got my licence when I barely turned 16. I think I got my learner's permit before I was 16.

"My father taught me to drive. I wouldn't recommend that. … My own son is currently undergoing Young Drivers of Canada and that's a much better way than myself or his dad showing him how to drive. Leave it to the experts.

"We're really happy that someone else is training him in their car and not one of ours!" laughs the married mother of two sons — a 23-year-old and a 19-year-old.

Schumacher is a fanatic about one feature. "I'm really picky about sound systems because of my business, obviously.

"I love to listen to music, so a car must have a good sound system. And the Audi cars offer a Bose high-performance sound system and that's what I had to have. It's great."

"When I'm driving to work in the morning I listen to CHUM because I need to know what Roger, Rick, and Marilyn are up to since I follow them.

"The rest of the time I have very eclectic tastes in music. I'm a big supporter of local music in Toronto. I listen to all kinds of stuff — every genre is represented in my collection.

"I don't have an MP3 player at this point, although people keep recommending that. Every time I go somewhere, I pack 10 or 20 of my favourite CDs and listen to them while on the road."

Schumacher has hopes of moving up the Audi ladder. Her dream car is an Audi R8. "It's a sporty little thing. Totally impractical, okay? … And you couldn't carry more than a handbag and grocery bag in the thing if you tried.

"But I'd still love to get behind the wheel, get out on the highway and see what that car can do!"