Audi, world-class athletes tackle Canton Avenue in new ad

Pittsburghers already know Canton Avenue is an incomparable beast, but a new car commercial will let the world in on our secret.

Audi partnered with Red Bull and four of the athletes on its promotional roster to attack the world's steepest residential street in the ad that debuted on YouTube on Monday.

“Pittsburgh,” Swedish race car driver Mattias Ekstrom says in a voiceover. “What a lovely, quiet place. Until now.”

Ekstrom gives a few buddies a lift up the 37-degree street in the Beechview neighborhood in the 90-second ad for the Audi A4 Quattro.

“For some, too steep,” Ekstrom says. “For me, just perfect.”

Just to show off, the producers alternately covered the road in snow, sand, mud and gravel, and the car churns its way through all of them.

Scenes from the grueling annual bike race the Dirty Dozen are intercut, showing cyclists toppling as they try to pedal their way to the top of Canton.

But it turns out Ekstrom's buddies are German skier Bene Mayr, Finnish snowboarder Heikki Sorsa and American mountain biker Aaron Gwin .

“It was our pleasure to head straight down again,” Ekstrom says as the group tackles the downhill run on wheels, skis and a board.