So where were we in my little story?
I’m standing here on the Buddh circuit. Well, in the pit-lane, but that’s always a good place to start. The scale of the place is immense. Its my first time here, and I’m glad that I’ll be doing the driving rather than just watching. We’re ushered in to a garage area and given a quick slideshow presentation on general safety, and what we’ll be going through in the day :
1) 2 hot-laps with Bernd Maylander (F1 safety car driver since 2000!)
2) Slalom session (C250 and C63 back to back comparo)
3) Follow-the-leader (2 laps around Buddh!)
NOTE: This is just a condensed sampler of what participants would go through in the full-day course.
We are instructed to keep the ESP ON :(. It’s a bit sad, since in a way the car will be doing a lot for us, reducing the possible learning curve greatly. Not sure if this will be the case for academy participants too. Since we’re talking about ESP – the AMGs have 3 settings. ON, OFF and SPORT. Sport allows a greater drift-angle before it steps in. Off is for crazy people and professionals. Suggested only for use on closed circuits.
The grandstand roof looming above the pit-lane
HOT LAPS WITH MAYLANDER :
We waited in line as Maylander took 2 people at a time around the track. I’ve heard interviews where he has talked about driving the SLS safety car during F1 races, and how he has to really push it – but never takes it close to the limit, since a safety car spin-out would be disastrous (and embarrassing). Well, it sure did NOT seem like he was following the same philosophy today! After the first two laps, his C63 pulled in to the pit-lane with brakes and tyres smoking. The passengers tumbled out. “
Sideways on EVERY corner!” they said with glee.
Bernd mentioned that the track was very slippery since it hasn't really been used since the last F1 race. The good part of this was the low tyre wear on the usually tyre hungry AMGs, as well as an exciting sideways experience for the passengers. It was also funny to hear him talk slightly dismissively about the “slower” C63 (well, naturally he was comparing to the SLS
![Big Grin](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.png)
).
Wheel-spin in the pit lane, and he shoots off again, leaving a trail of rubber behind. I could hear the AMG exhaust barking all the way to the far bends of the circuit. Down-shifting and spitting thunder.
I waited in line patiently, but unfortunately we ran out of time for this part of the event. I didn’t get to ride along with Bernd – but to be honest, I was quite keen to get myself behind the wheel, so I moved on to the next item in the schedule.
Bernd meant business. Passengers had to wear helmets when riding along, but not when driving themselves!
The white C63 "circuit taxi"
Bernd having a chat with some of us
SLALOM
We piled into 2 C63s and 2 C250’s and drove half way around the circuit to corner # C10. For this corner, the track splits into an inner and outer track. The inner corner is for motorbikes – but that’s the course everyone was running the cars on, as the outer corner had been coned off for our use during the slalom.
The slalom course consisted of 5 direction changes, a hard braking zone, and an obstacle avoidance (while braking). Everything was laid out using cones, with the lying down cones pointing in the direction you are supposed to turn.
Our instructor Norman said that its all about smoothness. "
The guy who is the smoothest and probably looks the slowest will get the fastest time".
I got in the C250 for my first run of the course. I thought it would be good to experience the stock car before the AMG. The car did okay – the direction changes weren’t sharp, there was noticeable body roll, and the throttle response was average. Braking performance at the end of the slalom was good, with the ABS kicking in and letting me steer around the obstacle at the end of the brake zone. “
Brake harder! Brake harder” said a voice over the walkie talkie. I guess I should have been more brutal on the B-pedal.
Next up, the gleaming red C63 AMG. The interiors itself were so much more to my tastes, a sporty textured steering wheel, flattened out slightly at the top and bottom. Metal pedals, and sporty touches of brushed aluminum across the interior. Revved her up, and boy does she make a racket! You’d never guess that this is a Mercedes talking. It has a definite muscle car tone to it. A German take on the big gurgling V8. I’ve spent about a week with a previous gen E55 AMG earlier, and it sounded nothing like this. Well, perhaps only a fraction of this. I guess AMG has further tweaked the sound for this generation of cars. (The E63 sounds sweet too). Another difference was that the size of the C63 made it seem a lot more manageable and confidence inspiring compared to the bigger E55.
Slam the gas, and I’m off the line with a chirp of wheel-spin. Touch the brakes, and turn in for the first set of cones. Immediately the difference between this and the C250 is clear. Its so much more eager to turn in, so much tighter, the throttle can be used to control the car (even in these short distances and slower speeds) and the brakes have a firm bite to them. Well, the throttle can do good and evil. Powered out of a corner a bit too hard, went a bit sideways and Norman came in over the walkie talkie “
Ooh! Almost lost it there…easy on the throttle”. Acceleration, sound, handling - its hard to believe they are “the same car”.
Come up to the braking zone, and I drop the anchor quite forcefully this time. Tyres squeal, ABS kicks in, and every millimeter of those big discs is used. The C63 comes to a halt even before I reach the “obstacle” I’m supposed swerve to avoid! “
Good braking!” says Norman.
In this video :
1) Bernd in the pits with smoking brakes (hard to see in the vid) and then launching
2) Bernd launching again (in the pit-lane)
![Big Grin](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/biggrin.png)
3) The C63 coming around the last corner onto the main straight (you can hear it approaching)
4) The nasty growl and spit of the AMG V8. Turn your sound up!
5) A typical slalom run by one of the other participants (not me)
The slalom cars lined up
C250s at the back of the line
The cockpit of the C63
Studies show that 90% of drivers don't brake hard enough in panic situations. Brake-Assist (BAS) and ABS help.
![I drove a C63 AMG at Buddh!! Mercedes AMG Driving Academy Launched-sam_0024.jpg](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/super-cars-imports-india/872743d1692113838t-i-drove-c63-amg-buddh-mercedes-amg-driving-academy-launched-sam_0024.jpg)