I’ve owned the amg for about 1 year and have put over 5k miles on it including a few track days.

The good: The car is fast. Really fast. The amg was able to accelerate and pull like a muscle car. And on top of that once the car starts the pull, the sound that it creates. Holy crap, the amg stock exhaust sounds incredible. When you stomp on it it’s an invigorating burbling noise that does not disappoint.

It’s also absolutely a looker. It’s got a menacing look and from my perspective there’s not a lot of other cars that look better.

Looks aside, on the track is truly where you see the amg shine. It belongs at the track. The acceleration, the handling, and the exhaust make for an unforgettable experience on track.

The bad: Turbo lag. With the exception of using launch control, the car always took a second to think before it put the power down from a standstill. I understand that it may be due to the dual clutch, but nonetheless, there was lag. I considered tuning it but tuners let me know a tune wouldn’t really resolve this issue.

Suspension stiffness. Even on comfort setting, it’s a harsh ride. The 2018 GTCs I heard have softer suspension but the GTS was uncomfortable. I eventually got used to it, but the fiancée never wanted to set foot in the car. The car also had tons of squeaks. All sports car squeak right? Again, I kinda got used to it.

Infotainment. I don’t know what Mercedes’ was thinking but the infotainment was cumbersome and clumsy. I basically set my Bluetooth and left it alone.

The ugly: the day after I got the car I got a check engine light. I’ll spare you the details but it was caused by the valves of the exhaust sticking. A VERY common problem in AMGs. The car came with a CPO warranty and Mercedes’ did not want cover this repair. I even escalated it to MB USA and they declined to help. I had to get a brand new exhaust on my dime. Total BS.

At the end of the day, I wanted a weekend car that was an experience. Something fun. I found myself driving the amg to work more than on a weekend cruise. A part of that was due to being an automatic, but, I realized that having 500+hp isn’t fun for me. You can’t use it in the streets. You’re basically in go to jail speeds real quick. I really missed rowing gears. This week, I decided to trade it for a manual 2021 lotus Evora GT. Let’s see how different this experience is

 

An Evora with a V6 Toyota is more fun than an AMG GT ?

Strange review.

 

Have you driven the Evora GT? Maybe you missed the last paragraph where I talk about the reasons why I’m trying something new.

 

Power vs “momentum” curious to see what you think of the difference. Thanks for sharing.

 

Lotus Evora GT...yes! I cross-shopped my AMG GT S with Evora 400s, but I never managed to find an Evora 400 for a test drive. So I went with the AMG. I'm so curious to hear your impressions of the Evora GT when you get it. Please share!

 

I disagree with your statement about turbo lag. The hot-v configuration is as close to a naturally aspirated throttle response as you will find with any engine. I feel ZERO turbo-lag in any gear, any RPM.

 

Same here, I've not once ever experienced turbo lag in any of the GT cars I've driven.

 

Strange. Perhaps it’s not technically “turbo lag” but rather the split second the dual clutch transmission brake kicks in. Regardless, I always felt felt the a half second delay when I stepped on the throttle. Either from a standstill or in motion.

 

I just picked it up earlier this week and WOW! Very happy I made the change. It feels glued to the road, very nimble, and has more direct steering as you’ll ever see on a new car. As I was leaving the dealer, I accelerated, shifted into 2nd gear and then 3rd gear and heard a supercharge wine mixed with an exhaust note that makes it sound like a spaceship taking off. I was giggling like a school girl for 4 hour ride back home. While I haven’t tested standstill acceleration, the acceleration I’m sure isn’t as quick as the AMG but if you compare numbers, it’s at 3.8 seconds 0-60 which is only .1 behind the GTS.

Combine that acceleration with a manual transmission and I personally don’t need any more power in the street.

 

I've driven the Lotus Evora and agree it's light, nimble and communicative. A fun car for twisties or track. Zero to 60 might be quicker, but the acceleration curve tends to flatten-out over 60 whereas the GT is only beginning to hit its stride. The GT pulls like a late model 911 turbo from 60 to 140.

