Tuesday 18th June 2019

Mercedes-AMG GT R Roadster goes on sale

Soft top version of the fixed wing-wearing, 585hp outputting GT R can now be ordered in the UK

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Summer is practically upon us, something you'd know about if it stopped raining for 5 minutes. To herald what we can only assume will be three months of wonderful weather, Mercedes-AMG has announced that its GT R Roadster is now available to order in the UK - for a starting price of £178,675.

For the record, that makes it second only in the lineup to the recently launched GT R Pro, which is £188,425 on the road. The R-badged Roadster - which presumably regards everything from an Audi R8 Spyder to an Aston Martin DB11 convertible as a legitimate six-figure rival - is an eye-opening £30k more than the coupe-based R model, and the walkup from the GT C Roadster is bigger still.

 

The car's secret, of course, is to combine Mercedes-AMG's hand-built 585hp biturbo 4.0-litre V8 with a triple-layered fabric soft top. The latter apparently boasts a structure consisting of aluminium, magnesium and steel and can be opened or closed within 11 seconds, while the former will get you from 0 to 62mph in 3.6 seconds and ultimately onto a top speed of 197mph - very nearly as fast as the coupe.

If that sounds like your sort of jam, you'll be delighted to hear that you also get the fixed wing, coilover suspension, adjustable dampers and rear-wheel steering which distinguished the conventional R model - as well as the wider track and wheels. The styling pack is also mostly intact, while the kit list includes AMG performance seats in nappa leather, the AMG Interior Night package, a Burmester high end surround sound system and the AMG matt carbon fibre trim as standard.

An additional £5,995 buys you the composite brakes you almost certainly won't need unless you're overly concerned about the Roadster's 80kg weight penalty relative to the tin top. Either way you'll have the whole summer to enjoy thinking about the car. Not driving it though - deliveries don't kick off till the autumn. Typical.

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Inspired? Search for a Mercedes-AMG GT here

[B17NNS]

Stupid spoiler is stupid.

[Rameez-v57b3]

For a starting price of £178,675.

What an outrageous price, competing in super car territory with a premium but not super car badge.

Can see this taking a massive depreciation hit and making Mclarens look like good value in comparison :P

[TheDrBrian]

Sad when you’ve got fake vents on a 178 grand car

[madcal]

Buy new now; trade in 12 months @ £110k.

Need deep pockets.

[MissChief]

£178k? Pfft, I'll take two.

[B17NNS]

Three year old coupes with next to no miles are in the mid 60’s.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Burnham]

B17NNS said:

Three year old coupes with next to no miles are in the mid 60’s.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

While that's very true, and they are great value for money, I'm not sure what relevance that's got to a new no-milage AMG GT R convertible.

[Nerdherder]

B17NNS said:

Three year old coupes with next to no miles are in the mid 60’s.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Now that’s interesting.

[cramorra]

So much bile on so little thread
I quite like it - hope one can delete the badge
I don’t get the whole super car , premium car sports car bs
This is playing in the 911plus, entry level jag or Lambo league and doing well
I like the look (minus spoiler) and sound of it

[GT3hopeful]

TheDrBrian said:

Sad when you’ve got fake vents on a 178 grand car

I have had two SL500s and the very plastic fake wing vents really cheapen the car and annoyed me greatly

[CooperS]

B17NNS said:

Three year old coupes with next to no miles are in the mid 60’s.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Thats not an R spec'd car...... not exactly a fair comparison.

We can do the same with cooking model 911's versus their GT counterparts..... you'd agree one does worse on residuals than the other.....

[B17NNS]

CooperS said:

Thats not an R spec'd car...... not exactly a fair comparison.

Fair point. I admit I don’t know a whole lot about the GT or how the R differs. Just struck me that the very lightly used three year old coupe looked like an awful lot of car for the money.

560 bhp seems to be straightforward enough for the regular GT with a Stage 1 remap.

[Chestrockwell]

Why are these so much easier to buy than Porsche GT cars and why do they drop in value like a stone? The thread on the GT4 has 6 pages already and this hasn’t even got 10 comments, are GT Porsche’s THAT much better than this? What am I missing here. If I bought that tomorrow, I’d lose 40k in value as soon as I sign the papers yet Porsche’s gain value!

To the average driver, and most of us are average, would we be able to tell the difference enough in dynamics to say the Porsche is better? Or is it just a massive Porsche bandwagon. I genuinely think, this Merc would be more fun and more of an event to drive than a GT3 RS

[Pothole]

B17NNS said:

Three year old coupes with next to no miles are in the mid 60’s.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

That one's got a special feature, too:

ad said:

Keyless goo etc

[G13NVL]

Love the standard GTR and would love one of these but at that price point you not to far away from lightly used Hurcan perf spyder money.

[Sandpit Steve]

Woo, topless safety car!

Hang on, HOW MUCH..?? That's well into 570S money, and the McLaren won't depreciate as much either.

[GranCab]

McL 570 Spider will lose 30% from new in 2 years ... look in the classifieds for proof.

[Gameface]

The regular GTC's can be had for about £100k and look better.

Same with R8 convertibles.

[richthebike]

GranCab said:

McL 570 Spider will lose 30% from new in 2 years ... look in the classifieds for proof.

570 spiders are 45k discounted in the showroom. The future value projections are horrific, even from the sub 140 negotiated price. You're looking at 50k cost over 2 years.

Theres a 250k list, 900 mile 650S spider in Hatfield on for 130 something. This was a 250k car.

[Chapppers]

This is one of, if not the only cars out there where I much prefer the standard model to the cooking ones. Every time they add an appendage or a vent it makes this car worse in my eyes.

I'd absolutely love one of the standard cars someday, I might even be able to get past the fact the A pillar line doesn't intersect the middle of the front wheel.