Better out in the open
AMG-Mercedes hacks the top off the GT and creates an even more invigorating sports car, says Steve Sutcliffe
IS THERE A better-looking convertible on sale right now? In fact, the new AMG GT C Roadster is far from just a pretty face. It’s also a phenomenally quick, highly engaging car to drive, with a huge dose of quality and refinement to go with it. So while it’s undeniably expensive at £139,445, the GT C Roadster is probably one of the best-value high-end convertibles money can buy at the moment.
How so? Because dynamically it all but matches far more expensive rivals from the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren while costing broadly the same as an open-top Audi R8 or Porsche 911 Turbo. It’s therefore no wonder that AMG is quietly confident that it has produced one of its best-ever road cars, one that completes the set for the GT range, the first of which was 2014’s GT coupé.
For the GT C Roadster numerous technical upgrades have taken place beneath (and upon) those arrestingly handsome surfaces. The C gets a new electronic four-wheel steering system, for instance, in which the rear wheels steer in the opposite direction to those at the front up to 60mph, above which they steer in the same direction. And the extra sharpness this has lent to the C’s dynamic personality is not to be understated. It steers beautifully, in short, and also displays massive composure at high speeds plus terrific bite on turn-in.
At the same time the C also gets AMG’s excellent dynamic ride control system as standard, plus an electronic differential that generates ludicrous levels of traction for a rearwheel-drive car. AMG won’t admit to applying any more significant changes beneath the skin – apart from the fitment of a 469bhp version of its ubiquitous 4.0-litre twin-turbo engine that can propel it to 62mph in 3.7sec and to 196mph flat-out. But most that drove the car on its launch in Arizona suspected that other modifications had been applied, so much sharper does it feel than the standard coupé.
And so much more comfortable if and when you want it to be, too; thank the adaptive damping system, which switches the C’s personality from rabid sports car to near-limo at the twirl of a rotary dial. Select Race mode and you get instant and huge response from the throttle, steering, gearbox, diff and exhaust system; wind it back to Comfort and, as if by magic, a smooth-riding, far quieter, much less lairy car emerges. And there’s seemingly little compromise detectable in either direction.
The roof mechanism is a beautiful piece of simple yet well-executed engineering. It glides into place up or down in 11 seconds, can be operated up to 30mph, and once down provides a deliciously clean look to the whole back end of the car. Then again, the Roadster looks pretty tasty with its hood up, too, with less bulk to the roof area than the coupé exhibits, which accentuates the width of the car. It is, in fact, 57mm wider at the back than the coupé and looks even wider in the metal.
Refinement on the move with the hood down is hard to criticise, the standard-fit wind deflector and some clever aerodynamic trickery inside the cabin pretty much eradicating wind buffeting below three figures. Hood-up, there’s maybe just a touch too much noise from somewhere around the back of your head to give it a maximum thumbs-up, and rear threequarter visibility isn’t great, either. Pulling out of T-junctions at certain angles can occasionally become a slightly terrifying ‘grit your teeth and go’ exercise as a result.
On the other hand, the boot is unusually spacious for a two-seater with an electric hood, and the build quality is every bit as good as you could hope for, even at 140 grand, with laserlike shutlines, exquisite paint finishes and a cabin that is appointed as well as it is made.
Quite some car, the AMG GT C Roadster. No wonder the order books are already bursting.