 

Its turbo lag, I bought a 996 x50 turbo, and while the car did well over 60mph, the around town street manners were less than great. Coming from positive displacement AMG cars with immediate throttle response and low end torque, and driving the x50 996 turbo was not fun around town. Even the 997 turbo I have leads to higher speed driving.

The 212 biturbo guys that had come from Kompressor 55’s to turbo 63’s miss the low end grunt of the supercharger. I find myself accelerating quickly in my 55 cars, but not speeding. Not so much in the porsches.

 

I echo what others have said that the 4l V8 virtually has no turbo lag. Not just in the GT, but across the board. It's been a while since I drove a GT S, but most recently drove the GT BS, and personally I have a '19 C63S. There's no lag in either of them. Can't be compared to Porsche Turbos. Porsches are different. Especially the Turbo uses bigger turbos for top end power (more inertia, so they don't spool up as fast) and the flat engine requires the turbos to be on the outside with much longer piping than the Hot-V design. Ever seen a Porsche Turbo engine outside of the car? It's a massively wide thing with the turbos hanging off to the side. Look at the V8 for comparison. Very compact and short piping as well as small and fast spooling turbos. I come from NA engines as well, and the AMG V8 is one of the few turbo engines that doesn't annoy me because of lag.

 

Honeymoon period.

 

Porsche uses variable vane turbine technology. Or they did. My background in the turbo world is WRX (tons of lag, better after removing the up pipe cat) 2011 VW GTI w/DSG which has a close coupled turbo, no discernable lag and felt even better with a safe tune. And now my 2018 GT R which has no lag. When peak torque comes to the party at 1900 rpm you have to be driving silly like lugging the engine in manual mode to convince yourself there is lag.

 

Youre probably right but I gotta say I ain’t never felt that way in the amg. But again, different strokes for different folks.

 

Confused as to how you can say the Mercedes has a cumbersome infotainment system....especially compared to a Lotus? It's one of the easiest and straightforward systems, with all the info you need at your fingertips and easy to navigate. Plus with that cramped interior and cheap build components, in the Lotus, I would say that your complaint of a fraction of a second "perceived" turbo lag doesn't even weigh in the overall picture...but enjoy your Toyota kit car.

 

I really don’t understand how people in these forums can be so butt hurt over how I MYSELF felt about the car. You are entitled to your own opinion but no need to bash the choices others make when they don’t align with your own view. You’re making it seem like I offended you personally.. these are cars…. not your children for gods sake. Relax dude.

 

I'm totally relaxed, I promise you. You came here stating your opinion or review on a car you traded for and I was making sense out of your findings and responding to your review. No biggie. If you can't handle opposing responses (which is the best part of a forum chat) and your butt hurt level is through the roof, maybe it is you that needs to relax. Dude, enjoy your car in good health. Nothing sacred, just toys that we admire.

 

Well, posting this in a forum where owners usually love their cars more than their children is going to ruffle some feathers. It happens in all car specific forums. I am glad you are happy with your new purchase, and understand the need to change.

 

ah the Mercedes owner speaks!

 

Maybe row a Vantage 7 speed? That would be an interesting drive.

 

That is a nice car and still remains on my "will have" list.

 

Same here. No discernible turbo lag. Must have been something wrong with your transmission; but I haven’t heard of many issues with the DCT.

 

I like Lotus a lot; but it’s going to be a LOT less reliable, considerably slower, and that Toyota engine has a lot less personality (and a much shorter power band (~6500 rpm redline?), so it doesn’t really compare to the AMG GTS. Your better bet would have been to get a GTC if you wanted a better ride.

 

I have a few Lotus including the Evora. I can see why. Though AMG and Lotus are still very different cars and have unique philosophies. At the end of the day, the car is just a brush that helps the driver paint the curves of a track/canyon. It is subjective how one wants to interpret the curves. There really isn't a right or wrong, better or worse etc.

Reliability wise, they have been great actually. Usual maintenances go the long way. I see the anomalies as quirks that I need to comprehend, fix it and deal with them in the future. Though I am a lot less forgiving if similar "quirks" happen in German makes.

Still Brit cars are always subjected to prejudice in the car world and among car enthusiasts. A stigma, I am afraid, will still stick around for decades more.