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2015 BMW M4 vs. 2014 Porsche 911 Carrera – Comparison Test – Car and Driver
Front to Back: Two wildly divergent approaches to building all the sports car you'd ever need.
JULY 2014
BY ERIC TINGWALL
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC URBANO
From the August 2014 Issue of Car and Driver
If there were a perfect way to construct a car, we would have figured it out by now. In 129 years of automotive development, though, the only consensus in the industry seems to be that four wheels are better than three. The perpetual evolution of the automobile, along with a few steadfast traditions, suggests that a great car is more a matter of practical application than scientific theory.
Few vehicle pairings make this notion more obvious than the Porsche 911 Carrera and the BMW M4, two icons that couldn’t be more different, mechanically speaking. What’s the right way to build a car? Engine ahead of or behind the driver? Naturally aspirated or turbocharged? Interactive three-pedal transmission or a heroically quick automatic? These two cars propose an alternate answer: D) All of the above.
Each car is a reflection of its maker’s Weltanschauung, its worldview. BMW’s hot-rod coupe is the product of a full-line manufacturer adept at turning mainstream cars into performance specials. The 911 has been honed over the past 50 years by sports-car experts who only recently discovered sedans and SUVs. BMW and Porsche have more common ground with the X5 and Cayenne than with the M4 and the 911. Yet matchups like this 28-year rivalry are at the core of our Weltanschauung. What passes for one, anyway.
Price brings them closer together than ever. This particular 911 is refreshingly free of frippery. At $92,140, this manual-transmission, base Carrera sports just $6890 in options, every one of them worthy of a piece of your paycheck. The only excess is the sport exhaust, which pleads a convincing case every time you lean on the gas pedal. The long list of equipment that wasn’t on our test car is a mixed bag of fluff and desirable performance equipment—stuff like a limited-slip differential and adaptive dampers, but also a paint-matched key and leather-covered air vents.
BMW’s new (and, technically, first) M4 starts $20,125 lower than the base 911. We closed that gap with a handful of expensive options such as the $8150 carbon-ceramic brakes, $1200 19-inch wheels, and $2900 dual-clutch automatic transmission. Our test car’s final price of $80,325 is nearly double that of the most basic 4-series, for what is almost certainly more than double the car.
So we have a purpose-built sports car versus a factory speed-shop conversion. Who makes the best all-around, all-day-every-day performance car?
2014 Porsche 911 Carrera
Second place: Front to Back.
North Carolina doesn’t bother to post its 55-mph rural speed limit on its twistiest roads because the pavement there is so contorted and spastic that even a 350-hp sports car rarely trips the double nickel. Thus, a “resume safe speed” sign announces to the driver of a guards-red Carrera that the party is about to start.
We find the 911’s muse outside of Blowing Rock, where U.S. Route 221 unceremoniously transitions from a mind-numbingly straight highway to 19 miles of writhing asphalt. Less than a mile north, the Blue Ridge Parkway meanders through the Appalachians with shallow curves, a strict 45-mph speed limit, and dawdling tourists. On U.S. 221, the tight, tree-lined kinks are intoxicating, even at 35 mph. The closest thing to a scenic turnout is the 50-foot plunge off the outside of a decreasing-radius turn. Shy of a road course, few stretches of pavement are this entertaining, this revealing of a car’s character.
The Porsche 911 cuts a quick and clean line through the trees. Fat 285-section Goodyears rein in the 911’s rear end like Spanx on a Kardashian. This car is docile, not dicey. The nose tucks in when you lift off the gas, and the rear tires break away gently if you’re too hot entering a corner. These aren’t malicious movements; they’re the natural responses of an eminently obedient sports car. The chassis is so neutral and the feedback so perceptible that the infamously tail-happy Porsche, not the BMW, feels more stable on this unfamiliar road.
