The 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster starts up with a blat that is sure to wake the neighbors. Its rowdy start-up puts a smile on my face and sets the tone for the fun to come. Here is a car that is equal parts muscle, theater and fun.
(I was supposed to be driving a rental Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio today, but when the Giulia hit an electronic throttle control fault and went into limp mode, my Turo host swapped me over into his 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster. I must admit that this is a nice consolation prize for the broken Giulia rental!)
Before I can explore the promised fun, I must run an errand. The rear right tire is underinflated, and I need to find a gas station with an air compressor. Over LA’s blemished roads, I can feel mild, discordant tremors reverberating through the chassis. This GT C Roadster is a drop-top, and I’d say the car’s structural rigidity has suffered slightly in the transformation from coupe to convertible. I drove the big brother Mercedes-AMG GT R last month, and I don’t remember such shimmers through that rocket.
Ignoring the minor tremors, I find the GT C Roadster quite comfortable in town. The ride isn’t plush, but it’s well on the comfortable side of sporting. The dual-clutch gearbox—a rare transmission for a Mercedes—goes about its business competently. The big twin-turbo V8 makes its presence known to my ears, but is not so loud as to be grating or annoying.
I recently drove—and loved—a 2019 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, a competitor of the GT C with a similar, AMG-built, 4.0L V8. I reveled in the Vantage’s ridiculously raucous sound and hard ride but questioned its day-to-day usability. In contrast, the calm sounding and comfortably riding Mercedes-AMG GT C is an easy, and enjoyable, everyday car. Drop the top to alleviate the (admittedly atrocious) rear blind spots, and the GT C demands very little from you in normal driving.
More than that, the GT C actually gives back to you in normal driving. As I trundle through the San Fernando Valley, I am savoring the GT C’s steering feel. The wheel’s rim is buzzing with road texture and occasionally communicating suspension action over bumps or impacts. The steering’s speed is a Goldilocks just right, neither too quick nor too calm. Most thankfully—especially after jumping out of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio—AMG has avoided the rubbery recentering force that is the hallmark of EPAS steering. The reason for the great feel and feedback is simple: AMG still uses hydraulic steering assistance in the GT C.
It takes two tries before I find a gas station with a working compressor. While I am filling up the low tire, I take a good look at the tire tread. Both rear tires are showing cords and are overdue for replacement. I have a sneaking suspicion that 550 Affalterbach horses are to blame for the damage. Today’s theme is about turning lemons into lemonade: my Turo host will have to replace these tires immediately…there is no reason to go easy on them now!
Due to my aborted Giulia rental and the gas station errand, I’ve gotten a late start. The sun is setting quickly, so I head for the nearest canyon road, Box Canyon Road. I accidentally end up on Woolsey Canyon instead, but my mistake is a blessing. Woolsey Canyon is a beautiful two-mile hill climb that dead-ends at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The pavement has been chopped up by the heavy trucks that service the laboratory, but the road is wide, empty and interestingly varied. It climbs out of the valley in sweepers and tight twists, then a short straight leads to a glorious hairpin, which is followed by an “isn’t straight” to the summit.
The GT C is an absolute hoot to hoon up and down Woolsey Canyon. The rip-snorting engine blares its DTM-inspired song as I spear towards the orange-cast heavens. I can’t sense a whiff of turbo lag, and the go-pedal allows for perfect control of the power, which is important because the spent rear tires are no match for the gutsy engine. Over multiple passes, I loosen the traction control’s reins, switching from Sport, to Sport+, and finally to Race. I go from getting joyous little drifts out of the hairpin to painting the pavement with twin tire marks through second and third gears on the final blitz to the summit.
The last time I had this much fun, I was roasting someone else’s tires on a drift skidpad!
Twilight is upon me, and the neighbors are casting me equally dark glares. I retreat from Woolsey Canyon to find the actual Box Canyon. Box Canyon is tightly twisting but also nerve-wrackingly narrow. I take it slowly to keep the car’s plus-sized hips in my own petite lane.
The canyon dead-ends at Santa Susana Pass Road, a sinuous and smoothly-paved B-road between Simi Valley and San Fernando Valley. The round-trip journey up and down the pass is a short three miles, but there are many good racetracks that are shorter than that, and I can make as many passes as I please.
Up and down I go, enjoying the GT C’s great turn-in, ample cornering confidence, and supreme steer-by-throttle adjustability. While the GT C looks like a big car from the driver’s seat, it does not drive like a big car. Its mid-engined layout makes it free and easy to turn into Santa Susana’s twisting corners. The suspension—now tightened in Race mode—keeps the body roll in check. The smart electronic limited-slip differential is ready to put down the big engine’s power and push the GT C onto the next straight with joyous gusto. Combined with the utmost control I’m given by the crisp DCT transmission, I’m melding with the AMG, and I feel like I’m in complete control of my steed.
Though the stars are overhead, the car and the evening are just too perfect to end now. I set course for Malibu and luxuriate in the thrumming engine and the feelsome steering. Soon, the constant flow of hot valley air through the GT C’s open cabin is broken by swirling wafts of cool ocean breezes. The Pacific is near: I’ll have just one more blast through the mountains before I return this lovely GT C.
The sun has set and the sky is dark, so it’s time to quit my speed-racer games. I finally drop the Roadster’s convertible top, opening up the GT C to the summer night’s heat and Box Canyon’s forest-scented air. Through the tight corners, I wish for cornering headlights so that I could see into dark turns.
Yes, the Mercedes-AMG GT C is the perfect balance of crazy and comfortable. I love it for chilling and cruising or for twisting and shouting. It’s both a hooligan and a track weapon, and I wouldn’t change a thing about it. Well, except for the rear tires.
Mike's Steering Column 