Clash of Titans: BMW M4 vs. Porsche 911 vs. Corvette vs. Jaguar F-Type R

After attending the BMW M3/M4 launch in Portugal, I’ve come to recognize a true wizard. Sporting gray hair and standing nearly two meters tall, his tool of choice isn’t a wand but a carbon fiber driveshaft. His name is Albert Biermann, the mastermind behind the new M models. So compelling was Biermann’s presentation, I had no doubts about pitting the BMW M4 coupe against formidable rivals for a comparative test. Indeed, the lighter Porsche 911 Carrera 4S sports all-wheel drive, while the Chevrolet Corvette and the Jaguar F-Type R coupe boast higher power. Yet, I’d wager that on the Moscow Raceway, the M4 will more than hold its ground!

Porsche 911: The Benchmark

The Porsche 911 serves as a kind of benchmark, reminiscent of those special laboratory railway wagons that inspect track conditions on the go. The 911 surveys the road in much the same way, capturing every imperfection, its body and steering wheel vibrating continuously. Pull the door handle and you agree to become a data carrier, slotting yourself into the hard seat and syncing with the reclined steering wheel. All that is left is to select the data transfer volume, via two suspension settings. Remember that even Porsche’s comfort mode diligently mirrors the road profile, jostling its passengers over bumps.

The suspension can absorb significant shocks without becoming uncomfortable, though, so you arrive at the racetrack in high spirits. And on the track…

Porsche 911 4S
0-250 km/h Lap time	27,8 s 1 m 54,8 s

Kesselman Takes It Out

The renowned racer Oleg Kesselman, whom I enlisted as our official driver, naturally opts for the sport suspension setting. In that mode body roll seems to vanish and the tires claw at the asphalt with desperate tenacity. The Porsche’s responses are the calmest and the most transparent of the four. The front tires are the first to give up in a corner: the all-wheel-drive Carrera starts to understeer before its rear-wheel-drive counterpart. Yet this rear-engined coupe lets you brake boldly into a turn without overloading the front axle, so you can accelerate out of the apex and feel, continuously, the thrust of the world’s finest preselective “robot” — the PDK gearbox in its most aggressive Sport Plus mode.

400 hp, and the Best Aerodynamics Here

The 3.8-liter flat-six (400 hp, 440 Nm) may be short of raw output next to its rivals, and even at the lightest weight here, 1555 kg, its power-to-weight ratio does not lead the pack. And still it sprints to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds, and its superior aerodynamics carry it to a top speed of 286 km/h.

The gritty growl of the six cylinders cuts off abruptly at 8000 rpm, echoing hollowly off the concrete barriers. Kesselman’s precision shows: three consecutive laps within tenths of a second of each other, even though the rain had washed some of the grip off the track.

Jaguar F-Type R: A Decidedly Un-English Roar

Next, the Jaguar leaves the pits with a decidedly un-English roar.

Jaguar F-Type R
0-250 km/h Lap time	24,1 s 1 m 55,4 s

550 hp, and 4.5 Seconds

The F-Type is a poser, certainly, but the kind that earns its respect. It has worked its way up in the automotive gym, so why not flex the muscle of that supercharged V8 and its hefty 550 hp? From a standstill this vivid coupe rockets to 100 km/h in just 4.5 seconds. Only past 250 km/h does the acceleration begin to feel tame, and it tops out at 303 km/h.

So Why Does It Lose to the Porsche?

Why, then, does the Jaguar trail the Porsche in the dynamic ratings? Because its eight-speed ZF automatic is afraid of sudden acceleration, hesitating alarmingly after a forceful throttle input even in sport mode.

Stiffer Than the Roadster, Fussier Than the 911

The coupe’s chassis is noticeably stiffer than the F-Type Roadster’s, with more precise responses and smoother handling. On country roads, though, the steering wakes up and turns jittery over imperfections: the Jaguar wants a smoother surface than even the 911 does. Excessively heavy at parking speeds, it becomes far less communicative later, and while its reactions are sharp, its line through a corner can be unsettled by surface irregularities.

