Jeremy Clarkson Holds Nothing Back on the AMG GT C Roadster
Is AMG moving in the wrong direction? Clarkson certainly thinks so, but not for the reason you might think.
Cars have a particular identity attached to them. Associating a 911 with a razor-edged sports car is perfectly acceptable, as well as thinking a GT car from Mercedes might be suited to easily devouring large stretches of highway use instead of clipping apexes with race-car precision. Which brings Jeremy Clarkson to the AMG GT C Roadster. It resides in the midst of an identity crisis.
Fundamentally, a coupe will almost always be more dynamic than a convertible based on rigidity, which leaves the open top versions to be the type of car you enjoy rather than thrash. But Clarkson says the GT C Roadster is too harsh. It’s trying too much to be a race car and in a way, we’re inclined to agree.
One main feature on the GT C Roadster to help it handle better is four-wheel steering, though it seems to cause more problems than it solves:
“When you drive a car that steers with all four wheels, you are always amazed by just how readily it changes direction. However, I was not on the Nürburgring. I was in Oxfordshire and I was not driving particularly quickly when my passenger invited me to stop. Because she felt car sick.”
We have to ask: Is AMG losing its focus on fun-to-drive, brutally fast cars? Are they becoming too concerned with headline-grabbing lateral G’s instead of the joy one gets by laying two thick black lines on the pavement? We hope not because as Jeremy says, it’s “very nearly there and could be brilliant.”
