AMG is a wolf in sleek clothing
It’s nice to admire a highperformance automobile in a showroom, but nothing can beat taking it for a spin on the 2.4-kilometre track at the Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit in the Cowichan Valley.
Several auto enthusiasts, mostly past customers of the GAIN Dealer Group, had that experience when they were invited to try three new Mercedes-Benz AMG models.
The GAIN Dealer Group has 13 dealerships on Vancouver Island, and represents brands including Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Fiat, Mini, Porsche, Smart, Sprinter, Subaru and Volkswagen.
Representatives from two of the dealerships — Three Point Motors in Victoria and MercedesBenz Nanaimo — were on hand to help track operations manager Brent Evans and his team roll out three 2017 Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG series 4MATIC models. The choices included a sporty white coupe, a peppy black GLC and a sleek grey sedan.
“Hopefully, we won’t have any Herculean winds redirecting our cars today,” said Grant Laird, Mercedes-Benz Nanaimo’s sales and lease consultant, on a chilly morning when mist hugged the hilltops surrounding the 19-hectare private motorsport resort on the Cowichan Valley Highway.
But there was no cause for such concern, with dry, nearperfect road conditions; no blinding sunshine pushing through the cloud cover; and no black ice to contend with during the morning’s warmup.
The day included a leisurely 45-kilometre drive to Ladysmith and Chemainus before looping back to the track, where we could test our skills on a basic slalom course.
“It gives you a chance to settle into a rhythm and get to know the vehicles,” said Evans. “We’ll have a great deal of fun and then we’ll do some dynamic driving.”
Daniel Low from Three Point Motors provided a brief history of AMG and sang the praises of the vehicles’ 3.0-litre twinturbocharged V-6 engines and their astonishing horsepower and torque potential.
“It’s not one-man, one-engine, which is traditional,” the sales and lease consultant said, paving the way for a show-and-tell experience that put auto buffs in the driver’s seat.
With driving instructor Shane Routhier in the lead car and communicating with drivers using two-way radios, the road trip gave guests a chance to sink into the leather seats and appreciate features such as luxurious interiors that combine traditional Mercedes design touches with modern bells and whistles, including a strategically positioned online navigation command screen in a stylish, whisper-quiet cabin.
Easy-to-use controls, superior online navigation and traction capability, and safety features such as adaptive highbeam, cross-traffic and lane-keeping assist systems got a big thumbs-up from participants.
“It feels nice and tight,” said one driver, who was also impressed by how easily you could personalize these vehicles. “You really feel in control during the twist and turns.”
The ability to automatically switch into different driving modes — Economy, Comfort, Sports or Sports Plus — depending on your terrain or mood, generated considerable excitement. Drivers can come up with an individual mode that suits their tastes.
“Welcome to Chemainus, everyone,” said Routhier as he guided the fleet of Mercedes vehicles through the town. “It’s a bit bumpy, so maybe it’s not a bad time for a Comfort road demo.”
Comfort mode is “a happy bridge of everything,” said Laird, who described the overall AMG experience as being “like you’re driving four cars in one,” just by flicking a switch in the console.
“Economy mode is all about the vehicle having maximum fuel savings,” he said. “It slows down the steering and desensitizes the accelerator pedal so you can have the most economical car you can be driving.”
With Sports “the suspension gets stiffer, steering becomes more sensitive and the accelerator pedal becomes more responsive in setting,” he said.
Sports Plus produces an even stiffer suspension setting, maximum steering wheel sensitivity and maximum fuel delivery and throttle response, making you really feel as if you’re driving a sports car.
One of the big surprises from such showcases, says Evans, is “how confident that GLC is” after the sports utility vehicle was put through the paces on the racetrack where drivers were supervised by coach Tyson Kral.
“With its 91 metres of elevation changes, and the corners, it replicates a lot of the driving characteristics you’ll experience on any road trip,” Evans told drivers before they got to discover this for themselves.
After driving on the track for the first time, Dennis Low, a longtime Mercedes owner, said he was amazed by how well the GLC handled.
“I drove in Comfort first, then in Sports Plus, and the sound was unbelievable,” said Low.
For his friend, real-estate agent Ron Cunningham, the highlight was the coupe.
“They all had amazing performance, but the coupe had the edge,” he said.
“I’ve had a sports car before and with that amazing Sports Plus package that’s what you’re in. It’s like you’re driving a completely different vehicle.”
Bruce Champion, a semi-retired yacht mover, gave top marks to the coupe he was driving during a switchover at Ladysmith’s Transfer Beach.
“I don’t want to get carried away, but it’s superb,” said the Nanaimo-based auto buff who owns five vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz C300 Cabriolet he recently purchased.
“I was just in an Audi S5, which is an excellent car also and this is just as good, if a little better.”
Grabbing some lunch in the clubhouse, Rev. Deborah Rivet could barely contain her enthusiasm about her own upcoming test drive.
“I’m an Anglican priest and I have a lot of joy in my life, not a lot of excitement, so I’m driving the car!” quipped Rivet, who serves Cowichan Bay’s St. Christopher and St. Aidan.
Evans said the GAIN Dealer Group hoped to stage such special showcases for all its brands at the circuit that hosted the Audi R8’s national launch last year and will host a Porsche global launch this year.
“This is one we do for our own clients,” he said. “To have a venue like this where we can safely demo a vehicle’s potential is wonderful. That is ideally what this whole facility was built for.”