2025 AMG Experience, Kari Motor Speedway special feature: Stairway to Heaven

The AMG Experience just keeps getting better. After tearing it up last month at the Buddh International Circuit, we rolled into Kari Motor Speedway – and, surprise surprise, it didn’t disappoint. Tight corners, big slides and even bigger smiles. No wonder people are turning up in droves. If you’re also wondering what it feels like to step inside the madness, consider this your backstage pass into the 2025 AMG Experience. Let’s dive in.

First and foremost, the AMG Experience isn’t about sitting back and watching cars go fast. It’s about strapping in, grabbing the ’wheel and finding out what happens when German luxury shows off its sporty side. For one full day, you get handed the keys to AMG’s most outrageous machines and told – go have fun, we’ve got everything else covered.

It’s part driver training, part motorsport festival, part bucket-list adventure. You get to try everything from chasing racing lines in lead-follow laps, weaving through cones at autocross to going sideways in drift sessions and even competing against your friends in drag races. By the end, your pulse is high, your hands smell of Alcantara, and you’ve got stories you’ll be retelling long after the helmet comes off.

The venue

The stage for this edition is the Kari Motor Speedway. Tucked away on the edge of Coimbatore, it doesn’t look intimidating at first. But once you’re there, you realise how tricky 2.1 kilometres can be. It’s tight, technical and has limited patience for sloppy driving. And that’s exactly what makes it special. It makes you drive with your head, not just your right foot. Which is why the AMG fleet here feels perfect. On a track like Kari, the cars don’t just show off their power; they show you their precision, agility and character.

The lineup

You walk into the paddock bright and early. And the first thing you notice is the machines. Machines that usually live behind velvet ropes – S 63 E Performance, C 63 S E Performance, A 45 S, CLE 53, SL 55, C 43 and the all-electric EQS 53 – are all lined up with motors waiting to sing.

Before you drive, there’s a briefing. The instructors explain the format, the rules, and the dos and don’ts. But more importantly, they set the tone: this isn’t just another joyride. This is your chance to experience AMG performance at its purest. The morning is also your opportunity to get some breakfast, because it’ll be a long day.

Learning the lines

Your introduction to Kari comes through the lead-follow laps. You climb into your first AMG – could be the SL 55, or even the new CLE 53. Get in, strap in and take off behind the instructor. At first, the instructors take it easy, letting you settle in. But lap by lap, the pace builds. You’re guided on the racing line, braking zones, where to clip kerbs and where to hold back.

By your third lap, you’re in the groove, your eyes are wide open and your smile is impossible to hide. You’ve tasted what it means to push an AMG on a race track – legally, safely and with the full force of its character unleashed. You return to the pits, only to do it all again in another AMG, continuing until you have driven them all.

Dancing around cones

If lead-follow laps are about flow, autocross is about discipline. Picture a tight course with cones and braking boxes forcing you into becoming a precision driver. The instructors show you around first and then you get four chances to set the fastest time.

Here, the A 45 S is what you drive. It darts like a bobcat, keeping up with your inputs and daring you to go harder. You launch into the course – accelerate, brake, turn, threading the car through the cones. It’s less about raw speed, and more about control and split-second decisions. It rewards skilled drivers and for those who get caught lacking, we have penalties. Touch a cone, get a three-second penalty. Skip the stopping box and be rewarded with a hefty five-second penalty. The Track Pace app comes in handy here, recording every lap and the leaderboard telling you where you stand.

Throwing it sideways

If I had to choose one highlight, drifting would win every single time. There’s just something about it that lights you up from within – tyres howling, wheels twitching and you getting out of the car laughing.

Like at BIC, the C 63 S E Performance does the drifting duties. With over 1000Nm of torque, it’s like a fox on the prowl – quick, cunning and more than willing to slide. The layout here is a simple ‘U’, kept slick with water to make the learning curve less brutal. The plan is similar to autocross. First, the instructors show you how it’s done, demonstrating the steering angle, the throttle control and the recovery. And then you get four chances to top the leaderboard. Some participants glide with elegance, others spin out in spectacular fashion. Either way, the applause and laughter make every run unforgettable.

Head-to-head

If you want to feel brute power, this is the one to check out. The drag races are simple: draw a card, get assigned an AMG and lineup next to another participant. Pin the throttle when the lights go out and you get to see who’s the quickest. This is the best activity if you want to check who amongst your friends has the quickest reaction time. And imagine if you draw out the S 63 E Performance with over 1400Nm of torque.

Riding with the pros

This has been a long day and right now, your body is maybe a bit tired. Time to strap in as a passenger and let the pros take over. The instructors take you around the track during hot laps with you sitting shotgun. The straights feel shorter, the braking zones arrive later and every corner is taken at twice the speed, sometimes even sideways. Don’t be mistaken, it’s not reckless – it’s surgical. And you realise just how much potential these machines carry when pushed by professionals.

The same happens with Drift Taxi. Maybe your plus-one wasn’t entirely satisfied by your drifting attempts. This then, is yours and their chance to feel the thrill, sitting shotgun while the pros throw the car sideways, tyres smoking and steering wheel flicking from lock to lock. It’s full of drama and designed to make sure nobody goes home without their dose of sideways action.

The finish line

The leaderboards aren’t just for show. At the end, we reward the better drivers. At the prize-giving ceremony, winners from the autocross and drift activities are celebrated, but honestly, at the AMG Experience, everyone walks away a winner. You’ve driven AMGs harder than you ever thought you would. You’ve tasted the excitement of drifting, the joy of track driving and the precision of autocross. The only thing left now is to go and get yourself an AMG. And if after reading this, some part of you is itching to test out the AMG Experience, the QR code is on the right. Scan it, book your slot, and trust that for a full day, you’ll be in petrolhead heaven.