CAR WARS! BMW M4 vs. Cadillac ATS-V Coupe vs. Lexus RC F — Which Is FASTEST And Which BRAKES Harder?

In real life - on public roads - all these cars - and most others go faster than I ever will - can accelerate faster than I will - and can stop faster than I hope I ever will. The performance differences - with professional drivers - are not all that important. They are basically "track" differences - not real world.

However - the Cadillac has no trunk space and a rear cargo shelf instead of a rear seat (People with legs cannot sit behind me). The Lexus makes a case for the Pontiac Aztec being better looking. The BMW is no longer the "have to have" vehicle either. At my age - I would not buy ANY of them - I would want/need a car that is larger and easier to get into - has a usable trunk - a spare tire - and keeps its resale value better than any of the above three. Being from the Englishtown NJ area - I can appreciate and want a performance car - but they CAN and DO make them that also fulfill my requirements.

I just can't wait for the C63 Coupe to come and shut this entire game down, not only is it already quicker in 4 door form, but the coupe will be significantly lighter and have better weight distribution, which means that thing is going to be a super car destroyer.

Oh Lord won't you buy me a C 63...

I can understand you (like most people) not being interested in any of these high performance machines, and maybe a family sedan (fusion, accord, camry, etc) is more practical for you, and that's fine, then why waste your time browsing and commenting? These cars are not meant for people like you that are concerned about resale value and practicality, we all have choices, go buy your practical family sedan, nothing is wrong with that, and leave these cars for us enthusiast who have other priorities in cars, the 5% of us who value performance and luxury over depreciation and large back seat

In real life - on public roads - all these cars - and most others go faster than I ever will - can accelerate faster than I will - and can stop faster than I hope I ever will. The performance differences - with professional drivers - are not all that important. They are basically "track" differences - not real world.

However - the Cadillac has no trunk space and a rear cargo shelf instead of a rear seat (People with legs cannot sit behind me). The Lexus makes a case for the Pontiac Aztec being better looking. The BMW is no longer the "have to have" vehicle either. At my age - I would not buy ANY of them - I would want/need a car that is larger and easier to get into - has a usable trunk - a spare tire - and keeps its resale value better than any of the above three. Being from the Englishtown NJ area - I can appreciate and want a performance car - but they CAN and DO make them that also fulfill my requirements.

— TomM (View Profile)
I can understand you (like most people) not being interested in any of these high performance machines, and maybe a family sedan (fusion, accord, camry, etc) is more practical for you, and that's fine, then why waste your time browsing and commenting? These cars are not meant for people like you that are concerned about resale value and practicality, we all have choices, go buy your practical family sedan, nothing is wrong with that, and leave these cars for us enthusiast who have other priorities in cars, the 5% of us who value performance and luxury over depreciation and large back seat

Sorry but YOU did not get my meaning. And your comment about a CAMRY has no basis in my message.

The fact is - ALL three of these cars have major deficiencies. I have a problem with cars that have a back seat - that is not usable - you may as well buy a two seater than these. My performance sedan is an S-600. The Lexus is still Hideous - and BMW has had better days. It is not that I do not want a performance vehicle - it is that I am both tall and large - and these are toys - not cars - for me.

But if you are going to compare them as asked - which stops harder and which is fastest - the fact is - a real driver in the real world will not match the figures of pro drivers on a track under perfect conditions.
And you would need to get the SAME driver under the same conditions to really compare them on that basis. The fact is - all three (and the AMG too) are beyond the abilities of most people who actually can afford to buy them. And asking people who do not actually have any of them which is faster (And you would need to have driven all of them) - provides no usable result.

AS for RESALE value - (YOu mentioned practicality - I did not and it does not apply)
My favorite performance car that I had was a 450SEL 6.9 - and the car SOLD for more than I paid for it 8 years after I bought it.
M class cars - and AMG models - which were once RARE and SPECIAL - always sold that way too - as do most Ferrari and Lamborghini - etc.
The fact that these newer cars do not hold their value is because they simply are no longer "special". And their quick drops in value is the market telling YOU that. THese cars were once investments - not any longer. Note - in my original post - I mentioned that I was from the Englishtown NJ area - and I rebuilt lots of powerglides for racers in my day - I am not your average Great-Grandfather.

So in acceleration looks like the new C63 still the king...(as always) but in the close circuit the M3 still the one.....

m4, rc-f and caddy in that order. throw in the c63 then it takes my 2nd place.

I'll take the RCF then the ATSV over the "me too cruiser" M4. The garishness of the RCF has really grown on me and i couldn't care less that it does not handle as well as a BMW. It stands out in a sea of German sameness. The Cadillac is attractive and as perfect as a Hugo Boss suit, but it has no flash and Cadillacs used to be flash quite well.

And now for agentooR - these cars are NOT top fuel dragsters - and the point of these cars is the ability to actually drive the cars at high speeds - in control. We should not be digressing back to the days when a car was defined by what its top speed was - which in reality is meaningless. The fact is - and by now it should be well known - that the car that can actually go the fastest may be the one I am least likely to want to drive fast. That was the BMW forte for years - they were the cars we wanted to actually drive fast. Why go back to the drag strip again?

Sorry, but these results should be a complete embarrassment for Lexus. Sure, the RCF dresses the part, but when it can't perform the role, why bother? Like a woman who wears yoga pants yet has never seen a yoga studio..ever. I'd rather be kicking everyone's else's arses on the road in a "me too" M4, vs. getting my arse kicked in an RCF by the likes of the S5, S3, 335i/435i while spending $20-$30k more AND having no rear seat space AND having less trunk space AND getting worse fuel economy.

OK, so now I wait for the cliché, "well, the Lexus will be more reliable....."

Considering the Lexus RC-f is a new model, not bad.

Actually the total opposite. Considering it's all new, it had years of benchmarking the leaders. It has years for trickle-down from the LF-A. And it still loses, pretty badly.