Don't know if anyone else got an invite to any of these that were going on recently, but thought I'd write up last Sunday afternoon at Dunsfold. Apparently a new thing for MB, and they were keen to get feedback on the event rather than the car...
Not the best of locations - in the middle of an airfield - but a s****y reception trailer with lunch. Not many Benz's lined up - couple of 203's and 211's, but a flurry of 3-series, X/S types and even Focus's (should that be Focii?).
First round the track - reverse direction round most of the Top Gear track with an instructor in C220 Sport CDi. Good fun, plenty of time on the track and the encouragement and tips (such as "keep your foot in, they're not your tyres") got me within 2 secs of his time
. Cracking car, really enjoyed it, and the type of track meant that anything larger power-wise would not have have resulted in the track time dropping to any great degree (only one major straight).
Meet up with Mrs E and kids (no viewing area the the track) and onto Dynamics (C220 Elegance) - demo of ABS and PreSafe during an emergency stop from 65+ and when weaving around barrels. Again, very impressive stuff, but a little dull as I have done similar on AD courses before. Kids thought it was cool - squealing tyres, lots of smoke, seats and windows moving, etc, etc.
Back to a static display of some of the bells and whistles - mainly COMAND, Bluetooth and Linguatronic (or whatever it's called now). Seems to work very well - we could all sit in and ask for place names, postcodes, dial numbers, etc. Shame that the full address book integration is only available with the optional Phone stuff, but the standard seems OK for general use.
Then a road drive with an advanced instructor (C200 SE). Mrs E enjoyed it very much, and not too bad with me and two kids (6+12) in the back. We stopped to change over briefly at a carpark on the far side of the airfield - the kids jumped out for a look-see as this was where the TG project cars were kept (limos, Robin "Shuttle", etc). Some were under tarps, but most were just standing out in the open.
All in all a good afternoon. The 204 seems OK and creeps onto the bottom of the list I'm considering for a replacement to the E next year. I'd be more interested in the estate (due Jan, so they said) as it'll be more practical for Mrs E too. I'd have to try it for a couple of days to see how I got on with the reduced space and firmer ride of the Sport (which is what I'd go for).
Not the best of locations - in the middle of an airfield - but a s****y reception trailer with lunch. Not many Benz's lined up - couple of 203's and 211's, but a flurry of 3-series, X/S types and even Focus's (should that be Focii?).
First round the track - reverse direction round most of the Top Gear track with an instructor in C220 Sport CDi. Good fun, plenty of time on the track and the encouragement and tips (such as "keep your foot in, they're not your tyres") got me within 2 secs of his time
. Cracking car, really enjoyed it, and the type of track meant that anything larger power-wise would not have have resulted in the track time dropping to any great degree (only one major straight).Meet up with Mrs E and kids (no viewing area the the track) and onto Dynamics (C220 Elegance) - demo of ABS and PreSafe during an emergency stop from 65+ and when weaving around barrels. Again, very impressive stuff, but a little dull as I have done similar on AD courses before. Kids thought it was cool - squealing tyres, lots of smoke, seats and windows moving, etc, etc.
Back to a static display of some of the bells and whistles - mainly COMAND, Bluetooth and Linguatronic (or whatever it's called now). Seems to work very well - we could all sit in and ask for place names, postcodes, dial numbers, etc. Shame that the full address book integration is only available with the optional Phone stuff, but the standard seems OK for general use.
Then a road drive with an advanced instructor (C200 SE). Mrs E enjoyed it very much, and not too bad with me and two kids (6+12) in the back. We stopped to change over briefly at a carpark on the far side of the airfield - the kids jumped out for a look-see as this was where the TG project cars were kept (limos, Robin "Shuttle", etc). Some were under tarps, but most were just standing out in the open.
All in all a good afternoon. The 204 seems OK and creeps onto the bottom of the list I'm considering for a replacement to the E next year. I'd be more interested in the estate (due Jan, so they said) as it'll be more practical for Mrs E too. I'd have to try it for a couple of days to see how I got on with the reduced space and firmer ride of the Sport (which is what I'd go for).
