Mercedes Benz World C63 Driving Experience - Competition Prize From Event Tyres and Continental Tyres

I went in for a competition on Event Tyres Facebook page to win a drive at Mercedes Benz World. I was really happy when I was told I had won.

The question was who sponsors Mercedes Benz World, the answer is Continental Tyres

To give some background, Event Tyres were founded in 2003 by Mark Shankland and Gary Moloney and are a mobile tyre fitting company that come to you and fit tyres. They started with three transit vans that operated out of a Manchester depot. Event Tyres are now an award winning company with nationwide coverage.

Continental Tyres were founded in 1871 in Hanover under the name Continental-Caoutchouc- und Gutta-Percha Compagnie. Since then the company has gone from strength to strength bringing many innovations to tyres and the safety of tyres. Today they are a household brand and they are the tyre of choice on all new Mercedes Benz cars and sponsors Mercedes Benz World. Continental also manufactures several other car components.

When the day came, I set off early to avoid any traffic and to have a look around. Upon arriving at Mercedes Benz World in Weybridge roughly half an hour early, I walked through the glass doors to reception to check in and was told that Jianni Geras from Event Tyres and Dan Sheppard from Continental Tyres would arrive shortly and that I could have a look around. 

Looking around you get a sense that they have all things that a Mercedes Benz customer could wish for. On driving to the main building, I drove past an off road track for the 4x4's and the car test tracks. Inside the building they have a Mercedes Benz dealership, a service centre, a shop full of other Mercedes Benz Merchandise, a cinema, a cafe, a bistro, lots of cars with information to go with them and lots of different driving experiences. Walking around you get a sense of how important the history of Mercedes Benz is as well as what is going on with the latest models. Some of the cars that they have include a replica of Karl Benz first car, Vijay Mallya's CLK GTR, a W125 pre World War 2 car next to the car 2014 F1 car driven by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and 300 SL Gulwing. There is also in interesting exhibit of an F1 car that is hung by wire showing all of the car parts and how they go together.

I make my way back to the reception area and a meet Jianni Geras from Event Tyres. He greets with a big smile and handshake, we met earlier in the year at the Wilton House Classic & Supercar show.

The other competition winners have arrived and we are taken to a private suite for coffee and a safety briefing and we are then met by Dan Sheppard from Continental Tyres who gives the briefing and shows us a layout of of the test tracks. They have a beginner track, a fast track, a cone slalom and emergency stop area, a wet road area and a skid pan. 

After the briefing there is a Q&A session about Continental Tyres.

Once finished, we are taken down to the ground floor and outside to the test track. We have a group photo by the SLS AMG and one by one we are taken to our cars by the instructors. 

Today I will be driving a Mercedes Benz AMG tuned C63 and this is the most technologically advanced car I have driven. It has a 6.2 litre V8 bi turbo engine that produces 457 BHP, I have the choice of automatic or flappy paddle gearbox and there are different setups that will be explored later and the car is rear wheel drive. The breaks are carbon ceramic discs with six piston callipers.

Once strapped in I look at the dash and there is a lot to take in. I start the car and it has a very low sounding idle. I chat with my instructor and I opt to go with the flappy paddle setting. We begin by driving around the road to the learning track. This is where I get to grips with the car. Before going into the track my instructor informs me that the concrete is ok but the grass is out of bounds. To begin with everything is taken slowly so that I get to grips with the steering, breaking and gear changes. After a few laps, I am told to leave the track and make my way across to emergency stop and slalom area. Once there I pull up and the instructor tells me that on his instructions I need to go full power and when he tells me to brake as if my life depended on it. He gives the signal and I give it full power. The car lurches forward but I miss the optimum gear change to second, so when I brake, I don't get the full effect. I try again and I miss it again. This time I go fully automatic. I floor the accelerator and the car rockets with a terrific noise to 65 mph. The instructor gives the signal and I hit the breaks. With this the seatbelt tightens around me and the seat wraps around me to keep me safe. With that its massive smiles and the instructor tells me about the safety features. We then go back and where we started and then have a go at the slalom. My task this time is to go between the cones at 30mph without hitting them. I'm given the signal and I speed up to 30. Going between the cones the steering is easy but the car does feel a little clumsy. I finish and I'm told to go around for a second attempt. This time the instructor informs me that he has put the car into sport mode and I head for the cones again. This time the suspension is stiffer and the car is much easier to handle through the cones. After I navigate the cones, I'm told that the sport mode changes the gear changes, sharpens the steering and stiffens the dampers and suspension. 

