What I Learned by Hitting the Ice at the AMG Winter Sporting Academy

It’s only dinner time, but the area has descended into almost total darkness as we make our way towards the cluster of AMG-tuned Mercedes-Benz sedans gathered just a stone’s throw from the shores of Lake Winnipeg.

It’s 16°F (-9°C) outside but feels far colder as the headlights reveal the massive body of water that lies ahead. A quietly authoritative rumble emanates from the cars as they roll down the boat launch one by one, the surface of the ice crunching and creaking as we enter the inner harbor. A sudden calm envelopes us as we make our way around the breakwall and into the abyss. There’s something serene about this setting, the combination of crisp, cold quietness and what looks like endless expansiveness that is uniquely and unequivocally peaceful.

Suddenly, our group of 15 is whittled down to 10 cars and then 5 as we split into teams. Our first stop is “The Big Circle,” which is best described as, well, a big circle. With a diameter of 525 ft (160 meters), it provides ample room to get better acquainted with the Mercedes-AMG CLS 63 S. With the electronic trickery of the stability management system banished — not to mention the active exhaust engaged for good measure — we increase our spacing, and with it, our pace.

With room to roam, we start by steering towards the outsides of turns before flicking the wheel back in. With the transmission holding third gear and revs hovering somewhere around 3,000 rpm, the big-bodied sedan is floating into and out of sustained drifts smoothly and calmly. The Big Circle suddenly doesn’t feel so big, the CLS 63 covering ground quickly — and doing so almost completely sideways.

Next, we spend time on a smaller circle and, finally, a slalom-filled dynamic area that spans more than a quarter-mile from end to end. After more than an hour of slipping and sliding around the ice, we head back to shore, anticipating more eagerly than ever a full day on the frozen waters of Lake Winnipeg. Welcome to orientation at the AMG Winter Sporting program in Gimli, Man., the brand’s only such program outside of Sweden.

Getting to Gimli

The idea of heading to Gimli, a literal 56-mile (90-kilometer) straight shot north of Winnipeg, in the dead of winter isn’t an enticing one. It is, however, a lot easier to get to than Arjeplog, Sweden, which has been, up until now, the only way to experience the fun on four wheels that is the AMG Winter Sporting program.

While other winter driving programs, including Porsche Camp4, strike a balance between winter driving safety and winter driving fun, this AMG-branded one errs on the side of the latter. Sure, there are some best-practices learned on the lake that can be applied to on-road winter driving — how to recover from a skid, for example — but the AMG Winter Sporting program is predicated upon fun first and foremost.

The program occupies 325 acres of Lake Winnipeg’s frozen surface — an impressive area, but one that seems far less so when hitting the ice in the daylight. Setting out the morning of Day 2, the reality of the previous night’s expansive experience sets in. We’ve barely set off from shore, but there’s a seemingly endless horizon of ice ahead of us. The parameters of the program also span far beyond the areas we were exercising the CLS 63 just one night earlier, with the labyrinth of turns extending as far as the eye can see.

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With four separate tracks built on the nearly 40-inch (1-meter) thick ice, there are plenty of twists and turns at the disposal of participants — just don’t expect take them any way but sideways. Any and all lessons learned at the racetrack need to be left at home when attending the AMG Winter Sporting program. Here it’s style, not speed, that wins the day, and it’s not necessarily about going fast but rather maintaining control as the cars careen around the ice.

Each of the three Mercedes-AMG models used for the program — the CLS 63 is joined by the C 63 S and CLA 45 — have been fitted with studded tires, while carbon-kevlar lower bumpers have been added and the cars’ electronic traction nannies have been modified to be fully disabled when required; otherwise, these are identical to any of the same sedans found on dealer lots.

Three Ways to Tango

Our second day begins behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG CLA 45, which stands in stark contrast to the CLS 63. With a turbocharged four-cylinder under the hood, the car sends an impressive 375 horsepower and 350 lb-ft of torque to a front-biased all-wheel drive system through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. Feeling far lighter than its curb weight of 3,450 lb (1,565 kg) would suggest out on the ice, the CLA 45 provides a visceral experience and is as predictable as it is pliable. Flicking the car into drifts is done easily and effortlessly, while stabs of the throttle help sustain them.

Hopping back into the CLS 63, a major learning curve immediately presents itself. While output is far more substantial — the car’s twin-turbocharged V8 makes 577 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque — how it is relayed to the ice is also far different. It, too, employs an all-wheel drive system, but one with a rear bias, creating an entirely different dynamic to contend with.

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The CLS also provides the perfect platform on which to experiment with the physics necessary to slide around using a brake-based strategy. With the suspension left in cushy Comfort mode, gently applying the brakes transfers the big and brooding sedan’s weight to its outside wheels to initiate the spin sequence. While its added heft requires a bit more work and anticipation to deal with, the CLS 63 can easily travel sideways through long, sweeping turns.

Finally, it’s time for the C 63 S sedan, which behaves as evilly on the ice as its sounds. With 503 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque churning from the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 under the hood, the C 63 S isn’t quite as powerful as the CLS but packs a twisted surprise thanks to its rear-wheel drive setup. It’s easy to get a little overzealous in this car and be left to do little more but watch as it over-rotates on attempted drifts. A few spins provide the friendly reminders needed that we’re going for style here, not speed. In this car more than the others, less than 20 mph (33 km/h) is more than enough entry speed to swing the tail out and hold it there before snapping it back in place simply by letting off the throttle and countersteering smoothly.

Bringing it All Together

Each of the three cars offer vastly different driving experiences, while the tracks themselves provide much of the same. The three main tracks have turns modeled after some of the continent’s more challenging corners while experienced instructors seem to be keeping eyes on all of them. Friendly advice on how to better tackle that turn the next time around a given track — the corkscrew at the 1.12-mile (1.8-kilometer) Laguna course, for example — comes by way of a crackling two-way radio, and often addresses just what’s needed.

While all three tracks seem tailored to each car, it’s the CLA 45 that seems best suited to all three. It’s the least powerful of trio of AMGs out here on Lake Winnipeg that provides the most fun and user-friendly experience, with plenty of pleasantries enhancing its rally-inspired ways.

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After hours of sliding around the three tracks, it’s time to link them together for a so-called “Lap of the Continent,” which offers 4.6 miles (7.4 kilometers) of continuous corners. This is where the payoff occurs, with all the time spent hooning and honing coming full circle.

The day ends with the Race of Champions, where participants compete for bragging rights on the peanut-shaped AMG Arena. After spending so much time on such an amazing ice playground, a pair of laps that last barely more than a quarter-mile (half a kilometer) each may seem underwhelming. And maybe that would be the case back on solid ground, but we’re at peace with it out here on the lake — and loving every minute of it.