The consistency of the 911’s controls heightens the intimacy. The shifter, the steering wheel, and all three pedals move with a deliberate, calculated effort. This is Porsche’s conscious acknowledgment that, in a sports car, you never steer, shift, stop, or accelerate in isolation. And the harmony is never more obvious than when you execute a flawless heel-toe downshift—the friction point smack in the middle of the clutch pedal’s travel, the steady inertia of the stick sliding into second gear, the firm pushback from the brake, the controlled blip of the throttle.
Left: Seven speeds might be one too many for easy use in a manual, but we're always happy to try to make it work.
The effort of Porsche’s relatively light steering ramps up naturally as lateral g’s build, yet the 911’s helm doesn’t talk to you so much as it nods and mutters. Camber changes and wheel impacts are damped to a fraction of their original intensity. Still, the Porsche’s steering feedback is far more tangible than the BMW’s. The only real ergonomic disconnect is the seven-gear, four-gate shift pattern. On both downshifts and upshifts, it’s easy to become lost in the corn maze of third, fifth, and seventh gears.
You’ll come to know the shifter with time, as the 3.4-liter flat-six should be stirred frequently. This engine requires revs to make its 350 horsepower and 287 pound-feet of torque, and below 4500 rpm it’s about as potent as a family sedan’s engine.
Of all the characteristic differences between the M4 and 911, though, the defining one is even more elementary than the placement of the engine, the number of pedals, or whether or not there are turbos involved. It’s weight. At 3164 pounds, the Porsche undercuts the BMW by more than 400 pounds, so the 911 comes by its athleticism naturally. It hangs with the M4 even without turbochargers, a limited-slip differential, or carbon-ceramic rotors.
The 911 scoots to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, just 0.3 second behind the M4 despite a power deficit that is roughly equal to one Mitsubishi Mirage. In our six-stop, 70-mph brake test, the standard iron-disc brakes proved every bit as resilient as the M4’s carbon-ceramics while producing a shorter, 144-foot stop. At 0.98 g, the Porsche matched the BMW in lateral grip.
So how did the 911 lose? By a narrow margin. In the objective scoring categories, it was dinged for its sparse equipment, slower acceleration times, larger price tag, and compromised practicality. We can forgive Porsche for the tiny rear seats, but surely the engineers in Weissach can carve out a space for a cellphone or a pair of sunglasses without making this tidy car any larger.
You’ll notice that the 911 took every one of our subjective chassis categories. The 911’s shortcomings have nothing to do with driving. If you can make peace with the fact that there’s at least one faster and cheaper German in town, the 911 experience is worth the price
2015 BMW M4
First place: Front to Back.
What BMW is doing here is akin to letting One Direction open for Slayer. This F82-series M car seems tailor-made to inflame the faithful. For those who worship at the altars of E30, E36, E46, and E92, the new electric power steering, turbochargers, name, and ersatz engine soundtrack piped through the stereo speakers may seem unconscionable. But heresy and progress have rarely looked so similar: The M3 coupe has, in the past four generations, used four-, six-, and eight-cylinder engines. When it comes to M-car powertrains, the only constant has been change.
Internally, the new S55 engine resembles the 435i’s N55, with six half-liter cylinders stacked in a straight line. But BMW didn’t conjure 125 additional horsepower on calibration alone. The M4 uses a new block, a forged crank, a liquid-to-air intercooler, and two turbochargers instead of one.
Compared with the dream-haunting 8400-rpm wail of the M3-exclusive 4.0-liter V-8, the S55 goes to sleep 900 rpm earlier. It’s a small compromise, though, considering the low-end punch of the turbos and the fact that this inline-six is plenty alert at its top end. It’s remarkable how quickly 406 pound-feet of torque at 1850 rpm becomes 425 horsepower at 7300 rpm. Launch control, now much easier to initiate, rockets the M4 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 12.1 seconds at 119 mph, the rear end wriggling all the way through third gear.
Right: It's hard to argue with a 75-hp advantage, a torque peak way down at 1850 rpm, and lightning-fast gearchanges.
