Mercedes AMG Performance Tour 2011 in Abu Dhabi
Jaw-dropping Affalterbach armada blitzes Yas Marina Circuit
By Shahzad Sheikh
The annual Mercedes-AMG Performance tour is an opportunity for the manufacturer to unleash the might of its monstrous AMG engines, and for us to get a taste of what these cars can do in extreme environments.
An evening at Yas Marina Circuit, with a cool breeze blowing across the track and the empty grandstands echoing back the thunder of the V8s – can things get any better?
It’s a week-long event and each day is packed with a series of activities giving media, owners and VIPs a chance to push cars to the limit, and just very slightly over it, in a totally safe and controlled environment.
I attended three of the sessions, the first of which left me giggling like a schoolboy given the keys to the sweet shop. A selection of svelte Mercedes CLS 63 AMGs – one of the most beautiful saloon cars on sale today – and brutal little C63 AMG four-doors were on hand for us to thrash around a short handling circuit. The straight section was used for a drag-and-stop challenge each time we came around.
Mercedes C 63 AMG saloon & CLS 63 AMG
The C63 is amazingly sharp and quick-witted with keen and thundering acceleration from its traditional 6.3-litre V8, while the CLS with the new 5.5-litre is a little quicker on the straight, but is no match for the smaller saloon when it comes to sharp direction changes. Having said that, it’s remarkably grippy and fluid when you do hurl it about and surprisingly manageable.
It’s also immensely prettier – just look at those tear-drop rear lights – and as an all-rounder, we know it to be a better car on the road. Here on the track though, the C63 was in its elements and seemed to relish the chance to demonstrate what it could really do.
Mercedes AMG SLS
Next up were some laps in the road-going SLS. This was the coupe edition with the gullwing doors, although we had been given a sneak preview of the SLS roadster which stars at the Dubai Motor Show.
Top down it’s a handsome car, although the small exposed areas on each side of the electronically folding canvas roof when it’s down, left me a little concerned that it would collect a lot of sand in the space housing the mechanism, and would be impossible to clean out. Aside from that, there is still something so magical about the gullwing doors that despite the high poseur value and the chance to revel in the awesome sound of the engine that the convertible offers, I still think I’d have the coupe.
Mercedes AMG SLS GT3 race car taxi ride
And finally the perfect way to end the evening was a punishing ‘taxi ride’ in a race-spec SLS GT3 coupe. After suiting up, squeezing my large frame through the roll cage and getting strapped in, I was subjected to a pummelling from g-forces under acceleration, cornering and most of all, the ferocious snap-your-head-off braking – (see the video below).
Nursing a few aches and slight bruising I still emerged absolutely elated and sweaty after that short but sensational reminder of what a real race car – in the hands of an extremely good driver of course – is capable of!
Manufacturers often run days like this across the region – if you ever get an invite for one of these, cancel everything and make sure you attend. You will not regret it!
