FIRST DRIVE REVIEW
CAR
FIRST DRIVE REVIEW
MERCEDES-BENZ-AMG GT / GT C ROADSTER
It ’ s not hard to get excited by a Mercedes-AMG sports car aimed at the Porsche 911 . But it can be hard to wrap your head around the Mercedes-AMG GT lineup . First there was the GT S , which was followed by an entry-level , non-S GT . Then came the other bookend , the top-of-the-line GT R , and the race car , which gets no name at all beyond the class it sometimes competes in : Mercedes-AMG GT3 . Then came the inevitable GT convertible , the GT C , which seemed to be positioned as the roadster complement to the GT S coupe — until it was announced that there will be a GT C coupe as well . Naturally , there ’ s also a non-C convertible . There ’ s no word on an R convertible , although there will be a four-door model from AMG badged as a GT that almost certainly will be available in many , if not all , of the aforementioned trim levels . ( When discussing these options with your spouse or financial manager , keep in mind that there are GT S and C coupes and convertibles , but Mercedes also makes S- and C-class coupes and convertibles , which cover a wide price range . Employ specifics and vagaries as necessary to obtain a blessing for your desired derivative .)
compared with the coupes is minimal , just 110 or so pounds in the GT and only about 75 pounds in the C , according to Mercedes . A trunklid of carbon-fiber composite offsets some of the gain . The roadsters get additional bracing in the dashboard and the rear bulkhead , a rear tower brace , and reinforced sills . The result is a car that not once in our drive around central Arizona shuddered or otherwise reminded us it was a convertible , except when we realized our faces were assuming the texture of pork cracklins . Luckily , the top raises or lowers in just 11 seconds , at speeds up to 31 mph .
IRRATIONAL PIE As confusing as all this can seem , it ’ s what you do when chasing the 911 : You slice your pie thin and add so many layers , spinoffs , and special editions — the GT C ’ s first has already been announced — that it starts to resemble a pie five minutes after it was served to an unsupervised toddler . Or a model of the solar system that accounts for at least three more dimensions than the average human is cognizant of . Or the frenzied pursuit of money , money , money , money .
At any rate , we now have driven two more slices / branches / wormholes of the space-time pie : the GT roadster and GT C roadster . Weight gain
30 4GUYS . CA