We then move onto the wet road to test the ESP (Electronic Stability Programme). This in a long piece of road that has had a special coating and a sprinkler system to emulate a wet road and rain. I'm asked to pull up over one of the jets. While the car gets wet the instructor turns the traction control off and explains to me that I will pretend that I'm pulling out of a junction normally on a wet day and that I spot a car coming at me quickly and I have to put my foot down to avoid a collision. I pull out slowly and then when the signal is given I accelerate. The wheels spin, but grip quickly and I'm able to pull away safely. We go through the same thing again this time with the ESP on. I pull out, floor the accelerator the car tries to wheel spin but the computers reign the car in and I'm reduced to pulling away at a slow speed. In this situation you would have to hope the other car has good breaks.

I then make my way back to the start point again. This time I am to gather speed, take my hands off the steering wheel and break. I am given the signal and I accelerate. When the signal is given I take my hands off the wheel and break. As the car slows, the steering wheel twitches on its own and the car comes to a halt in a straight line. I'm told that this is another part of the ESP on the car. I then make my way to the fast track and to begin with for the first few laps, I get used to the track. It's quite twisty with a long back straight. Once confident I speed up to see what the car is capable and quite simply it's amazing. Going through the corners the car grips like nothing I have driven before and the acceleration is breathtaking. This is a combination of the V8 engine, tyres and technology. While on the fast track, I chat to the instructor about the tyres. Driving as I am, I would not be able to drive the same with a budget or mid range tyres on the Mercedes. The Continentals really are showing why you pay extra. Having used budget and mid range tyres, I can tell that you can push them a lot and they will grip for you. My instructor agrees. If you are still questioning why pay extra then I would ask what price do you put on safety? Of course everything has a limit and I don't want to go over the edge. On the back straight, the car really does accelerate quickly up towards 100mph before hitting the breaks and into another corner. Quite soon we stop talking and I focus on the track. After a while, the instructor asks if I'm ok, I simply smile and nod as I'm enjoying the driving.

Soon, it's time to leave the track and head for the skid pan to try some power sliding. The instructor said that in an ideal world I should rev to and hold at 3500 rpm and steer, this will give you a power slide. Sounds easy enough. I make my way onto the Skid pan. My instructor encourages me to accelerate hard and steer. I do so and very quickly lose the rear end and the car simply spins around a lot. Once it has stopped I am told to give it throttle but to hold it at 3500 RPM I do and begin to feel the car power slide. All to soon though I over rev and the car goes into a familiar spin.

After a while of mini power slides and spins it's time to hand the car and the keys back to the staff at Mercedes Benz World. 

Once reunited with our group, we make our way to the Gulwing Bistro for conversation, drinks and lunch. We discuss the fun we have had, how the cars we drive on a daily basis compared to the cars they have here the differences in tyres and much more. As we finish our food, it's time to make my goodbyes and thank you's to Jianni, Dan and the staff at Mercedes Benz World for looking after me. Today has been eye opening and has answered some questions. Firstly the cost of the car is around £70,000. Having put it to the test I can understand why. It drives beautiful and feels like it's on rails through corners. The engine and the noise will give any driver a smile. I had no idea about ESP, this was both good and bad. Personally I would prefer a bit of wheel spin if it avoids a crash but I can understand why it's here and the pros outweigh the cons. The stability it gives the car and the decisions it makes about where braking is needed most is groundbreaking technology.