coladin

Just wanted to drop a line on these two cars, part of a MB Driving Academy at Calabogie Motorsports Park near Ottawa,Canada. Also on hand were B200, C300, C350 4Matic, C63 AMG (2010 w/new perf pack), E550 Coupe, SLK 350, SLK55, CLS 63, and ML320 and GLK350.

The Driving Academy was an amazing experience and encourage everyone and anyone who has a chance to take part. Not only do you get to drive all of these cars at the limit, but I learned a lot about driving and finding the limit of these cars. All of these cars were driven with all the electronics on, the instructors stated that the way MB and AMG tune their vehicles, if the lights come on, you are not driving correctly and if you do a proper lap in these cars, the nanny lights should barely flicker. I was skeptical but after going in a few laps with the instructors, it was mindblowing how HARD they were driving with all the nanny features on, they were practically hopping over curbs BTCC-style and they were right!

Anyways, I am interested in the 550 coupe because I love the style and like the V8 as well and is quite reasonably priced for what you get i think and it was quite the track car. It was fast, secure, strong brakes but also very tossable with good steering and more importantly how the car adapted to weight transfer through corners was top notch. Not that anyone would drive their cars like this but it was amazing to see how this car was tracked all day and seemed perfectly happy doing so.

The E63 was a monster and unfortunately I guess the nanny lights came on a lot! The car is simply so fast everywhere that you are constantly exceeding the limits and it has to be reeled in. What a car!

To all of you who possibly wonder how your Benzes are designed and tuned, let me tell you that all of the models were trackable and quite frankly, surprising.

Cant wait to get my coupe!

ttoE550

Congrats! I did the Porsche Performance Driving program many years ago, and loved every minute of it. I know exactly how excited you are. For me, it was raining very hard, and it was amazing how well the nanny system worked. It was also cool to see the tires literally steaming when we pitted.

If you really love this stuff, perhaps look into a 3-day racing school. I did the Skip Barber racing school at Laguna Seca in CA. Now THAT will get you excited! The cars are about 1200 lbs and 150 hp, but they outperform even the E550 on 0-60, cornering, and most definitely braking. On straights they're not so fast, but straights are boring anyhow. I put learning to race as one of the top three things I've ever done, after seeing my daughter born and marrying my wife.

But remember the old joke: "There's lots of money in racing -- I put it there!"

Oh -- did the instructors mention whether the nanny system monitors your driving inputs and backs off if you responding appropriately? I.e., it will let you slide if you are correctly countersteering and being smooth with acceleration/braking? I think this is true, but can't find confirmation.

YYZ-E55

Interesting... I took the same course last fall and I was very unimpressed with the E550 coupe relative to the other cars. It was the most "mushy" and did not respond confidently when pushed to the limit. Part of the problem (IMO) is the dead steering that plagues the coupe moreso than any other car in the line-up.

Having said that, I love my coupe, but it is definitely not a track-worthy car.

coladin

The key word is relative i guess, when I did my laps in the E550, i came out of the CLS63 which seemed kind of unrefined compared to the E550 when i went into it next. It is hard to judge when driving so many cars but the steering seemed fine to me, in fact most of the Benzes steering were quite good. I don't know the track you were on, i see you are from the Toronto area so was it Mosport? Calabogie has a lot of elevation changes which gives a good opportunity to see cars taking off camber corners while going into a decereasing elevation corner or a tightening corner going into an increasing elevation corner.

It was not a sports car mind you, nor do i feel it is MB's intent, but on that day I felt that this car while not in its element, was very trackable and quite easy to drive fast at Calabogie.

What impressed me a lot that day was not so much the AMGs , didn't like the SLK55 at all, but the B200 was a heck of a skateboard and fun to drive and also how capable the ML and GLK were once you got over the fear that it was going to tip, unreal how hard you can drive an ML!

YYZ-E55

I did the program at Mosport, which also has a number of elevation changes. The ML was a lot of fun. Agreed on the B-Class as well... it was actually the easiest to drive fast for some reason.

My personal opinion is that the E coupe is a baby GT car. You can drive it fast, but it doesn't inspire confidence (for me) in the turns. I came out of an M3, so perhaps I'm jaded.

coladin

Ahh, well there you go, "relatively" speaking, you are coming from a track all-star!

You know, not too much difference in our neck of the woods between an M3 and E550, price-wise, is there? I can definitely give my bro a run in his C63...but not really!

nickia

Sorry to bump this up but I agree with you. While I've never driven the 550 Coupe on the track, its steering is really "soft" and "cushy" when going through curves compare to C63. On the other hand, the coupe is a perfect GT car

BenzE350

Sound like a great time.

I just checked the Mercdes AMG Driving Academy website and they are offering a free basic one day program for anyone who purchases or leases a new AMG on or after 12/31/10. This is a $1,595 value.

Joyride

I did the Mercedes Academy event this past summer here in Manitoba. Most of all I liked the C63 and the E63 (but I get to drive that every day ). I am a tall guy and I didn't feel comfortable in the B, SLK and GLK. First thing I did when getting into the cars, was to put them in Sport Mode, and take ESP off. Wish they would have had an SL AMG, G55 AMG, and the SLS there...