Autocar puts together some of the most exciting sports cars one can buy today. From Munich, the Englishmen brought the new BMW M4 Coupe; from Zuffenhausen comes the Porsche Cayman GT4; the i8 comes from Leipzig while the Lexus RC F all the way from Tahara, Japan. Four cars that can’t be more different from each other – yet all four have their own appeal and customer base. Three of them are rear-wheel based – M4, GT4 and RC F – while the i8 can run in three different driving modes – front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive.
What about the engine power? The Lexus RC F is powered by a naturally-aspirated 5.0 liter V8 engine producing 467 horsepower and 389 lb-ft of torque sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. 0 to 62 mph is achieved in 4.5 seconds. It weighs 4,057 lbs (1,840 kg).
In contrast, the new BMW M3 and M4 have dropped the V8 naturally-aspirated engine and are now using a 3.0 liter, six-cylinder inline turbocharged unit. The all-new, 3.0-liter BMW M4 engine is approximately 10 kilograms lighter than its V8 predecessor and packs an even stronger punch. With 425 horsepower from 5,500 – 7,300 rpm, 406 lb-ft of torque from 1,850 – 5,500 rpm, and capable of 0-60mph in 3.9 seconds when equipped with the M-DCT transmission (4.1 seconds with standard 6-speed manual). It has a DIN-balanced weight of 3,300 lbs (1497 kg) – without driver and luggage).
The Cayman GT4 is the hottest Cayman to be released and uses the 3.8 liter flat-six engine from the 911. That 911 engine produces a healthy 385 hp, revs out to a snarling 7,800 rpm and is paired to the aforementioned six-speed manual transmission. Porsche rates its Cayman GT4 at doing the sprint from 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds. The Cayman GT4 weighs around 3,100 lbs (1,406 kg).
BMW i8 uses a plug-in hybrid system consisting of a turbocharged three-cylinder BMW TwinPower Turbo petrol engine and BMW eDrive technology in the form of an electric drive system. The 1.5-liter combustion engine develops 170 kW/231 hp and drives the rear wheels of the BMW i8, while the 96 kW/131 hp electric drive sends its power to the front wheels and allows an all-electric range of up to 35 kilometers (22 miles) and a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph). BMW rates the i8 from 0 to 62 mph at 4.4 seconds. It weighs 3,284 lbs (1,490 kg).
So which one do you think came first and last?
Very interesting, the i8 did extremely well. And I wonder, what the M4 needs to do better, I must admit I’m getting the sense that the M4 is just a tire shredding machine. I’ve driven the M4 on the road, and it feels glued to the road, but in most videos you always see tire smoke.
I have traction issues in my M3 currently. They drive excellently in dry conditions under 3/4 throttle. I keep telling myself that it would be better with 285 or 295 rear tires, but I really cnat bring myself to buy them. Wet weather though is a totally different story.
Yes, the e-diff is very aggressive in the M3/4, it locks up very quickly. I don’t think that wider tires would help, it’s really the diff.
Not sure, drove a friends car with 295’s in the rear and it feels a lot better on take off.
Could be wrong though.
m4 would have beat all 3 but it had a shitty driver.
I did not expect the M4 to come in last, with a proper launch it should have won. There’s some complaining in the YouTube comments about the driver not knowing how to launch the car and doing a burnout instead, but I think that some fault lies with BMW shipping a car with a launch control that doesn’t work. The whole point of a launch control system is to provide a controlled way to launch the car as fast as possible, and the one in the M4 just doesn’t do that at all.
Yes, the launch control should be upgraded. BUT this driver clearly doesn’t know how to launch a car. I’ve read some magazine (I can’t remember which) did the 0-62 mph in 3,8 seconds!! If this driver would’ve been better, the M4 could have won! Really useless video for that. I’m amazed though, on how fast the i8 was! A prove that M cars should have xDrive as an option for better traction and thus better 0-62 times! It would demolish AMG cars with xDrive equipped! :D
m4 would have beat all 3 but it had a shitty driver. who doesnt know how to launch it
The driver could’ve set the revs for the launch to 2.5k and it would’ve won the race.
Motor Trend does a yearly “World’s Greatest Drag Race”, in which the BMW M4 and i8 competed in 2014, and the Lexus RC-F and Porsche Cayman GT4 competed in 2015. The quarter mile times were as follows:
12.2s BMW M4
12.3s Porsche Cayman GT4
12.4s BMW i8
12.9s Lexus RC-F
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ9NVz_LKj8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjLJ6i8iYJc
As an i8 driver who recently spent some track time in the M4, the cars are very close in some ways but really different in others. In this vid it looks as if the track is damp and that gives a huge advantage to the AWD and instant torque of the i8.
Throwing the cars around a track the M4 is a beast that likes to be manhandled braking hard, stomping on the accelerator out of the turn the i8 is a car where you carry more speed into the turn and then launch out of the turn effortlessly connected to the road. At the end of the lap, times are similar although techniques and feel are different.
Hats off to the i8 as the much easier car to drive and I just can’t help but to dream of a few hundred more horsepower and more lateral grip in that amazing chassis.
Very interesting description, I actually had the opposite feeling driving the cars. The car which I always braked very hard and flicked into corners was the i8 as the turn in isn’t as sharp. Therefore I would just stomp on the throtte, being sure that the traction would pull me out of corners. The M4 on the other hand was the car that I rarely had to force myself to have fun, as the turn is sharp, I can carry a lot of speed into corners and don’t have to worry about exit grip as I wouldn’t hit the throttle as hard. Both cars are fun in their own ways, both pretty amazing.
This looks almost made up.. The M4 driver literally waits for other cars to take off.. This is ridiculous.. Sorry but The m4 driver is fucked up..
Wat a waste of a post. Showing 4 idiots who cant drive.
Not all dudes who buy M4 are/should be pilots…It didn’t seemed to me that the other drivers were much better. The Porsche is simply amazing in this video as in others. It is the true sporty car between the 4…
what a wanky video!