C, S or R? With or without a roof? The AMG GT family

Paris, the city of love. Paris, the city where the world premiere of the Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster will soon be celebrated. Mercedes-AMG is expanding the powerful family of sports cars not only by a, admittedly expected, roadster version, but also by another performance level. Between S and R one has pushed a C again. That does not make things clearer, but exciting!

world Premiere

Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster (557 PS) and Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster (476 PS)

The four fast brothers: Mercedes-AMG GT, GT S, GT C and GT R and two of them now without a roof!

It's a double premiere. On the one hand, the expected roadster variant of the AMG GT. Without a roof, the sports car becomes a fresh-air sports studio with the appeal of sexy lines. The fact that the loss of a fixed roof raises the base price may contradict the amount of sheet metal used, but it is part of playing with the charms. As a Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster, the Affalterbach sports car has finally grown into an alternative for buyers from Zuffenhausen's sports car culture. A whole AMG GT family has grown up there. Another model is still missing, but probably a little more in a few weeks.

Two body styles, four engines. From 476 HP to 585 HP. The AMG GT family offers the ultimate temptations. While the recently presented AMG GT R offers the roughest version, the new AMG GT C now takes on the role of the sporty leader without being prone to excesses. The GT R will not be available as a roadster, but the AMG GT C version is (for now) only available “open top”. The model program is divided into abbreviations that are confusing at first glance. The brilliant 4.0 liter V8 with the “Hot-V” bi-turbo is always under the hood, but in the roadster and coupe “without S and without C” it ​​“only” has 476 hp. While the 510 hp AMG GT S is available as a coupé, the next roadster level is only reached with the AMG GT C. Then 557 hp. This engine variant is also available with the fabric hat as a roof. Above this is “the green beast” with 585 hp and only available as a coupé.

Mercedes-AMG GT C - does the C stand for competition?

However, the Mercedes-AMG GT C receives the fluffy cheeks of the GT R and also its rear-axle steering, which means that the GT C can be understood as a GT R “light”. What does the C stand for? Mercedes-AMG didn't want to reveal it in the press release about the new roadster. The fact is: As a Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster, the open GT stands extremely solid on the road. When it comes to driving dynamics, the Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster is more oriented towards the Mercedes-AMG GT R. Thanks to its 577 hp and 680 Nm, it catapults itself to 3.7 km/h within 100 seconds and if you want to, you can fly at 316 km/h deep over the asphalt surface. The “small” version of the Roadster takes 0.3 seconds more time for the sprint and can reach a speed of 302 km/h.

Whether C or not, both Roadsters receive the active aerodynamics of the AMG GT R. Vertical slats in the front apron, which open and close, allowing either more cooling or better aerodynamics.

Dynamic driving, the differences are likely to be greater, as soon as it is no longer about the pure longitudinal dynamics. The Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster inherits the rear-axle steering of the GT-R, stands on a broader mixed tires (265 / 35-19 front, 305 / 30-20 rear), also the active rear axle locking differential is in the C in series on board. The new performance level of the Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster also receives a customized dual-clutch transmission. The overall ratio is shorter, the seventh gear is shorter, but the first gear is longer.

Topless in 11 seconds

The three-layer fabric hat on the Roadster variants can be opened within 50 seconds at speeds up to 11 km/h. So that the “revelation” of the Mercedes-AMG GT is not reflected in its weight, parts of the hood are made of aluminum and the tailgate is made of carbon.

Its official premiere will be the Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster at the Paris Motor Show, which will be launched in spring 2017. What costs the sinful temptation? Well, even there the Affalterbacher oriented strongly towards Zuffenhausen. And look for a Porsche GT3 Cabriolet 😉

Technical data: