Millbrook AMG track day

[Alx]

Hi,

Anybody here did this before? What's it like?

Thanks

[C240Sport97]

I thought these no longer exist as it's all done from Brooklands now ...

[mw_C32]

I thought they had a new venue at Silverstone. Anyway if it's still on at either place I'd be interested in a go!!

[Bobby Dazzler]

I reckon that might be a local dealer event.

[c63chris]

Did the half day AMg experience at Brooklands last week and it was an absolute hoot Had smoke coming off the rear brakes. So much better when they are someone else's. Seriously good way to get to know the car on the limit. Skid pan is brilliant. Would do it again tomorrow if allowed

[Alx]

Spot on Bobby, the event was run by MB of Milton Keynes yesterday. I think customers of MB of Northampton and Bedford were there too. Millbrook is a highly secretive place. One of the top two in Europe, it offers virtually every facility for prototype cars testing. No photography allowed as a result as well.

The event was very well planned and organised. Bar a few models we've got to test drive pretty much everything from MB and AMG current line up, including my personal favourites - all new ML and G Wagon. I'm an SUV fan, there's no way round it!

The highlight of the day for me was a passenger ride in a racing driver driven C63. After a few rally-like runs on improvised A and B roads with quick acceleration, hard braking and drifting, the car grew on me immensely! I liked them a lot but now I absolutely fell in love. It impressed me even more than the CLS63 which handled superbly on the same track.

All in all it was a great day, many thanks to MB of Milton Keynes.

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Alx

Spot on Bobby, the event was run by MB of Milton Keynes yesterday. I think customers of MB of Northampton and Bedford were there too. Millbrook is a highly secretive place. One of the top two in Europe, it offers virtually every facility for prototype cars testing. No photography allowed as a result as well.

The event was very well planned and organised. Bar a few models we've got to test drive pretty much everything from MB and AMG current line up, including my personal favourites - all new ML and G Wagon. I'm an SUV fan, there's no way round it!

The highlight of the day for me was a passenger ride in a racing driver driven C63. After a few rally-like runs on improvised A and B roads with quick acceleration, hard braking and drifting, the car grew on me immensely! I liked them a lot but now I absolutely fell in love. It impressed me even more than the CLS63 which handled superbly on the same track.

All in all it was a great day, many thanks to MB of Milton Keynes.

Alx, thank you, good to hear MB dealers still do this. I believe there was a similar event held at Goodwood last year (some people posted on the forum).

Do you know if they plan to do another event over there? Have seen Millbrook on many videos (Autocar used the facility quite often in the past) - must be a fantastic place for this! Did you get to drive on the hill route?

Also, how did you find out about it (if you don't mind me asking)?

Thank you.

Kind regards
Michele

[Alx]

Hi Michele,

MB of MK contacted me and offered to do this. It was branded as AMG and Off-Road event, so yes I got to check out the new ML and its hill descent feature off road. Although I quite liked the car, I found it very similar to my wife's 2008 ML in terms of overall feel. The difference between 1st generation and 2nd was huge but 2nd and 3rd are somewhat very similar. If not for the dashboard, you couldn't probably tell the difference when driving both. Obviously there are new gadgets inside - electronic hand brake, traffic sign recognition (option) and a new ergo steering wheel (lovely!) but nothing to write home about, if you understand what I mean!

As 99% of the MLs are driven strictly on road, I doubt having a hill decent option would mean anything to the majority of new owners. I never used one in ours but it was nice to see what it is potentially capable of. Surprisingly, I quite like the performance of ML250. I think Mercedes got it right teaming the new ML with this engine. It was not far off ML350 in terms of 0-70mph driving so I guess it will be a lot more popular selling model.

Lastly, I hope dealers do a bit more of these events. I definitely will be looking forward to another one like this and will advise if I hear from them in future.

[mika]

Originally Posted by Alx

Hi Michele,

MB of MK contacted me and offered to do this. It was branded as AMG and Off-Road event, so yes I got to check out the new ML and its hill descent feature off road. Although I quite liked the car, I found it very similar to my wife's 2008 ML in terms of overall feel. The difference between 1st generation and 2nd was huge but 2nd and 3rd are somewhat very similar. If not for the dashboard, you couldn't probably tell the difference when driving both. Obviously there are new gadgets inside - electronic hand brake, traffic sign recognition (option) and a new ergo steering wheel (lovely!) but nothing to write home about, if you understand what I mean!

As 99% of the MLs are driven strictly on road, I doubt having a hill decent option would mean anything to the majority of new owners. I never used one in ours but it was nice to see what it is potentially capable of. Surprisingly, I quite like the performance of ML250. I think Mercedes got it right teaming the new ML with this engine. It was not far off ML350 in terms of 0-70mph driving so I guess it will be a lot more popular selling model.

Lastly, I hope dealers do a bit more of these events. I definitely will be looking forward to another one like this and will advise if I hear from them in future.

Hi Alx

that ML 250 sounds very decent

[Michele]

Originally Posted by Alx

Hi Michele,

MB of MK contacted me and offered to do this. It was branded as AMG and Off-Road event, so yes I got to check out the new ML and its hill descent feature off road. Although I quite liked the car, I found it very similar to my wife's 2008 ML in terms of overall feel. The difference between 1st generation and 2nd was huge but 2nd and 3rd are somewhat very similar. If not for the dashboard, you couldn't probably tell the difference when driving both. Obviously there are new gadgets inside - electronic hand brake, traffic sign recognition (option) and a new ergo steering wheel (lovely!) but nothing to write home about, if you understand what I mean!

As 99% of the MLs are driven strictly on road, I doubt having a hill decent option would mean anything to the majority of new owners. I never used one in ours but it was nice to see what it is potentially capable of. Surprisingly, I quite like the performance of ML250. I think Mercedes got it right teaming the new ML with this engine. It was not far off ML350 in terms of 0-70mph driving so I guess it will be a lot more popular selling model.

Lastly, I hope dealers do a bit more of these events. I definitely will be looking forward to another one like this and will advise if I hear from them in future.

Hi Alx

Thank you. Interesting to hear on the ML new vs. 2nd gen. I actually thought they replaced the 2nd gen too early, but probably justifiable in light of BMW's ever expanding range.

Michele