New M3/M4 reviews are out, thoughts?

[Koldun]

Originally Posted by W///

Not sure I understand why. You can buy a Porsche Macan with a diesel engine. Does that mean you wouldn't buy a GT3? Personally I couldn't care less what Marketing decides to do (yes, any Msport cars gets ///M stickers now). It's all irrelevant as long as the cars that I care about, i.e M2/3/4 are still special cars. Personally, I can't wait to see what they do with the M2, irregardless whether they have ///M SUV's or not.

Fair point, but Porsche is not an otherwise relatively pedestrian company with a motorsport division. Diesels and SUVs are the oddballs in the lineup, they make no compromises with their core product.

But yes, I'm looking forward to the M2 as well. Although "irregardless"? Really? Come on, man, you're better than that.

[Twisty Fast Autobahn]

Originally Posted by Koldun

Uh is that real? Wow. M badges on an entry-level diesel?

It's official, ///M is dead. And for all the people saying, "people have been meaning about the death of M since the E36 was released, where do you draw the line?" This. This right here is where I draw the line. SUVs, EPS, turbos, and now M-badged diesels? Oh yeah, this is the line.

+1 I couldn't agree more.

[FormulaMMM]

Some lap time comparison data

M3/4 stat. Portimao lap 2mins 2.86 sec. 4.5 seconds faster than E92M. Unofficially, just 1sec slower than a GT3 (assuming 997).

Impressive stat, but have to keep in mind a couple of performance variables in the F80's favor --

Wider, superior rubber on the F80. 255/275 vs 245/265 for E92, PS2 vs Super Sport



(For reference Portimao is 4648 meters in length.)

Believe nearly all of the press cars are equipped with ceramics and DCT. Unknown if the old E92 lap time was done with DCT, but either way not a 1:1 with E92 brakes.

This is not to say I don't think the F80 is faster on track. Wonder by how much if it's an even playing field with tires, trans and brakes.