Understeer — and 240 km/h on the Straight

Then there is the understeer: the heavy Jaguar, at 1809 kg, has lower cornering limits than the Porsche. Its acceleration, though, is exhilarating. According to our VBox Sport measurements, the Porsche barely exceeded 220 km/h on the track’s straight while the F-Type R surged past 240 km/h. Its lap time is still six-tenths of a second slower than the Porsche’s, at 1:55.4.

Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51
0-250 km/h Lap time	27,9 s 1 m 58,0 s

Chevrolet Corvette: Can It Catch the Nine-Eleven?

Can the Chevrolet Corvette catch the “nine-eleven”? With its aluminium space frame, composite body panels and rear-mounted transaxle gearbox, the new Corvette is light, at 1584 kg, with almost balanced weight distribution. The seating position is the most extreme of the four: you sink into a snug, comfortable seat even lower than in the Jaguar. A cockpit, in other words — digital dashboard, massive centre tunnel, long hood stretching out ahead. The plastics are simpler, though, and the assembly a little sloppy.

466 hp, Delivered With Restrained Dignity

From the first roar of the 6.2-liter naturally aspirated engine (466 hp, 630 Nm) I expected drama; instead the V8 hums with restrained dignity. Even at full throttle the sound is muffled, and it lacks the emotional impact to match the acceleration.

A Manual That Makes You Work

The Corvette demands effort. It is not only the clutch that is stiff but the lever of the seven-speed manual: short throws, but poor selectivity, so you need a pause to engage a gear accurately. And why so many stretched ratios? Sixth and seventh are explicitly overdrives, for economy. Second will take you to 110 km/h, third to 160 km/h, and fourth to nearly 250 km/h on the speedometer.

Leaf Springs, and Life on the Road

The chassis intrigues: double wishbones with transverse composite leaf springs in place of coils. The Corvette is ill-suited to everyday use, though — uncomfortably stiff, unsettled on uneven surfaces, noisy, and the flexible front bumper skirt scrapes over every speed bump.

Little joy on ordinary roads, then. So: Track mode, and off to the circuit.

Track Mode Changes Everything

Do not get the wrong impression — I have been describing only one of the five modes of the Corvette’s mechatronic chassis. Tour is the one for everyday driving, while Track sharpens the throttle, stiffens the suspension to an ironclad degree, engages the rear active differential, and makes the Chevrolet chase the direction of the steering wheel aggressively. Steering has to be judicious to avoid provoking a slide. The reactive weight reminds me of the Jaguar: not exactly delightful, but eagerly absorbed.

Three valid laps produced a time of 1:58.0. So the Corvette is third fastest so far — and then the BMW took to the track.

BMW M4
0-250 km/h Lap time	25,4 s 1 m 57,2 s

BMW M4: Dominance, and Permissiveness

By this point my initial excitement about the M from the Portugal event was fully shared by our experts. Faced with the choice of “Porsche or BMW?”, Divakov chose the M4. Why? For its absolute dominance, and perhaps for its permissiveness. Unlike the “nine-eleven”, the M4 does not burden you with racing gear. If you are not in the mood for racing you can leave the electronically controlled dampers in comfort and have a smooth, civilian ride. The cabin is quiet, the trunk is spacious, and four people fit comfortably. The ergonomics and the interior materials are on a par with the Porsche’s, and after the proprietary iDrive system every other multimedia system looks obsolete.

Settings for Every Mood

Changed your mood? The M has individual settings for every scenario: power steering, throttle sharpness, shift speed, damper mode. Put the power steering into comfort straight away, because every other setting stiffens it at the expense of feedback. Sadly the M’s dual-clutch transmission cannot match the PDK for responsiveness: on the racetrack you still end up in manual mode, flicking the classy metal paddles behind the wheel.

