Does Mercedes offer an official driving school? If so, would they offer all types of lines of car to try out including the E? If so, has anyone done it?

 

OK, I am guessing that there is no MB driving school since there have been no responses. Thus, did anyone do the BMW high performance driving school?

 

I believe there is actually some type of AMG driving school where you can go for the weekend. I remember me and bklynbenz were looking at it last year and it was a weekend long. I dont think they have many different options like BMW or Audi for that matter. Since I gave my 02 audi to my little brother I never frequent there forums anymore, however; the people there all attend winter, summer all kinds of driving courses through them. I know one of there schools was up in Canada where you learned in a4/a6/s8 on a lake of ice for defensive winter driving. Maybe someone can provide some specifics about any MB schools if they've been to any?

Fazooley

 

It's in Canada - here's the site for the MB Driving School:

http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/supports...hool/index.htm

 

I do performance driving instruction. I'm not aware of any MB-affiliated schools in the USA, but there are many opportunities to get on-track instruction through schools run by the Porsche Club of America and BMW Club of America if you are willing to drive your own car. There are also a number of commercial oprganizations such as Bondurant, Skip Barber, Jim Russell, TrackTime and Trackmasters which operate schools in your area.

I instruct for TrackTime and TrackMasters. Their schools include classroom sessions and lapping on road racing courses with an instructor in your car with you (IMHO, a setup much superior to the obsolete "lead and follow" method mentioned in the MB-affiliated Canadian school in the previous link). Two-day schools cost $500-650, and are held at facilities such as Watkins Glen, Summit Point, Mosport, Michigan International Speedway and Road America. These are "drive your own car" schools, hence the low cost.

 

Hello TPAbnz

What is this in your signature - Alps Rally package?

 

I'd like to know what that is also? Anyone?

Fazooley

 

The Alps Rally package is an option for European Delivery that consists of a self-guided 6-day drive through the Alps, including accomodations at a number of nice hotels. It's a delivery option, rather than a vehicle option.

Here's the MB USA information on the rally package.

P.S. Hello Fazooley, from a new pewter CDI. (Picked it up at the factory yesterday.)

This is the view out of the window from one of the stops on the route:

 

Hi Khaug,
I always follow these type of posts with great interest. Are there any Advanced Driving Skills type courses that teach drivers 'advanced' Roadcraft skills?

These are always of tremendous benefit and over here are a very good way of getting discounted car insurance.

Regards,
John

A cool sunny but cloudy morning in Torquay

 

heres a link for the amg challenge in the states, but it doesnt give specific information as to cost, location, dates, etc. i had information on other events, ill have to look around for them

http://www.mbusa.com/amg/experience/...jsp?model=null

 

AMG Winter-Sporting in Leysin

Emotion and passion - two attributes which can be readily associated with the Mercedes-AMG brand.

With fast, sporty cars which one might think were not really built for excursions onto ice and snow.

Yet at the 1st AMG Winter-Sporting event in Switzerland, it was proved to the AMG customers that quite the reverse is true.

On a plateau in the Waadtland region of the Alps, near Lake Geneva, participants were given the opportunity to demonstrate and hone their driving skills. The training took place in a closed-off, high-altitude area belonging to the Swiss military.

The aim of the training was to get to know the cars drift and handling characteristics in winter conditions. To this end, the organizers had laid out a skid pan, a handling circuit and a slalom course on which the participants could find out how to regain control of their vehicles in the event of four-wheel drifting and tail-skidding.

One rather special experience was the cross-country section through the woods, where the participants were able to test the G 55 AMG under real-life off-road conditions. Here they had to negotiate a circuit with a 17% gradient (i.e. a gradient of between 1 in 5 and 1 in 6) - no problem for the vehicles themselves, of course.

In addition to the actual training, the participants were treated to an interesting supporting program, with such highlights as Swiss cheese fondue for supper at a dairy, and lunch directly at the training venue. The particular attraction of the latter was that the meal was prepared on the spot by a star chef.The Winter-Sporting training course in Leysin represents a new departure when it comes to events by the Mercedes-AMG brand. Its success has shown that one can have a great deal of fun on snow and ice even with vehicles designed for high-speed driving.

 

Discover your AMG

The 2004 AMG Race Driving Training Camp at Spa Francorchamps.

This year for the first time, a race driving training camp was offered at Spa Francorchamps. From May 4 through May 7, 2004 the participants could get a personal taste of "fascination", "enthusiasm", "enjoyment" and "adrenaline" first-hand in their vehicles. This was the claim made by AMG. Up front let me say: the claim was fully justified, exceeding the expectations of the 32 participants by a long shot.