There’s so much twist that, at times, the car doesn’t know what to do with all of it. With traction control active and the transmission in automatic mode, full-throttle acceleration is neutered. To keep the tires from going up in smoke, the computers dial back the thrust and short-shift to second in an anticlimactic lurch that feels like the clutch is never fully engaged. Then second gear arrives and the M4 blasts off. You learn to drive around the stunted first gear by managing the throttle or disabling traction control.
As in the latest M5, BMW complements the engine’s natural noises with a manufactured intake burr played through the speakers. You’ll be hard-pressed to separate the computer-generated noise from the combustion-generated. The collaboration produces a throatier, deeper, and louder rendition of the BMW straight-six—not as melodic as the 911 but arguably more menacing.
Throttle progression, steering weight, and shift speed can be set to one of three modes, as in the outgoing car. For the steering, sport-plus is unnaturally stiff, comfort is unnervingly light, and sport mode is just right. It takes us 20 miles to configure the system with our preferred settings, and that’s long enough to grow even fonder of the 911, which ships with the proper calibration as the one and only setting.
The M4 is a longer car than its predecessor, but BMW also worked hard to make it lighter. The roof, driveshaft, inner trunk-lid, and underhood brace are all made from carbon fiber, while the suspension links are now aluminum and the engine trims mass. At 3581 pounds, the M4 weighs about 30 pounds less than the E92 M3 coupe.
There’s an option for adaptive dampers with their own three-position adjustment button, but our car rode on standard shocks. The M4 jounces on its rear haunches, with more vertical motion and more abrupt impacts than the surprisingly supple 911. Neither can the M4 hide its luxury-sedan roots with a higher seating position and an outward view that reminds you that the BMW is 7.7 inches longer than the Porsche.
Carbon-ceramic brakes, which are larger in diameter than the wheels of the original E30 M3, scrub 70 mph in 151 feet. They’re overkill for the street, though. The pads can be slow to bite during light and moderate braking, and the top-of-pedal modulation is ambiguous.
While the M4 nearly matches the 911 in objective chassis and braking performance, the differences in feel are obvious to the driver. The BMW’s controls aren’t as precise and body motions aren’t as poised. Yet the M4 glues itself to the 911’s rear bumper on U.S. 221. The Porsche’s narrow handling edge is blunted by the BMW’s swollen torque curve and right-now transmission.
What the M4 does so well is merge straight-line speed with elevated cornering aptitude. The steering is quicker on-center than the 911’s, and the M4 dives toward apexes with the aid of a standard limited-slip differential. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic furiously swaps ratios so that you always exit bends with power and torque at the ready.
The M4 is more challenging to drive at the limit, but it’s far easier to drive faster beneath it. It’s the quintessential German muscle car to Porsche’s quintessential German sports car. Is one design more right than the other? That’s a matter of opinion. But it’s hard to argue with a car that delivers more performance for less money.
