Following weeks of anticipation, we arrived at MTS early in the morning at 5:00am on Saturday, ready to head out to Heathrow airport to embark upon our trip exploring the wonderful world of German automotive manufacturing.
By Zaid H (5ths)
Following the flight we were transported to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart, which is an impressive showcase of modern German architecture. We took some rather incredible photos while we waited for our allocated time slot. Each inch of the museum was filled with engines, interactive activities and complex models of not only the most capable and modern cars of the century, but also the history of Mercedes dating back to the very first car: the Benz Patent Motorwagen from 1885. This was followed by an opportunity to explore the Stuttgart city centre and a small market nearby, as well as offering us our first taste of German cuisine.
The next day was the most anticipated of the trip: a highly competitive Go-Karting Grand Prix, and Mr. Wilson’s much anticipated personal highlight, the Porsche Museum. The guided tour of the museum was truly one of a kind, as we were one of the first people in the world to see a new recently released model 992 Carrera T. After a short lunch, the moment finally arrived at Go-Karting! The sound of tyres screeching on the track greeted us, and before we had even stepped in the briefing room, the pre-race strategizing began. The races were incredible with the odd collision or two, all resulting in Ayaan S (5ths) being crowned Go Karting champion of Stuttgart-Munich 24, with Mr. Wilson coming in a very close second place and Bardia H (L6) in third overall.
On days Three and Four, we got to see first hand the epic scale of manufacturing at the BMW and Audi factories in Munich and Ingolstadt. The feeling of seeing huge machines (bigger than some houses!) and fleets of robot arms moving and welding cars around the factory floor all around us was absolutely incredible, and Mr Wilson also showed us how the Just in Time Manfacturing process is used to improve efficiency of production in modern mass production.
As the trip came to an end on the fourth day, we were all able to leave Germany having finally seen the numerous processes we learnt about in our DT theory lessons, as well as the history of the car brands that we all know.
We’d like to thank Mr. Willson, Mr. Omoyeni and Mr. Tonks for accompanying us and giving us these truly unforgettable experiences.
