DRIFT SCHOOL
The Proving Grounds provides the ideal locale for winter driving
Hit the gas!” screams my instructor as I struggle to maintain control of the 510-horsepower AMG GT S that is careening toward a frozen, 16-foot-high embankment. Snow and ice fly through the open driver’s-side window as we slide sideways. I hit the accelerator—which, counterintuitively, is the only way to change direction and, hopefully, avoid a $150,000 collision.
Lesson number one of ice driving: Turning the steering wheel doesn’t do a damn thing.
Nestled deep in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, the Southern Hemisphere Proving Grounds is a privately owned vehicular testing facility that covers more