Final Scoring, Performance Data, and Complete Specs
VEHICLE2015 BMW M42014 Porsche 911 Carrera
BASE PRICE$65,125$85,250
PRICE AS TESTED$80,325$92,140
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH184.5 inches176.8 inches
WIDTH73.6 inches71.2 inches
HEIGHT54.4 inches51.3 inches
WHEELBASE110.7 inches96.5 inches
FRONT TRACK62.2 inches60.3 inches
REAR TRACK63.1 inches59.8 inches
INTERIOR VOLUMEF: 54 cubic feet
R: 36 cubic feetF: 50 cubic feet
R: 17 cubic feet*
CARGO11 cubic feet10 cubic feet
POWERTRAIN
ENGINEtwin-turbocharged DOHC 24-valve inline-6
182 cu in (2979 cc)DOHC 24-valve flat-6
210 cu in (3436 cc)
POWER HP @ RPM425 @ 7300350 @ 7400
TORQUE LB-FT @ RPM406 @ 1850287 @ 5600
REDLINE / FUEL CUTOFF7500/7500 rpm7600/7800 rpm
LB PER HP8.49.0
DRIVELINE
TRANSMISSION7-speed dual-clutch automatic7-speed manual
DRIVEN WHEELSrearrear
GEAR RATIO:1/
MPH PER 1000 RPM/
MAX MPHView attachment 0bf9026611d3c6e8520e9a0c130a3c2d.jpg 4.81/4.7/35
View attachment 96b6385f97eb6830bdc429b6a611d8ce.jpg 2.59/8.7/65
View attachment 004716f335a032c51072df0e34e12ec3.jpg 1.70/13.2/99
View attachment 65920ff6caf83cbaa6671ffbb7a4c093.jpg 1.28/17.7/133
View attachment 43983b98504edb492a1170af1d12d1a4.jpg 1.00/22.2/155
View attachment dd6756a88ed3227c0f166873a647a787.jpg 0.84/26.8/155
View attachment 4e05088ccb43b18949b7fa738820265a.jpg 0.67/33.7/155View attachment 0bf9026611d3c6e8520e9a0c130a3c2d.jpg 3.91/5.6/44
View attachment 96b6385f97eb6830bdc429b6a611d8ce.jpg 2.29/10.1/79
View attachment 004716f335a032c51072df0e34e12ec3.jpg 1.55/14.9/116
View attachment 65920ff6caf83cbaa6671ffbb7a4c093.jpg 1.30/17.8/138
View attachment 43983b98504edb492a1170af1d12d1a4.jpg 1.08/21.2/165
View attachment dd6756a88ed3227c0f166873a647a787.jpg 0.88/26.5/182
View attachment 4e05088ccb43b18949b7fa738820265a.jpg 0.71/33.0/170
AXLE RATIO:13.463.44
CHASSIS
SUSPENSIONF: struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar
R: multilink, coil springs, anti-roll barF: struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar
R: multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar
BRAKESF: 15.7-inch vented, ceramic disc
R: 15.0-inch vented, ceramic discF: 13.4-inch vented, cross-drilled disc
R: 13.0-inch vented, cross-drilled disc
STABILITY CONTROLfully defeatable, competition mode, launch controlfully defeatable
TIRESMichelin Pilot SuperSport
F: 255/35ZR-19 (92Y)
R: 275/35ZR-19 (100Y)Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric2
F: 235/40ZR-19 (92Y)
R: 285/35ZR-19 (103Y)
C/D TEST
RESULTS
ACCELERATION
0–30 MPH1.7 sec1.4 sec
0–60 MPH3.9 sec4.2 sec
0–100 MPH8.6 sec10.0 sec
0–130 MPH14.6 sec17.1 sec
¼-MILE @ MPH12.1 sec @ 11912.7 sec @ 113
ROLLING START, 5–60 MPH4.2 sec5.3 sec
TOP GEAR, 30–50 MPH2.3 sec11.0 sec
TOP GEAR, 50–70 MPH2.9 sec9.7 sec
TOP SPEED155 mph (gov ltd, mfr's claim)182 mph (drag ltd)
CHASSIS
BRAKING 70–0 MPH151 feet144 feet
ROADHOLDING,
300-FT-DIA SKIDPAD0.98 g0.98 g
WEIGHT
CURB3581 pounds3164 pounds
%FRONT/%REAR52.6/47.438.6/61.4
FUEL
TANK15.9 gallons16.9 gallons
RATING91 octane91 octane
EPA CITY/HWY18/25 mpg*19/27 mpg
C/D 550-MILE TRIP22 mpg22 mpg
SOUND LEVEL
IDLE48 dBA29 dBA
FULL THROTTLE87 dBA86 dBA
70-MPH CRUISE68 dBA71 dBA
*C/D estimate.
