BMW Reveals That M4 Coupe Has Destroyed M3 Nurburging Laptime By 13 Seconds

The tires are Standard on the car with the 19" wheels. If they put Cup tires on it, then it would be a good 5 to 8 seconds quicker ...

Game Over for the Competition ..

BMWm4 - - - Please crawl back under your fanboi rack. If you really believe the current 911 runs the ring in 8:28, then you are more naive thought I thought. The Cayman S time was 7:55. so even with no imagination the logical place for the base 911 is between 911S and the Cayman S.

There is also the 2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 with a ring time of 7:39:38, starting at $56K and the new Corvette which starts at $53K. Next there is the Cayman GTS which starts at $79K and should posted a faster time than the M4 when it is tested. A car that Steve Sutcliffe called the most exciting car in the world at any price: http://www.autospies.com/news/DRIVEN-VIDEO-Move-Over-Ferrari-LaFerrari-McLaren-P1-and-Porsche-918-ANOTHER-Car-May-Just-Be-MORE-Exciting-To-Drive-81443/
If you are on a budget there are lower cost cars that are faster than the M4. If you can spare a little more cash, the Cayman GTS is the car to have for all around driving experience.
So once again, who is it game over for? Will Mercedes, be closing their garage doors? Will Audi pull all R&D spending based on a European version of the mM4 that claims to be 285lbs less than the US version and comes stock with cloth seats?

I cannot wait to drive one

A great time, but certainly not game over for anyone. The car they tested optioned at ~$85K, and is the European model. Don't expect the same performance here unless you are willing to forgo your warranty. For that price, I would opt for the 911 which is still faster around the ring with a lower operating cost.

FYI, the others cars aren't running Cups either so don't compare a modified car with your speculated times to unmodified cars.

Terry --- BMW ran it with stock tires which are the SuperSport tires. I am not sure as to what you are speaking about. Also, a fully equipped M4 with Ceramic Brakes is $86k, yet a Porsche 911 with Ceramic brakes and fully loaded is well over $110k. The difference is at least $25k.

The BMW M4 will pay for all your maintenance up to 50k miles and that includes the Ceramic Brake pads and rotors. Which operating costs do you speak of? Yet you could actually just opt the M4 out with the brakes, 19" wheels, Dampening control and a Dual Clutch and be well under $80k. Pound for Pound there is nothing that our competition offers for a better value and performance ...

Game over .... 8 seconds faster than the Audi & 10 seconds quicker than the Mercedes is a Massive performance gap ...

The Porsche 911 Carrera S with similar equipment is $119,810 .... That is $34k more than the M4 with similar performance on the Ring.

"For that price, I would opt for the 911 which is still faster around the ring with a lower operating cost."

How does a 911 have lower operating expenses, since all of M4 maintenance is covered for the first four years of 50k miles, and echoing BMWm4 the M3 is a boat load cheaper.

BMWm4 - - - How can the 911S ring time of 7:37.9 be similar performance to the M4 (a 13 second difference), yet you claim that ".... 8 seconds faster than the Audi & 10 seconds quicker than the Mercedes is a Massive performance gap ... By your own admission of time phase, the 911S has an even more "Massive performance gap" over the M4.

The whole article is suspect given inaccuracies. The 7:44 time for the 911S stated in the article in incorrect: http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/07/porsche-911-carrera-s-nails-down-7-37-9-ring-time-w-video/
They claim claim the weight of the M4 tested to be 3,300 lbs (1,500 Kg) yet the US M4 weighs in at 3,585 lbs.

Cost. Point is you don't need to option the 911 like the BMW to get the same performance. A standard 911 with PDK and 19" wheels is $88K. So for $3K more you can move to a faster, better handling car. And if you don't like this example, the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 7:37.4 in the wet, all for $10K less - - - so the M4 has a ways to go before it is game over for anyone. A nice result - - - but I abhor hyperbole.

Free maintenance. Ok, I'll give you that in the short term, the BMW is less, but after that period is up, the Porsche wins. Being 500 lbs lighter and normally aspirated means it will be gentler to the tires, brakes, suspension components and fluids. For long term owners, the free maintenance is no panacea. The BMW forums are full of comments concerning the service intervals (or lack there of) for oil changes (up to two years between changes), Diff fluid changes (none), Transmission Fluid changes (none), power steering fluid changes (none), radiator flush (none). What you really get is free oil changes and free brake pads (I typically get over 50K miles before front brake changes anyway). And then there is gas mileage at 17/24 for the M4 verse 20/28 for the 911. Over 50,000 miles at $4.50/ gallon, the 911 will save you $1,600 - - - which covers the cost of BMW free maintenance.

Psst Terry?? Have you looked up what a 2014 911 Carrera S starts at? Base price is $98,900 + destination and that brings you to $99,875 before you add any options. Add the PDK for $4,080 and Ceramic brakes at $9,000 and the Porsche is $112,875.... The M4 starts at $65,000 with destination. Add the 19" wheels and Ceramic brakes to it and the M4 is $77,320.

