MERCEDES BENZ DRIVING ACADEMY

Jayco are now using the Mercedes 516 Sprinter as a base for their Conquest Motorhomes in addition to the Fiat Ducato. Prestige Jayco Geelong’s senior sales consultants were invited by Mercedes Benz to attend a driving day down at Sandown Racecourse to experience the safety features that can be found on the Mercedes Sprinter.

Grant, Ian, Donovan & Matt arrived at Sandown racecourse for the Mercedes Benz Driving Academy experience where they were met with a smorgasbord lunch set in the surrounds of various Mercedes Benz vehicles.

Our sales consultants were placed with their very our own driver for the day who just so happened to be Daniel Gaunt, an up and coming V8 racecar driver!

Grant, Ian, Donovan & Matt were given a few guidelines for the day and told not to exceed 120km/h as they drove around Sandown. The track was quite wet as it rained for most of the day however was a good test to see the safety features of the Mercedes Benz vehicles.

Their first experience was on a simulated skid pan where they had to try and manouvre a Mercedes E500 between witches hats at speed with the stability control switched off, which as they all discovered wasn’t an easy thing to do! After going sideways a few times and eventually spinning out, their instructor turned the stability control on with an immediate difference.

Everyone would have seen the ESP television commercial where the car is able to dodge the boxes falling off the back of the truck. Well as the sales team discovered to actually drive a vehicle yourself in extremely slippery conditions and still be able to guide the vehicle through an obstacle course is unbelievable. The combination of Electronic Stability Control and Acceleration Skid Control makes a huge difference.

After this experience the gents then jumped into a Vito van and headed out onto the track. They were given one lap to get use to the vehicle and then instructed to get up to 120km/h and when instructed, brake as hard as humanly possible. Even on a wet track it was amazing how quickly the vehicle came to a standstill. Grant, Ian, Donovan & Matt each had a drive and had to complete 2 to 3 emergency stops. On the last attempt they were instructed to get up to 130 km/h, take their hands completely off the wheel and brake heavily. Amazingly the vehicle pulled up in straight line yet again.

Grant, Ian, Donovan & Matt drove various vehicles from an SLK 300 Sports to a larger Sprinter Van around the track putting the Stability Control to the test time and time again and were constantly amazed at how well these Mercedes vehicles were handling under fairly poor road conditions.

One more test the boys were given was a short time trial on a Rally Slalom Course. The challenge was to get the Mercedes CLK150 around the course as quickly as possible and then do an emergency brake and get as close as possible to the final marker.  This involved quick acceleration, severe braking and some pretty good driving. At the end of the day they discovered that Grant had won the prize for closest to the mark.

The final drive of the day was in the upmarket E500 Saloon with V8 power. The E500 Saloon had plenty of gadgets, comfort and power. Donovan was the first to take to the wheel and as he progressed around the track Daniel told him to put his foot down going down the back straight and before he knew he was hitting 170km/h (so much for the 120km/h limit, woops!). Matt took his turn but was very disappointed when he came upon a few slower vehicles and never had a chance to give it any stick. When it was Ian’s turn Daniel instructed Ian as he pulled out of the S bend and approached the straight to put his foot down. Ian was too busy looking at the chicane fast approaching to even look down at his speed! Ian was instructed to brake heavily and then manouvre through the chicane. From what we are all told Ian’s heart was pumping pretty fast which is understandable as he was going 180km/h!

Sadly the day came to an end but the sales team were all very impressed with whole experience.

Mercedes place this same technology into all of their vehicles including the 516 Sprinter Cab Chassis that Jayco have now chosen to build some of their Conquest Motorhomes on. It will certainly give the owner of a Jayco Motorhome the confidence that they have made the right choice.