How Does Mercedes-AMG Top the GT? By Removing the Top [w/ Video]
The Mercedes-AMG GT, in case you haven’t been paying attention, is fast, agile and sexy as hell. However, if you live in a temperate climate like we do, your only means of enjoying the sunshine and fresh air in one is to roll down the side windows. Well, that’s going to change in the not-too-distant future, because Mercedes-AMG is trimming the top off its front-engine supercar to create the GT Roadster.
Actually, as is the case with the coupe, there are multiple versions of the GT Roadster. The first is the standard version called, uh, the GT Roadster. It uses AMG’s 4.0L twin-turbo V8, though with more grunt than it’s currently generating in the base GT coupe (469 horsepower versus 456). However, for the second variation of the Roadster, instead of creating a ragtop version of the GT S and/or GT R, the Affalterbach posse has created the GT C Roadster. It uses a 550 horsepower version of the biturbo V8, which makes it weaker than the GT R’s 577 horse unit, but significantly stronger than the GT S’s 503 Pferde. Both models use the coupes’ 7-speed dual clutch transmission, but only the GT C Roadster includes the GT R’s wider fenders, rear wheel steering, electronic limited slip diff and other performance enhancing doodads.
As for the top, it’s a fabric-covered setup that can be raised and lowered at speeds of up to 31 mph, and speaking of tops and speeds, Mercedes-AMG says the GT Roadster will run all the way to 188 mph (after hitting 60 mph in 3.9 seconds), while the GT C Roadster can reach 196 mph and blast to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds. No pricing info has been released ahead of the GT Roadsters’ pending Paris Motor Show premiere, but there isn’t exactly a pressing need for the company to cough it up as far as American buyers are concerned, as these cars are about a full year away from reaching showrooms over here. Yes, that means it will be 2019 before you can take full summer cruising weather advantage of the folding roof, but based on the numbers, the looks and – in the video below – the sounds, all that waiting should be worthwhile.
Source: Mercedes-AMG