Mercedes-Benz USA launched the AMG Challenge in 2002, a program touted as "a chance to experience the thrill of driving the newest Mercedes AMGs on some of America's best racetracks." This year, MBUSA abandoned the Challenge in favor of the AMG Driving Academy, a multistage driver-development program pioneered by AMG in Europe.

The difference? According to Greg Clark, AMG manager, "the Challenge was more about the cars, while the Academy is more about the driver." Having participated in both the Challenge and now the Academy, we'd say that difference is subtle, at least as it applies to the one-day program. Stage II, which we didn't get to do, includes in-car data collection and head-to-head competition and promises to be much more intense.

Like the on-track driving programs offered by other performance-car manufacturers, the AMG Academy essentially is a subsidized test drive. Participants pay to pilot a range of the latest and greatest models on real racetracks under the guidance of top-notch instructors. And whether it's the BMW Performance Driving School, the Audi Sportscar Experience, the Porsche Sport Driving School or the Ferrari Driving Experience, you can be sure they're going to make you sit through briefings on driving fundamentals and put you through hands-on exercises before turning you loose in millions of dollars' worth of hardware, no matter how much track experience you have.

AMG Academy - Lime Rock, CT from AutoWeek on Vimeo.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, especially when the hardware packs as much power as the AMG lineup. We drove SL63s, SLK55s, C63s and the new E63s--cars that demand respect and take some getting used to. And despite the instructors' best efforts not to turn the lessons into a sales pitch, it's impossible not to be impressed with the slalom-taming flickability of the big E63 sedan or the mind-numbing acceleration of the SL63.

As we graduated from exercises to high-speed lead-and-follow action on Lime Rock's snaking 1.5-mile course, our confidence level went up with every lap. But did our racing skills improve? It's hard to say, since the only timed event was a single hot lap on the autocross track at the end of the day. A benchmark lap when we did the autocross in the morning would have provided a basis for comparison, but none was recorded. And even if we did improve, any boy-racer fantasies were dashed when the instructors treated us to "taxi ride" hot laps. Unlike us, they got to disable the ESP and demonstrate what these cars--and professional drivers--are really capable of. When we made a comment to that effect, our instructor simply smiled and noted, "That's why we offer Stage II."

For information about costs, dates and venues and to register, visit www.amgacademy.com. (A special Stage I session at Laguna Seca in November, featuring the new SLS, is sold out.)