There’s certainly a rivalry between Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. It may not be quite as cutthroat as some automotive rivalries, but it’s safe to assume the backside of a 911 Carrera driver puckers up just a bit if a Mercedes-AMG GT is spotted. Same goes for the Merc driver, and if the cars are of the roofless variety, there’s no hiding the mutual raised eyebrows and scrutinizing glances of each person behind the wheel.

Porsche 911
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In that sense, this recent video from coches.net could be a reenactment of hypothetical events that might occur on unrestricted sections of the German autobahn. In one corner we have a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet, festooned with a 443-horsepower (330-kilowatt) 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat-six engine stuffed behind the rear wheels. The other corner is occupied by the Mercedes-AMG GT C, packing a larger 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 550 hp (410 kW).

It doesn’t take a math wizard to see the Porsche is significantly outgunned, but the Merc carries its engine in front with power going to just the back wheels. The Porsche turns all four, which is why – on paper at least – it reaches 62 mph (100 km/h) just ahead of the AMG. Granted, 3.6 to 3.7 seconds is merely a single tenth of an advantage, but it’s enough to put the Porsche in front.

Mercedes-Benz AMG GT
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Does that advantage translate into the real world for this race? In short, yes it does. The 911 bolts from the line so quick that, initially anyway, we don’t even see the Mercedes in the camera frame. The plucky Porsche pulls an impressive lead in a short time – more than a tenth of a second we reckon – but the more powerful Merc stops the pull not long after the launch.

Gallery: Mercedes-AMG GT C Vs Porsche 911 4S Cabrio

What happens from there? We’ll leave that to the video, but the drag race ultimately covers nearly a half-mile. That's plenty of distance for the AMG GT to exercise its boosted V8.

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