tested in Laurens, South Carolina, by ERIC TINGWALL
Final Results
VEHICLE
RANK
Max Pts. Available
1
2015 BMW M4
2
2014 Porsche 911 Carrera
DRIVER COMFORT1099
ERGONOMICS1099
REAR-SEAT COMFORT531
REAR-SEAT SPACE*551
CARGO SPACE*555
FEATURES/AMENITIES*10104
FIT AND FINISH10910
INTERIOR STYLING1089
EXTERIOR STYLING10810
REBATES/EXTRAS*510
AS-TESTED PRICE*202017
SUBTOTAL1008775
POWERTRAIN
1/4-MILE ACCELERATION*202017
FLEXIBILITY*542
FUEL ECONOMY*101010
ENGINE NVH10810
TRANSMISSION1099
SUBTOTAL555148
CHASSIS
PERFORMANCE*201920
STEERING FEEL1079
BRAKE FEEL10710
HANDLING1089
RIDE10810
SUBTOTAL604958
EXPERIENCE
FUN TO DRIVE252124
GRAND TOTAL240208205
2015 BMW M4 vs. 2014 Porsche 911 Carrera – Comparison Test – Car and Driver
Front to Back: Two wildly divergent approaches to building all the sports car you'd ever need.
JULY 2014
BY ERIC TINGWALL
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC URBANO
If there were a perfect way to construct a car, we would have figured it out by now. In 129 years of automotive development, though, the only consensus in the industry seems to be that four wheels are better than three. The perpetual evolution of the automobile, along with a few steadfast traditions, suggests that a great car is more a matter of practical application than scientific theory.
Few vehicle pairings make this notion more obvious than the Porsche 911 Carrera and the BMW M4, two icons that couldn’t be more different, mechanically speaking. What’s the right way to build a car? Engine ahead of or behind the driver? Naturally aspirated or turbocharged? Interactive three-pedal transmission or a heroically quick automatic? These two cars propose an alternate answer: D) All of the above.
Each car is a reflection of its maker’s Weltanschauung, its worldview. BMW’s hot-rod coupe is the product of a full-line manufacturer adept at turning mainstream cars into performance specials. The 911 has been honed over the past 50 years by sports-car experts who only recently discovered sedans and SUVs. BMW and Porsche have more common ground with the X5 and Cayenne than with the M4 and the 911. Yet matchups like this 28-year rivalry are at the core of our Weltanschauung. What passes for one, anyway.
Price brings them closer together than ever. This particular 911 is refreshingly free of frippery. At $92,140, this manual-transmission, base Carrera sports just $6890 in options, every one of them worthy of a piece of your paycheck. The only excess is the sport exhaust, which pleads a convincing case every time you lean on the gas pedal. The long list of equipment that wasn’t on our test car is a mixed bag of fluff and desirable performance equipment—stuff like a limited-slip differential and adaptive dampers, but also a paint-matched key and leather-covered air vents.
BMW’s new (and, technically, first) M4 starts $20,125 lower than the base 911. We closed that gap with a handful of expensive options such as the $8150 carbon-ceramic brakes, $1200 19-inch wheels, and $2900 dual-clutch automatic transmission. Our test car’s final price of $80,325 is nearly double that of the most basic 4-series, for what is almost certainly more than double the car.
So we have a purpose-built sports car versus a factory speed-shop conversion. Who makes the best all-around, all-day-every-day performance car?
2014 Porsche 911 Carrera
Second place: Front to Back.
North Carolina doesn’t bother to post its 55-mph rural speed limit on its twistiest roads because the pavement there is so contorted and spastic that even a 350-hp sports car rarely trips the double nickel. Thus, a “resume safe speed” sign announces to the driver of a guards-red Carrera that the party is about to start.
We find the 911’s muse outside of Blowing Rock, where U.S. Route 221 unceremoniously transitions from a mind-numbingly straight highway to 19 miles of writhing asphalt. Less than a mile north, the Blue Ridge Parkway meanders through the Appalachians with shallow curves, a strict 45-mph speed limit, and dawdling tourists. On U.S. 221, the tight, tree-lined kinks are intoxicating, even at 35 mph. The closest thing to a scenic turnout is the 50-foot plunge off the outside of a decreasing-radius turn. Shy of a road course, few stretches of pavement are this entertaining, this revealing of a car’s character.
