AMG GT-S Track Day at the Thermal Club (Palm Springs CA)
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 8,074
Likes: 2,867
From: Los Angeles
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
AMG GT-S Track Day at the Thermal Club (Palm Springs CA)
Just got back from the AMG event I was invited to at the Thermal Club last weekend. Have to say I was MASSIVELY impressed with the entire event from start to finish. It was way better than expected, with AMG flying in from Germany 8 top professional drivers to instruct us (Nurburgring 24hr podium finishers, DTM champs, etc). Apparently, we were the first people to drive these outside of the press and AMG/MB folks. The organization and level of the event was absolutely top-notch.
Have attached a few pictures, and would be happy to answer any questions.
The trackday was split into 2 parts. The first 4hrs were spent driving through the mountains and canyons around Palm Springs with one of their drivers. In each group was an AMG GT-S, S63, CLS63, and GLA45 - 2 drivers per car (and my gf was happy to give me 2 gos in every car - SWEET). On the road, the GT-S had great manners, and we got to really run them hard early in the morning (I really enjoyed the S63 too - wow that's a car I could be stuck in traffic in for weeks). A good way to familiarize ourselves with the cars before hitting the track, and I had some fun chasing Kai Reimer through the twisties in his SL63 (which, as he reminded me over the walkie talkie, had 585hp to my 510hp, as he walked me on a straightaway haha).
On the track, the AMG GT-S is a WEAPON. Plain and simple. The shifting is oh-my-f**king-god fast. Lightning. Engine sounds beautiful, and the turbo lag is practically non-existent. It feels like an n/a car. Very flat, balanced and composed, predictable handling with perhaps a bit more understeer than I expected (we weren't allowed to turn the traction control completely off, which I suspect would have changed that). Very firm ride with 2 levels of suspension settings. C, S, S+ modes as we are accustomed to, with the addition of a RACE mode which completely woke the car up. Of course I figured out how to activate the Race Start (pull both paddles back while on the brake), and the car hooked nicely. We drove 'Premier Edition' cars, which had carbon ceramic brakes (amazing, zero fade) and a fixed rear wing which I preferred to the pop-up standard fare. LOADS of fun, and I got 22laps out on the 3mi circuit. Top speeds out there were about 145-150mph on the straight, and there were a lot of challenging s-turns, carousels, and off-camber sections. Make no mistake, they let us beat the living s**t out of these cars. Never missed a beat, although I could feel one of the non-Premier Edition cars was getting a bit tired. There's also an annoying feature which kicks in when you're closing on a car too quickly, which essentially locks up the brakes as you're getting on them - extremely annoying on track, but thankfully I was only in that car for 5 laps. We then proceeded to an autocross handling track where we could test around a tighter course. I can away massively impressed. Could use a bit more power, maybe lose a couple pounds, and the turbos looked rather small. I'm sure this will be 'corrected' with future iterations, Black, etc. 600hp in this thing and you're going to be someone to deal with. No doubt. Almost a perfect car, for me anyway. Blows away the 996TT I had a few years ago, and that's saying something about how far cars have come in 10yrs.
I'm FOR SURE going to be in line to pick one of these bad boys up.
Have attached a few pictures, and would be happy to answer any questions.
The trackday was split into 2 parts. The first 4hrs were spent driving through the mountains and canyons around Palm Springs with one of their drivers. In each group was an AMG GT-S, S63, CLS63, and GLA45 - 2 drivers per car (and my gf was happy to give me 2 gos in every car - SWEET). On the road, the GT-S had great manners, and we got to really run them hard early in the morning (I really enjoyed the S63 too - wow that's a car I could be stuck in traffic in for weeks). A good way to familiarize ourselves with the cars before hitting the track, and I had some fun chasing Kai Reimer through the twisties in his SL63 (which, as he reminded me over the walkie talkie, had 585hp to my 510hp, as he walked me on a straightaway haha).
On the track, the AMG GT-S is a WEAPON. Plain and simple. The shifting is oh-my-f**king-god fast. Lightning. Engine sounds beautiful, and the turbo lag is practically non-existent. It feels like an n/a car. Very flat, balanced and composed, predictable handling with perhaps a bit more understeer than I expected (we weren't allowed to turn the traction control completely off, which I suspect would have changed that). Very firm ride with 2 levels of suspension settings. C, S, S+ modes as we are accustomed to, with the addition of a RACE mode which completely woke the car up. Of course I figured out how to activate the Race Start (pull both paddles back while on the brake), and the car hooked nicely. We drove 'Premier Edition' cars, which had carbon ceramic brakes (amazing, zero fade) and a fixed rear wing which I preferred to the pop-up standard fare. LOADS of fun, and I got 22laps out on the 3mi circuit. Top speeds out there were about 145-150mph on the straight, and there were a lot of challenging s-turns, carousels, and off-camber sections. Make no mistake, they let us beat the living s**t out of these cars. Never missed a beat, although I could feel one of the non-Premier Edition cars was getting a bit tired. There's also an annoying feature which kicks in when you're closing on a car too quickly, which essentially locks up the brakes as you're getting on them - extremely annoying on track, but thankfully I was only in that car for 5 laps. We then proceeded to an autocross handling track where we could test around a tighter course. I can away massively impressed. Could use a bit more power, maybe lose a couple pounds, and the turbos looked rather small. I'm sure this will be 'corrected' with future iterations, Black, etc. 600hp in this thing and you're going to be someone to deal with. No doubt. Almost a perfect car, for me anyway. Blows away the 996TT I had a few years ago, and that's saying something about how far cars have come in 10yrs.
I'm FOR SURE going to be in line to pick one of these bad boys up.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 8,074
Likes: 2,867
From: Los Angeles
2012 P31 C63 Coupe Trackrat, 2019 GLE63S Coupe Beast
Just a customer who had recently bought an AMG. It wasn't even new - CPO car. Shocked that I would get an opportunity like that, totally on their dime. "How to Create Brand Loyalty 101"