Unless my math is incorrect, we are talking a difference of over $40k . In regards to the Camaro, you are then going to compare that car to the BMW M4. Huh? so then why not to the porsche as it is a good $50k less. Also the Camaro is actually more expensive than the M4 at $82k .

Have you actually done any research in regards to the cost of cars, before you write or do you just assume everything?

You speak of Free Maintenance and the fuel savings in relation to gas savings? Lets say you drive 15k miles per year, 50% highway & 50% city driving for both cars & according to www.fueleconomy.gov the Porsche 911 Carrera S will save you $400 a year for 4 years for a total of $1,600.

Now during those 4 years, BMW recommended service intervals is every 10k miles for Oil Changes, 30k mile service is covered by BMW, Brake Fluid Flush, wiper blades and the replacement of Brake Pads and Rotors ...

On a Performance car brakes usually will not last the full 50k miles. The pads will wear out. The Brake rotors being Ceramic will last longer, provided you dont track it for the 50k miles .... Yet for arguement sake lets just use the Brake Pads & installation + 30k mile service on the Porsche + Oil Changes every 7.5k miles as recommended + brake fluid flush + replacing wiper blades = estimated about $4,000 in maintenance on the Porsche vs. the BMW.....

Plus the $40k price difference and we are speaking of almost $50k difference .....

*** a little research before you post on here about what you think the facts vs. what they actually are would be good. This will allow your point to have more validity.

BMWm4 - - - What, no reading comprehension? Reading Skills issue number 1: The standard 911 is faster than the M4, so why do you keep pricing out the 911S? It was you who plainly stated that the 911S time is close to the the M4 time which is widely inaccurate. And why do you want to keep optioning up the cars? The M4 requires the ceramic brakes and European spec car for that time, while the 911 and Camero don't, so why would you spend the money if not needed??

Reading skills issue number 2: "The M4 starts at $65,000 with destination. Add the 19" wheels and Ceramic brakes to it and the M4 is $77,320." So you included the cost of the PDK in the 911S, but left it out of M4 calculation, even though the article clearly states the test car had it?? I also included one of the leather packages since the M4 comes standard with a cloth interior. Can you believe that, a cloth interior?

I have no trouble comparing the Z28 to the Porsche. The Z28 is awesome car and easily beats the 911 on the ring and any track at a lot less money. It also handily buries the M4 - - - so game not over for anyone. At Barber Motorsports Park recently, the Z28 out did both Godzilla and the new Porsche Turbo: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/1403_chevrolet_camaro_z28_porsche_911_turbo_s_nissan_gt_r_comparison/winner.html

Do what ever you have to to justify your purchases. I put my money into the best chassis I can, not the options that are needed too make it work. So tell me again, how is it game over? I abhor hyperbole and that is my issue. As dlin noted, it has taken 4 generations of M3 to even crack the 8 min barrier, something most car manufactures did years ago. It wasn't game over for BMW at that time, so why is it suddenly game over for everyone else now? That is the question at hand.

Terry, my bad as I forgot to breakout the fact that the M4 price at $77,320 included the Dual Clutch. If you would have subtracted the Ceramic Brakes of $8,120 - the 19" wheels - $77,320 you would have come up with $2,900 which is the cost of the Dual Clutch ....

#1 the 911 Carrera S is the model that did the Ring in 7.37... It wasnt the base 911 as that is why I used the 911 Carrera S.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/07/porsche-911-carrera-s-nails-down-7-37-9-ring-time-w-video/

The stock 911 isnt even in the top 100 times at The Ring. actually the 993 chassis best time was 8:28. That makes the M4 almost 30 seconds faster ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N%C3%BCrburgring_Nordschleife_lap_times

Where exactly is the 911 regular time that is even close to the M4? anywhere? you can take your slower 911 if that is your preference ...

Question?? How many cars ahead of the M4 have a MSRP of less than $80k that lap the ring quicker? As far as I can see there is only 2 out of 100. The closest competition to the M4 or the direct competitor as the regular 911, Audi RS5, Mercedes C63, Lexus ISF or New RCF , Mercedes E63, BMW M5, Cadillac CTS-V and whenever the new ATs-v arrive the New M4 is not only a better value, yet a better performer with a better chassis ....

I was going to say that the new Z28 laps faster than this and cost 10k less, but I'm not in here to argue. I do love the look of the new M4, however, at 85k for basically an M3 with fewer doors doesn't really appeal to me. Having said that, I'm not sure how many buyers would opt for the 8k option for the ceramic brakes, anyway. realistically, it's a high 70's car.

No LED tail lamps anymore, so who cares?

Congratulations! What an amazing performance to break 8:00 barrier! BMW finally beats 1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 in 2014 after 4 generations of M3!

Lol. I just feel bad for everyone that got an M3.

I feel worse for anyone who spent $115k on an Audi R8 v8 4.2...it's still slower than the 95 skyline, M4.... It's also slower than the FWD Renault meganr 275 trophy!!

The new one might be mighty quick but damn that white V8 in the photo still looks darn good...