Mercedes Benz world Driving day- The Kids event
A new year and a new Media Driving day. This time it
is back at Mercedes Benz world and along with the media, their Children are
also invited. This is very much their day.
As well as the usual array of cars to drive
including the new A class and SL the children are also invited to drive on the
learner track and the 4x4 course in an ML.
My son Charlie is very much up for this and within
minutes of arriving we are booking him in to have a go on the 4x4 off road
course. Apart from a dodgem car this is the first time he has ever got behind
the wheel. But more of that Latter.
I am anxious to get behind the wheel of an A class,
with all the hype I wanted to see what it was like for myself.
A 250
BlueEFFICIENCY ENGINEERED BY AMG, is the version I have picked. This is a very quick A class with a 0-62 of
6.6 seconds. Unfortunately I don’t have any images of this car as we had very
little time in it, due to the fact we had to get back to Mercedes Benz world in
time for Charlie’s first driving lessonThe car he will be driving is an ML with a price tag of
nearly 50,000 GBP. Scary stuff indeed. Luckily it did have dual controls.
So we made our way down to the front of the
building. Within a few minutes the instructor arrived in the car, and we
were driven to the course.
Now it was Charlie’s turn and amazingly he just fell
into driving, apart from his love of speed, which probably isn’t a good idea
considering we are about to go through deep water and rough muddy roads. To be
fair as with most Mercedes is it automatic so he doesn’t have to worry about the gears, but for some one that has never driven before and is only 12 years old he
does amazingly well.
After about 30 minutes of driving, we are on our way
out again and the ML is in one piece and there is a giant smile on Charlie’s
face.
This scheme was launched
just over 3 years ago and I was the photographer asked to shoot the original PR pictures for this concept, so it was very nice to shoot my own son driving the
course.
The
SL500
This is an incredible sports car. Perfect for all
conditions hard top for this time of the year yet open top car when the sun
comes out. With its 4.7 Litre V8 32 valve engine this car moves, in fact when I
floored the accelerator pedal my son jumped in his seat, this is a quick car mind
you we started from 30 and only went up to the speed limit, but it was quite a
jolt. Handling wise it's great, and the looks we got from other cars drivers
made us both smile.
If you don’t unlike me have to carry around a lot of
stuff, it's worth a look. I love this car, mind you it is a toss up between the SLK,
Time was tight as Charlie was getting hungry, but I
want to drive another car and so we did.This time it was the
C 250
BlueEFFICIENCY AMG SPORT PLUS COUPÉ
7G-TRONIC PLUS
SEVEN-SPEED AUTOMATIC
Personally
I am a big fan of the C Class, I have driven this car many times and every time
they put a smile on my face. Never before have I driven the coupe but true to
form it performed perfectly. Power wise it was good. It has a turbo charged
1.8l Diesel engine with a 31 MPG urban and 49.6 extra urban, it’s 0-62 is 7.9
seconds, which may explain why I feel the fuel consumption is high for a car,
but I suppose that is the price you pay.
I
did enjoy driving it and look forward to doing more in depth reports.
The ML’s on the
track
This
was an a agility test.First up was the ML 63 AMG 4MATIC. This is a car I have
driven before but then it was on the road. As I have mentioned in the past I am
not a fan of 4x4’s unless you live in the countryside though with the weather we
have at the moment I can see their uses. However on the track the AMG performed
amazingly and with it’s speed sensitive air springs enables the 4x4 to remain
upright through tight corners.
The
next ML was the ML 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC SPORT. This is a more economical version
than the AMG a V6 instead of a V8. It also doesn’t sport the speed sensitive
air springs which means there is more roll round and corners and after driving
the AMG you notice the lack of performance, though it is no slouch.
An
interesting drive with a very good instructor sat in the passenger seat.
Back
to Charlie’s drive. This time it was a B class on the Brooklands bends. These
are the original curves from the days of the track, though their surface is
seriously showing it’s age though I hear is about to be resurfaced, which for
the young learners is probably a good idea, as it turns all cars into bone
shakers 
Anyway
back to Charlie’s driving and yet again his steering is A* but then I would say
that, wouldn’t I. During the drive he did manage to take a cone out, but the
cone lived, so no damage, otherwise he did very well negotiating the roundabout
and also the parking challenge which is no mean feat. All in all a good drive.
Back
to the the desk to get a new car to drive. I wanted to drive the A class again
as I really hadn’t put it through it’s paces, he had other ideas, guess who
won.
The SL 350 ROADSTER
As you have already guessed my son won. He likes
sports cars, as do I, this car handles much like it’s bigger brother and with a
0-62 of 5.9 secs and a top speed of 155 mph can certainly move. Economy wise
it does 28,5 in town.
We had a lot of fun driving this through the country
lanes and used the opportunity to test out the fun factor driving around
the bends and being able to test the performance on the straights.
Next time weather permitting it will be a fleet day
and I have decided to go for less cars but more in depth reports, so will be
back in February.
