Introducing the AMG Driving Academy

Back to school was never so much fun.

This fall, there's a new kind of school in session, and every student is guaranteed to drive the coolest car. Instead of class bells, it will be the echo of Mercedes-Benz AMG high performance cars ringing through the air. Get ready for the AMG Driving Academy.

Maybe you already own an AMG, a car that sits with the automotive elite at the pantheon of modern performance. Maybe you'd like to learn how to safely get the most driving fun from your machine. Perhaps you'd like to sample an AMG before you buy. There is no better place than the one at which AMGs are bred -- the racetrack. That's exactly where the AMG Academy takes place, beginning this fall.

For years, Mercedes-Benz AMG offered customers and prospects the chance to drive these amazing machines on racetracks in the AMG Challenge events. Now, the new AMG Driving Academy replaces the AMG Challenge, and the difference is that the Academy is what its name says -- a true driving performance school. The AMG Driving Academy offers greater in-depth instruction, driver development and seat time that the AMG Challenge.

Can you hear the engines revving? That's the sound of the cars you'll drive including the C63, E63, SLK55, SL63 and the very rare AMG CLK Black Series - all provided by the program. There's even one you've never heard of yet -- the 2011 AMG SLS, a supercar developed entirely by AMG, the high-performance development division of Mercedes-Benz.

You'll learn the principles of vehicle dynamics, car control and high performance driving techniques. Eighty percent of the course takes place behind the wheel and on the track. Teachers are professional instructors and are past champions or current race winners covering the spectrum of racing including open wheel, sportscar and sedan racing in North America and Europe.

The AMG Driving Academy is not just about learning to drive fast. You'll learn driving techniques such as vehicle weight transfer, throttle management, the limits of adhesion, thresold braking, as well as line theory. You'll progressively build your skills by high speed lapping around some of the best tracks in the U.S. including Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, Palm Beach International Raceway and Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

For something truly amazing and exclusive, drivers attending the AMG Driving Academy in Laguna Seca on select dates have the opportunity to be among the very first to drive the all-new 2011 SLS AMG supercar.

The AMG Driving Academy offers two levels. The one-day Stage I program ($1,895) is open to all participants without any prerequisites of prior AMG programs or other qualifying driving programs. Once you practice car control and handling, you'll spend the afternoon doing high-speed expercises that make use of the full length of the tracks.

The two-day Stage II program ($3,495) picks up where Stage I leaves off. You'll get advanced training and technical on-track instruction including a full day of track time. In Stage II, the Academy uses detailed computer analysis and evaluation of each driver using an onboard data acquistion system with in-car cameras. A performance-course competition at the end of all Stage I and II programs will allow drivers to compete head-to-head for best course time and a grand prize.

To register for a Stage II program, you must have completed Stage I or another qualified performance driving school. The AMG Challenge qualifies; visit AMGacademy.com for details.