Despite loosing an hours sleep (clock changed :-) ) we managed to get out of bed and go to Brooklands for the Mini day. It was a lovely bright day, albeit a bit chilly in the wind.
We hadn't been to Brooklands for some time so it was interesting to see the new layout and entrance. You now loop round Mercedes World to get to the new Brooklands entrance, which is all now very smart looking. They haven't solved the car parking problems though, as the car park was very nearly full when we got there !
Going through to Brooklands itself we immediately came across loads of Mini's. There were old ones, new ones, modified ones, vans ,travellers, shortened ones.... seemed like there was the entire Mini population of Southern England there !
Soon after we arrived we could hear the sound of revving tuned engines, it was time for the hill climb.... so we went to see them roar up the hill (although some cars seemed to only just be able to make the climb !) We wandered up the hill and stood on the bridge to see the cars coming back down the other side and saw the old car parks full to the brim with even more Mini's... certainly was a popular day for enthusiasts
Eventually we had walked around all the Mini's and seen them climb the hill, so decided to go to Mercedes World to see what was going on there. http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc/MB_World_Brooklands.html It is a short distance from Brooklands itself, so made the short walk around and you can also see additional parts of the old race circuit as you walk around which was quite interesting.
Mercedes World is open 7 days a week from 10am- 6pm and looked very smart. The first car I saw as we approached the entrance was a Mercedes McLaren, which looks really smart close up (better than the pictures) Walking in you are greeted by hostesses who are happy to chat about the facilities and we were recommended to start at the top and work our way down, which we did.
The view of the track outside from the top was spectacular, especially as there are AMG Mercedes roaring around and also other cars skating around the wet ring, so was fascinating to stand and look out. The entire place was a huge showroom, with dozens of new Mercedes of all types, shapes and colours available to look at and sit in. Only the Mercedes McLaren and Maybachs are out of bounds (you can look but not touch!) All other vehicles including £100 k S classes and AMG SLKs are available for you to hop into and mess round with.
If you enjoy looking round new car showrooms then you will definitely enjoy Mercedes World, especially as you don't get hassled by any sales staff (they are there if you really want to talk to them) In addition to the new cars, there are some classic and race cars to see, although you can't sit in those.
I did briefly think about having 15 mins on track in a AMG SLK for £25, but decided not too this time, but looked (and sounded) great fun, so maybe something for another day.
All things considering (especially the free admission!) it was well worth visiting and very interesting. I guess we spent around an hour wandering round, but would probably equally enjoy another visit in future
We hadn't been to Brooklands for some time so it was interesting to see the new layout and entrance. You now loop round Mercedes World to get to the new Brooklands entrance, which is all now very smart looking. They haven't solved the car parking problems though, as the car park was very nearly full when we got there !
Going through to Brooklands itself we immediately came across loads of Mini's. There were old ones, new ones, modified ones, vans ,travellers, shortened ones.... seemed like there was the entire Mini population of Southern England there !
Soon after we arrived we could hear the sound of revving tuned engines, it was time for the hill climb.... so we went to see them roar up the hill (although some cars seemed to only just be able to make the climb !) We wandered up the hill and stood on the bridge to see the cars coming back down the other side and saw the old car parks full to the brim with even more Mini's... certainly was a popular day for enthusiasts
Eventually we had walked around all the Mini's and seen them climb the hill, so decided to go to Mercedes World to see what was going on there. http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc/MB_World_Brooklands.html It is a short distance from Brooklands itself, so made the short walk around and you can also see additional parts of the old race circuit as you walk around which was quite interesting.
Mercedes World is open 7 days a week from 10am- 6pm and looked very smart. The first car I saw as we approached the entrance was a Mercedes McLaren, which looks really smart close up (better than the pictures) Walking in you are greeted by hostesses who are happy to chat about the facilities and we were recommended to start at the top and work our way down, which we did.
The view of the track outside from the top was spectacular, especially as there are AMG Mercedes roaring around and also other cars skating around the wet ring, so was fascinating to stand and look out. The entire place was a huge showroom, with dozens of new Mercedes of all types, shapes and colours available to look at and sit in. Only the Mercedes McLaren and Maybachs are out of bounds (you can look but not touch!) All other vehicles including £100 k S classes and AMG SLKs are available for you to hop into and mess round with.
If you enjoy looking round new car showrooms then you will definitely enjoy Mercedes World, especially as you don't get hassled by any sales staff (they are there if you really want to talk to them) In addition to the new cars, there are some classic and race cars to see, although you can't sit in those.
I did briefly think about having 15 mins on track in a AMG SLK for £25, but decided not too this time, but looked (and sounded) great fun, so maybe something for another day.
All things considering (especially the free admission!) it was well worth visiting and very interesting. I guess we spent around an hour wandering round, but would probably equally enjoy another visit in future
1 comment:
Hi,
I read this blog a few days ago, just before I went to Mercedes World.
I went there for an IT expo, and the company had paid for us all to have those passenger experiences - so I went out once on the 4X4's (amazing what angles the cars can get up - and only 3.2 litre diesel's), and 3 times on the track cars.
£25 is definately worth it as the drivers are very very good, know exactly what they are doing, and will happily show off their skills in a choice of cars.
After promising myself i wont - i gave in and bought myself an hour's drive in an AMG car. £150, which is alot of money, but considering I could have driven a £105,000 car with expert tuition, it wasnt a bad deal!
On the instructors advice, I chose the SLK 55 AMG as the other cars are too big and heavy for the track, and in just an hour, my lap times got much much faster on the track, I got the car drifting on the wet skid pan, and we had some fun on the wet and dry straights, like changing lanes on the skid pan while emergency braking from 40mph, and the slalom course!
Worth doing despite the cost, you will not regret it!
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