431 hp, and Stability Near 300

The engine is remarkable even after the wild Jaguar. The 4.9 seconds to 100 km/h may not astound, but the M accelerates effortlessly to 289 km/h and hits the limiter — with the M Driver’s Package it is capped at 280 km/h. And it stays stable even near 300 km/h, which none of the others manage. Most striking of all is the elasticity of this twin-turbocharged six (431 hp, 550 Nm) and the breadth of its torque band.

You could write the textbooks on car control in a drift off that torque plateau. For power slides, the M is a match for the Jaguar.

Then Kesselman Got In

When Kesselman switched to the BMW M4 we waited anxiously for the result. The early tests had already shown how good the M4’s chassis is, and yet, despite its perfect balance and grip comparable to the Porsche’s, the racer ran into traction problems. Mikhail Ukhov, a former Russian champion, tried to improve the time and gained only a second.

The Tire Mystery

A stroke of luck helped us work it out. Roberto Traverso of Pirelli discovered that the Pirelli P Zero tires fitted to the BMW were homologated for other models: the fronts for Mercedes, the rears for Jaguar. It turned out that other journalists had worn out the original Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, and they had been replaced with whatever Pirellis were available in Moscow — marked for other cars. It was not noticeable in ordinary testing, but on timed laps the differences in tire characteristics ruined the handling. Interestingly, the Jaguar had a similar problem, though it affected its performance less.

Back in Moscow the correct tires could not be found — there was a shortage even in Germany — and we had to fit aftermarket Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires without the factory specification. Is there a difference? Nearly two seconds a lap.

The Rerun

For the rerun we did not gather everyone — just the Porsche 911, so the track conditions would be consistent. Little had changed: the Porsche lapped consistently at 1:54.5. And the BMW’s best new time? 1:57.2. The M was still two and a half seconds off the Porsche, but that is a respectable pace — the previous-generation M3 was slower still.

Tires Matter More to the M4

Interestingly, the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S is less fussy about tires. The new-generation BMW M4 and M3 are extremely sensitive to having the right ones. Remember that: take these models to a circuit on tires that are not their own and you will not experience even half of Albert Biermann’s magic.

On the Road, the Magic Is Intact

On ordinary roads, though, the magic of the M is fully intact even on the wrong tires. The M4 gives away nothing in dynamics or emotional appeal to genuine supercars, matches the Porsche in handling — and adds comfort, space and versatility. And, in the end, a convincing victory in the expert ratings. Even setting BMW’s practical advantages aside, it still comes out the leader.

Brakes

Porsche has the best brakes, both in the measured results and in use. BMW’s expensive carbon-ceramic discs perform flawlessly, though braking distances lengthen on the non-original tires. Worth noting: after 5,000 km of regular track days, the brake pad life predicted by the onboard computer fell from 410,000 km to 180,000 km. The heavy Jaguar has only two-piston calipers and still withstands three flat-out laps with no sign of overheating; under braking on a split-grip surface, though, the F-Type pulls towards the side with more grip. The problem is worse in the Chevrolet: braking from 80 km/h, the Corvette nearly spins.

The Verdict

On lap times, I believe the M with its standard passive suspension, without electronically controlled dampers, would post better results — especially on its own tires. But the greatest triumph of the new M, and the main credit to Biermann’s magic, is that this time it was the M4 and not the Porsche that took the experts’ recognition.

On the track, nonetheless, the Porsche 911 still outperforms its rivals. However you tune your inline sixes or your V-shaped eights, the “nine-eleven” remains an unrivalled icon.

The Jaguar F-Type R may never become an icon, but it certainly makes a striking impression — much like the Corvette. Yes, in this company the American is the noisiest and has the braking difficulties on mixed surfaces. It does not stop it turning heads and becoming the poster car.

Photo: Stepan Schumacher
Expert group: Alexander Divakov | Andrey Mokhov | Ivan Shadrichev | Yuri Kuznetsov | Yaroslav Tsyplenkov

This is a translation. You can read the original article here: BMW M4, Porsche 911 Carrera 4S, Chevrolet Corvette или Jaguar F-Type R?