When Mercedes-AMG division set out to challenge the Porsche 911, many balked at the challenge that lay ahead. Mercedes has some serious engineering muscle under its wing, but the Porsche 911 has been the class leader and benchmark driver's car. And then there's the fact that Porsche has cornered every part of the sports car market with the 911, from those looking for more of a grand tourer to customers with an addiction to the Nurburgring. And then, of course, there are the topless models.

Thankfully Mercedes isn't the type to skip on its homework and has left the GT range ballooned with the GT, GT S, GT R, GT C Coupe, and now the GT Roadster and its more powerful relative, the GT C Roadster. Autocar got its hands on the last of those cars to give it a proper shakedown and as suspected, it passes with flying colors.

It's a bit hard not to when we're talking about a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 making 550 horsepower and 502 lb-ft of torque sending power to the rear through a seven-speed automatic. Weighing in at 3,817 pounds, the AMG GT C Roadster is no featherweight in the segment, but thanks to Mercedes' experience making heavy cars feel more nimble than usual, Autocar finds this GT C Roadster to be as solid as a rock. A well designed chassis gives no hint that an entire reinforcement member is missing, but the sound of the V8 permeating through the cloth top might. This helps the AMG GT fight Porsche on what is possibly the most important area of all: driver happiness.