There are no words

"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech) 12/03/2014 at 22:37 • Filed to: AMG GT, C63, track day

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To describe recovering from an unintended drift at 80mph in the AMG GT-S. And by drift I don't mean I kicked the tail out a little bit, I mean I was looking at the wall through my windshield.

I wanted to take pictures, but like I said earlier, they went allowing it. A story even popped up of a guy who disobeyed this rule at a previous event then sold his spy photos and was allegedly fired and permanently blacklisted from Mercedes. In the spirit of continued employment I opted to follow the rules.

Today was day one of this two day event and it still isn't over. There is a lull in the action for the next hour, but more on that later. Upon stepping out of the hotel expecting a shuttle ride from some crappy econoline vans we were instead greeted by some very attractive ladies who would guide us to the proper locations as well as two very nice tour busses. We started out with a half hour bus ride from the wonderful hotel (seriously, nicest I've ever stayed at) on which we received brief training on proper seating position and track etiquette. After that we had a delicious catered breakfast at the track with lots of fresh pastries, fruit, juice, and the best (only) juevos rancheros I've ever had. Then it was on to the beginning of the fun part.

W205 C63 classroom training. Yes, this was boring, but it only lasted for an hour and was definitely useful. Went over performance numbers and design theory and blah blah blah boring. The best part of the classroom training was that they had a 2015 BMW M3 in the class right next to the C63. They went over its performance numbers and other interesting and impressive points on it. The C63 blows it out of the water in every aspect. Guys, I think BMW M division has lost its way. It's a nice car, don't get me wrong, but it is completely outclassed by the C63. I don't want to/can't get too detailed on the C63 since I'm no journalist and reasons reasons reasons.

The next part was track time in the 63. Two people per car, all following an instructor's lead car. It was just the north section of track at the Thermal Club, nothing too long, but we got up to 100mph or so, getting a feel for the car and its different driving modes. Race mode is a blast and we went balls to the wall for a bit. This car is awesome. The engine sounds incredible, very deep and brutal. You would never know that it's a turbo motor by sounds or feel unless you're looking for it, it's that responsive and loud, if you want it to be anyways. Then we had a few laps of a small auto-x style course. It was fun. I went sideways. A lot. You might even say I opened a bag of doriftos.

We had a nice catered lunch. It was good. I especially enjoyed the brownies.

Then it was time for GT training. There was a naked aluminum space frame as well as chassis with full drivetrain in the classroom. Talked about design and structure and what makes the car what it is. Had a '15 911 to compare, not sure on trim level, S maybe, not much to say about it, a 911 is a 911. The GT is really something else, pictures don't do it justice. The sound clips released a few months ago are a paltry example of what the car actually sounds like. Then it was track time. We went onto the south course first, which is a bit longer than the north course. Had a few guided laps before being allowed to just go nuts. Which we did. This car is so agile and tactile, the feedback is unreal, it wants to turn so badly and it wants to do it at unreal speeds. The carbon brakes make you feel as if you are facing a black hole trying to not be sucked in. As AMG puts it, "only a concrete wall had more stopping power". This isn't an overly tail-happy car, but it will definitely dance. And for someone like myself who hadnever driven on a track before today, it was downright scary more than once because I had too much confidence in myself, but ESP was either full on or in sport mode the whole time and saved me from walls and dirt more than once.

We have a dinner event in a few minutes now, it's taken me a bit to write this. So I will just say for now that there are very exciting things to come from AMG and enjoy the picture of me in my helmet hood thing.

doodon2whls > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 12/03/2014 at 22:40

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*balaclava

Brian Silvestro > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 12/03/2014 at 22:41

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best shirt ever

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 12/03/2014 at 22:48

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Wait, this car? You got to go all drifto in this? Damn, the best part of my night was a cold beer after left over turkey dinner. Lucky bastard.

cayman2007 > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 12/03/2014 at 22:48

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what was the top speed on your second outing? 100mph isn't really track driving

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Deal Killer - Powered by Focus 12/04/2014 at 03:54

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Yes. That. It's a monster. It now tops CLK 63 Black Series as my favorite.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Brian Silvestro 12/04/2014 at 03:55

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Thanks. I was hoping someone would notice. Wife bought that for me a could weeks ago.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > cayman2007 12/04/2014 at 04:00

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I hit 130. I know it's not anything too crazy. But they had cones set up all over the place and didn't really let us do a full lap without stopping at random points for the sake of learning how well the brakes work. The main straight was like the accelerate and brake license tests on Gran Turismo. Accelerate from a stop and full brake at a certain point to a complete stop.