On the first day was arrival and check-in. We were received warmly and told about the program. The program officially started at 6:30 p.m. with a lesson in theory and an introduction of the instructors & co-instructors - who included Roland Asch and Harald Proczyk -- along with the sports medicine team. At this point it was already clear that the event had been organized perfectly not leaving anything to chance.

Fascination, Enthusiasm, Enjoyment and Adrenaline to Spare

On the second day we assembled on therace track at 8:30 after a hearty breakfast and having our heart rate monitors put on by the "medical unit". Everything had already been readied by the team of organizers and the vehicles were lined up without delay. The instructors and co-instructors took the leadership of their groups right away. After a brief set of clear instructions, we were soon doing some exploratory laps to get to know the race track. There was already plenty of fascination, enthusiasm, enjoyment and adrenaline to go around, and then some.

The so-called adrenaline roller coaster in the spa is the longest Formula One course (6,974 km) with the greatest elevation differential (200 m) and a lot of fast curves. And now we had it all to ourselves. The race track was divided up for us into four sections, so each group could have "its own" section. Under the professional guidance of the technically and pedagogically skilled instructors, we got a chance to get to know the performance potential of ourselves and our cars hands-on and in an extremely enjoyable way. The concentration on the essential, the tremendous feats of both technical and driver performance, and the search for critical limits far beyond normal driving conditions - these things were ours to rediscover in each separate section. The instructors showed us clearly time and again that the important thing is not to try to set a new track record, but instead first and foremost to recognize risks, avoid danger, and master the critical situations.

We were thrilled that on this day we were already permitted to drive the entire course (guided) for over an hour. Everyone had a chance to do their "own" rounds right behind the instructor and follow the racing line. The radio-transmitted instructions were often just as valuable as the ESP that was on.

Gas Flowing through the Veins

We had dinner in a lovely mountain restaurant offering a magnificent view over the Ardennes and got to enjoy the sunset. And from our conversations with the organizers, instructors, co-instructors and participants it became clear what all of us together have in common: gas flowing through our veins.

After the adventure-packed and highly demanding training day we headed off to bed early (around 11 p.m.). The "curves" we saw in our dreams now had names: La Source, Eau Rouge, Les Combes, Pouhon, Stavelot, Blanchimont and Bus Stop.

Some days getting up is not at all hard. One of these was the third day in Spa:
After meeting up on the race track, Groups 1 and 2 began right off with guided driving at considerably higher speeds than the day before. The fun factor went up yet again. Meanwhile, Groups 3 and 4 were given their heart-rate monitoring results. We were all grateful for the medical supervision and support and accepted it with gratitude.

True Professionals: the Instructors

A "free training" session was also held before breaking for lunch. Here, everybody was given an opportunity to put into practice the things they had learned on the "clean" laps - a special challenge that we all benefited from in every way. A special note: everyone made sure to observe the commanding principle of: "fairness and consideration toward each other,especially towards slower vehicles."
The regularity speed trial started at 2:45 p.m., where whoever was able to record the lowest time differential after 5 rounds was declared the "cleanest" driver and the winner. A really interesting competition that was a lot of fun for everybody.

Finally we had a chance to watch our instructions in action as co-pilots, driving the course at race track speeds. One thing we discovered was that the AMG vehicles can do a whole lot more than we had asked of them thus far. Another was that our instructors are true professionals. It was tremendous being able to experience first-hand the driving skills of Reinhold Renger, Harald Proczyk and Roland Asch. That brought us all back to reality. A very helpful experience for the trip home.

I hope that the race driving training camp in the Spa will be repeated next year again.
All involved deserved the highest marks for the planning, organization and execution of the event. This included in particular the AMG team of mechanics who took care of the vehicles' "health and welfare".


That is why "AMG" also stands for "It's All Mega Good".
Friedhelm Mihm, Sundern/Germany



this was taken from the amg private lounge website, some dudes experience

 

To drive a car fast at Spa would be a thrill.. Especially if it wasn't my car, lol..

 

You ought to go to the Nurburgring. You can hire a 'taxi' to take you round but sadly they have to be booked in advance (approximately 12 months ) One of the two vehicles is driven by a woman called Maxine. She holds the track record of 8 minutes 16 seconds. The taxi is a BMW M5 and they are driven like an M5 should be drove.

The experience of a lifetime!! If you are that way inclined you can use your own car

Regards,
John