The Porsche 911 cuts a quick and clean line through the trees. Fat 285-section Goodyears rein in the 911’s rear end like Spanx on a Kardashian. This car is docile, not dicey. The nose tucks in when you lift off the gas, and the rear tires break away gently if you’re too hot entering a corner. These aren’t malicious movements; they’re the natural responses of an eminently obedient sports car. The chassis is so neutral and the feedback so perceptible that the infamously tail-happy Porsche, not the BMW, feels more stable on this unfamiliar road.
The consistency of the 911’s controls heightens the intimacy. The shifter, the steering wheel, and all three pedals move with a deliberate, calculated effort. This is Porsche’s conscious acknowledgment that, in a sports car, you never steer, shift, stop, or accelerate in isolation. And the harmony is never more obvious than when you execute a flawless heel-toe downshift—the friction point smack in the middle of the clutch pedal’s travel, the steady inertia of the stick sliding into second gear, the firm pushback from the brake, the controlled blip of the throttle.
Left: Seven speeds might be one too many for easy use in a manual, but we're always happy to try to make it work.
The effort of Porsche’s relatively light steering ramps up naturally as lateral g’s build, yet the 911’s helm doesn’t talk to you so much as it nods and mutters. Camber changes and wheel impacts are damped to a fraction of their original intensity. Still, the Porsche’s steering feedback is far more tangible than the BMW’s. The only real ergonomic disconnect is the seven-gear, four-gate shift pattern. On both downshifts and upshifts, it’s easy to become lost in the corn maze of third, fifth, and seventh gears.
You’ll come to know the shifter with time, as the 3.4-liter flat-six should be stirred frequently. This engine requires revs to make its 350 horsepower and 287 pound-feet of torque, and below 4500 rpm it’s about as potent as a family sedan’s engine.
Of all the characteristic differences between the M4 and 911, though, the defining one is even more elementary than the placement of the engine, the number of pedals, or whether or not there are turbos involved. It’s weight. At 3164 pounds, the Porsche undercuts the BMW by more than 400 pounds, so the 911 comes by its athleticism naturally. It hangs with the M4 even without turbochargers, a limited-slip differential, or carbon-ceramic rotors.
The 911 scoots to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, just 0.3 second behind the M4 despite a power deficit that is roughly equal to one Mitsubishi Mirage. In our six-stop, 70-mph brake test, the standard iron-disc brakes proved every bit as resilient as the M4’s carbon-ceramics while producing a shorter, 144-foot stop. At 0.98 g, the Porsche matched the BMW in lateral grip.
So how did the 911 lose? By a narrow margin. In the objective scoring categories, it was dinged for its sparse equipment, slower acceleration times, larger price tag, and compromised practicality. We can forgive Porsche for the tiny rear seats, but surely the engineers in Weissach can carve out a space for a cellphone or a pair of sunglasses without making this tidy car any larger.
You’ll notice that the 911 took every one of our subjective chassis categories. The 911’s shortcomings have nothing to do with driving. If you can make peace with the fact that there’s at least one faster and cheaper German in town, the 911 experience is worth the price
2015 BMW M4
First place: Front to Back.
What BMW is doing here is akin to letting One Direction open for Slayer. This F82-series M car seems tailor-made to inflame the faithful. For those who worship at the altars of E30, E36, E46, and E92, the new electric power steering, turbochargers, name, and ersatz engine soundtrack piped through the stereo speakers may seem unconscionable. But heresy and progress have rarely looked so similar: The M3 coupe has, in the past four generations, used four-, six-, and eight-cylinder engines. When it comes to M-car powertrains, the only constant has been change.
Internally, the new S55 engine resembles the 435i’s N55, with six half-liter cylinders stacked in a straight line. But BMW didn’t conjure 125 additional horsepower on calibration alone. The M4 uses a new block, a forged crank, a liquid-to-air intercooler, and two turbochargers instead of one.
Compared with the dream-haunting 8400-rpm wail of the M3-exclusive 4.0-liter V-8, the S55 goes to sleep 900 rpm earlier. It’s a small compromise, though, considering the low-end punch of the turbos and the fact that this inline-six is plenty alert at its top end. It’s remarkable how quickly 406 pound-feet of torque at 1850 rpm becomes 425 horsepower at 7300 rpm. Launch control, now much easier to initiate, rockets the M4 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 12.1 seconds at 119 mph, the rear end wriggling all the way through third gear.
