Matters for some certain groups of cars. Like the AMG GT-R or the Porsche 911 GT3RS that are purpose built track monsters. They’re directly competing for title of fastest road going track car and the ring is the best place to test it, since it’s over 20 kilometers long and has so many corners, so even small shades of difference will show up and differences of several seconds over the entire course. Is it relevant for the new M3 that is now a comfortable cruiser with a powerful engine and many creature comforts? Nope. But it’s important for the Aventador SVJ since they were batting for the throne as well. Honda and Renault have been battling it out as well for fastest production FWD car. It’s not exactly a metric that consumers can directly make use of, but it’s the proving grounds for those who wish to buy their cars based of pure track performance.
I dunno, just always felt like Audi has been playing catch up with bmw and merc. feel like it still needs to prove itself as a true luxury brand. Pretty boring designs, pretty budget feeling compared to the other two