Right: It's hard to argue with a 75-hp advantage, a torque peak way down at 1850 rpm, and lightning-fast gearchanges.
There’s so much twist that, at times, the car doesn’t know what to do with all of it. With traction control active and the transmission in automatic mode, full-throttle acceleration is neutered. To keep the tires from going up in smoke, the computers dial back the thrust and short-shift to second in an anticlimactic lurch that feels like the clutch is never fully engaged. Then second gear arrives and the M4 blasts off. You learn to drive around the stunted first gear by managing the throttle or disabling traction control.
As in the latest M5, BMW complements the engine’s natural noises with a manufactured intake burr played through the speakers. You’ll be hard-pressed to separate the computer-generated noise from the combustion-generated. The collaboration produces a throatier, deeper, and louder rendition of the BMW straight-six—not as melodic as the 911 but arguably more menacing.
Throttle progression, steering weight, and shift speed can be set to one of three modes, as in the outgoing car. For the steering, sport-plus is unnaturally stiff, comfort is unnervingly light, and sport mode is just right. It takes us 20 miles to configure the system with our preferred settings, and that’s long enough to grow even fonder of the 911, which ships with the proper calibration as the one and only setting.
The M4 is a longer car than its predecessor, but BMW also worked hard to make it lighter. The roof, driveshaft, inner trunk-lid, and underhood brace are all made from carbon fiber, while the suspension links are now aluminum and the engine trims mass. At 3581 pounds, the M4 weighs about 30 pounds less than the E92 M3 coupe.
There’s an option for adaptive dampers with their own three-position adjustment button, but our car rode on standard shocks. The M4 jounces on its rear haunches, with more vertical motion and more abrupt impacts than the surprisingly supple 911. Neither can the M4 hide its luxury-sedan roots with a higher seating position and an outward view that reminds you that the BMW is 7.7 inches longer than the Porsche.
Carbon-ceramic brakes, which are larger in diameter than the wheels of the original E30 M3, scrub 70 mph in 151 feet. They’re overkill for the street, though. The pads can be slow to bite during light and moderate braking, and the top-of-pedal modulation is ambiguous.
While the M4 nearly matches the 911 in objective chassis and braking performance, the differences in feel are obvious to the driver. The BMW’s controls aren’t as precise and body motions aren’t as poised. Yet the M4 glues itself to the 911’s rear bumper on U.S. 221. The Porsche’s narrow handling edge is blunted by the BMW’s swollen torque curve and right-now transmission.
What the M4 does so well is merge straight-line speed with elevated cornering aptitude. The steering is quicker on-center than the 911’s, and the M4 dives toward apexes with the aid of a standard limited-slip differential. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic furiously swaps ratios so that you always exit bends with power and torque at the ready.
The M4 is more challenging to drive at the limit, but it’s far easier to drive faster beneath it. It’s the quintessential German muscle car to Porsche’s quintessential German sports car. Is one design more right than the other? That’s a matter of opinion. But it’s hard to argue with a car that delivers more performance for less money.
Final Scoring, Performance Data, and Complete Specs
VEHICLE2015 BMW M42014 Porsche 911 Carrera
BASE PRICE$65,125$85,250
PRICE AS TESTED$80,325$92,140
DIMENSIONS
LENGTH184.5 inches176.8 inches
WIDTH73.6 inches71.2 inches
HEIGHT54.4 inches51.3 inches
WHEELBASE110.7 inches96.5 inches
FRONT TRACK62.2 inches60.3 inches
REAR TRACK63.1 inches59.8 inches
INTERIOR VOLUMEF: 54 cubic feet
R: 36 cubic feetF: 50 cubic feet
R: 17 cubic feet*
CARGO11 cubic feet10 cubic feet
POWERTRAIN
ENGINEtwin-turbocharged DOHC 24-valve inline-6
182 cu in (2979 cc)DOHC 24-valve flat-6
210 cu in (3436 cc)
POWER HP @ RPM425 @ 7300350 @ 7400
TORQUE LB-FT @ RPM406 @ 1850287 @ 5600
REDLINE / FUEL CUTOFF7500/7500 rpm7600/7800 rpm
LB PER HP8.49.0
DRIVELINE
TRANSMISSION7-speed dual-clutch automatic7-speed manual
DRIVEN WHEELSrearrear
GEAR RATIO:1/
MPH PER 1000 RPM/
MAX MPHView attachment 0bf9026611d3c6e8520e9a0c130a3c2d.jpg 4.81/4.7/35
View attachment 96b6385f97eb6830bdc429b6a611d8ce.jpg 2.59/8.7/65
View attachment 004716f335a032c51072df0e34e12ec3.jpg 1.70/13.2/99
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AXLE RATIO:13.463.44
CHASSIS
SUSPENSIONF: struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar
R: multilink, coil springs, anti-roll barF: struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar
R: multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar
BRAKESF: 15.7-inch vented, ceramic disc
R: 15.0-inch vented, ceramic discF: 13.4-inch vented, cross-drilled disc
R: 13.0-inch vented, cross-drilled disc
STABILITY CONTROLfully defeatable, competition mode, launch controlfully defeatable
TIRESMichelin Pilot SuperSport
F: 255/35ZR-19 (92Y)
R: 275/35ZR-19 (100Y)Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric2
F: 235/40ZR-19 (92Y)
R: 285/35ZR-19 (103Y)
C/D TEST
RESULTS
ACCELERATION
0–30 MPH1.7 sec1.4 sec
0–60 MPH3.9 sec4.2 sec
0–100 MPH8.6 sec10.0 sec
0–130 MPH14.6 sec17.1 sec
¼-MILE @ MPH12.1 sec @ 11912.7 sec @ 113
ROLLING START, 5–60 MPH4.2 sec5.3 sec
TOP GEAR, 30–50 MPH2.3 sec11.0 sec
TOP GEAR, 50–70 MPH2.9 sec9.7 sec
TOP SPEED155 mph (gov ltd, mfr's claim)182 mph (drag ltd)
CHASSIS
BRAKING 70–0 MPH151 feet144 feet
ROADHOLDING,
300-FT-DIA SKIDPAD0.98 g0.98 g
WEIGHT
CURB3581 pounds3164 pounds
%FRONT/%REAR52.6/47.438.6/61.4
FUEL
TANK15.9 gallons16.9 gallons
RATING91 octane91 octane
EPA CITY/HWY18/25 mpg*19/27 mpg
C/D 550-MILE TRIP22 mpg22 mpg
SOUND LEVEL
IDLE48 dBA29 dBA
FULL THROTTLE87 dBA86 dBA
70-MPH CRUISE68 dBA71 dBA
*C/D estimate.
tested in Laurens, South Carolina, by ERIC TINGWALL
Final Results
VEHICLE
RANK
Max Pts. Available
1
2015 BMW M4
2
2014 Porsche 911 Carrera
DRIVER COMFORT1099
ERGONOMICS1099
REAR-SEAT COMFORT531
REAR-SEAT SPACE*551
CARGO SPACE*555
FEATURES/AMENITIES*10104
FIT AND FINISH10910
INTERIOR STYLING1089
EXTERIOR STYLING10810
REBATES/EXTRAS*510
AS-TESTED PRICE*202017
SUBTOTAL1008775
POWERTRAIN
1/4-MILE ACCELERATION*202017
FLEXIBILITY*542
FUEL ECONOMY*101010
ENGINE NVH10810
TRANSMISSION1099
SUBTOTAL555148
CHASSIS
PERFORMANCE*201920
STEERING FEEL1079
BRAKE FEEL10710
HANDLING1089
RIDE10810
SUBTOTAL604958
EXPERIENCE
FUN TO DRIVE252124
GRAND TOTAL240208205
