Loaded M4 vs. base Porsche 911 (991 3.4L Carrera)

[sparkyg]

I had an E90 M3 and will be moving away from BMW M cars. Too heavy, fat, overpriced and they have lost their way.

A fully loaded car in Canada is $100k.

I'll get a used GT3 from the US or a used 991S instead.

Is there anything that special about this car?

I know there are tons of fanboys and I was with the E90 M3 but this car is just mehhhh.

[ridin135]

Have you thought about getting a new 981 cayman S? I find them to be more enjoyable then the 991 in the twisties. They can be had all day for mid 70's brand new with all the sport options. I would highly recommend driving one but make sure you drive a manual the pdk makes the cayman feel slow.

[stressdoc]

P-cars -- more fun to drive, more attention getting
M3 -- way more practical with room, comfortable DD and highway cruiser.

Nearly equivalent performance and cost to own.

[J50]

I don't buy used cars, so that's out.

No interest in a base 911, I would just get a Boxster/Cayman GTS.

The 991S is very nice, but imho overpriced.

911s are not that uncommon in my area, I have seen 3 991 Turbos (one convertible) in the last week.

So going with the M4.

[tallshortguy]

Originally Posted by sparkyg

I had an E90 M3 and will be moving away from BMW M cars. Too heavy, fat, overpriced and they have lost their way.

A fully loaded car in Canada is $100k.

I'll get a used GT3 from the US or a used 991S instead.

Is there anything that special about this car?

I know there are tons of fanboys and I was with the E90 M3 but this car is just mehhhh.

If you're going to get a GT3 from the US then why are you comparing it with a new M3 in Canada. Are you not required to pay taxes and import fees when registering a US purchased car in Canada?

Also, the new M3/4 is lighter in weight and only slightly increased in base price (with more standard equipment), so I'm not sure why you think it's overweight and overpriced and yet you were "with" the e9x M3.

Hey you're certainly entitled to buy whatever the hell you want but I'm not sure what you're getting at with these seemingly nonsensical statements about the M4.

[E36toF30]

Originally Posted by tallshortguy

If you're going to get a GT3 from the US then why are you comparing it with a new M3 in Canada. Are you not required to pay taxes and import fees when registering a US purchased car in Canada?

Also, the new M3/4 is lighter in weight and only slightly increased in base price (with more standard equipment), so I'm not sure why you think it's overweight and overpriced and yet you were "with" the e9x M3.

Hey you're certainly entitled to buy whatever the hell you want but I'm not sure what you're getting at with these seemingly nonsensical statements about the M4.

Agreed.

[SOM3]

Originally Posted by dustman

I sold my 11 m3 comp pkg loaded car this weekend. Already miss it. Dealer had new m3 so I was able to spend some time with it. Looks better in person, esp the rear. While not a great design, it's passable, esp in mid to darker colors. Sides and front are nothing special to look at.
Interior was fine, seats were fantastic, same for rear seat room....much improved. Liked the steering wheel setup.
Exhaust sound was better than expected too.

I left w/o buying though. Perhaps when there is a comp pkg, better colors, smarter non gouging options/bundling and we see what tuners crank out I'll come back. Not much on the BMW lot to love to be honest. M3 is fine but not special relative to owning so many prior versions. M5 is a pig. 3 series too big and poor steering. When does the real M arrive....the 2 series is it? We tried to also buy a new x5 but sold out for the version we need. Sigh. Acura got the sale.

On to a 458 hopefully.

Also considered 991 S vs new m3. I would take the 991 all day.

Holy shit, your post was close to making me commit suicide.

It's not that serious.

[warzilla]

Originally Posted by JoshuaKM

Yeah I mean basically I agree with everyone's input that the 911 Carrera S is far superior to the base 911 but I'd ideally like to stay at 80 max... which brings the comparison to a new-generation (2013) base 911 vs. M3. I am leaning towards the M3 because of the practicality (4 doors, usable trunk where you can put a beach chair, luggage, or golf clubs). I know the BMW purists on this site will hate me but there's no question that the lines on a 911 are iconic and frankly unreal. It's a tough choice in my opinion... that's why I've been mentally masturbating about the decision for the past month instead of just ordering the damn car already.

Most peeps move from a M car to a P-car. So you can buy the 911 now or do it later. 911 is a sports car. The M3 is a sports sedan with great performance levels. Its what you are looking for as your daily drive.

[DutchSlacker]

Originally Posted by JoshuaKM

Yeah I mean basically I agree with everyone's input that the 911 Carrera S is far superior to the base 911 but I'd ideally like to stay at 80 max... which brings the comparison to a new-generation (2013) base 911 vs. M3. I am leaning towards the M3 because of the practicality (4 doors, usable trunk where you can put a beach chair, luggage, or golf clubs). I know the BMW purists on this site will hate me but there's no question that the lines on a 911 are iconic and frankly unreal. It's a tough choice in my opinion... that's why I've been mentally masturbating about the decision for the past month instead of just ordering the damn car already.

I say go with the 991. But I am biased, because I made the same decision. Just like most of us I was planning to move to the new M3/M4 once my current e92 M3 lease expires. But after more specs were revealed I felt it just lacked some of the things that made the e92 m3 feel special to me (high-revving v8 engine, exhaust). So I started looking elsewhere and decided to order a new 991 911 3.4 - which has been my dream car for as long as I can remember. It'll be delivered mid aug as one of the first MY15 and can't wait!

You know, Lots of folks on this forum appear to say that they would never ever take a 911 base, but claim the 911s is the best thing since sliced bread. Strange, and is mostly Porsche marketing at its best. Yes, the 911s has more torque and 50 horses more, but depending on how you spec out the 911 (PASM, sport-chrono, PSE) , the difference is really minimal. Look at Dag Johnsen in his 3.4 when he races against a 911s on youtube and you'll see what I mean. There are folks out there that claim the base 991 provides the purest 911 experience. The way you should drive the 991 3.4 is very similar to how you should drive the e92 m3 - keep it above 4-5K. The 3.4 engine then really performs amazingly.

I don't think there are any wrong choices here. The M3/M4 are amazing, its just not a 911.

[M3OW]

Originally Posted by DutchSlacker

I say go with the 991. But I am biased, because I made the same decision. Just like most of us I was planning to move to the new M3/M4 once my current e92 M3 lease expires. But after more specs were revealed I felt it just lacked some of the things that made the e92 m3 feel special to me (high-revving v8 engine, exhaust). So I started looking elsewhere and decided to order a new 991 911 3.4 - which has been my dream car for as long as I can remember. It'll be delivered mid aug as one of the first MY15 and can't wait!

You know, Lots of folks on this forum appear to say that they would never ever take a 911 base, but claim the 911s is the best thing since sliced bread. Strange, and is mostly Porsche marketing at its best. Yes, the 911s has more torque and 50 horses more, but depending on how you spec out the 911 (PASM, sport-chrono, PSE) , the difference is really minimal. Look at Dag Johnsen in his 3.4 when he races against a 911s on youtube and you'll see what I mean. There are folks out there that claim the base 991 provides the purest 911 experience. The way you should drive the 991 3.4 is very similar to how you should drive the e92 m3 - keep it above 4-5K. The 3.4 engine then really performs amazingly.

I don't think there are any wrong choices here. The M3/M4 are amazing, its just not a 911.

My friend works as a SA at a Porsche dealership and I had the oppurtunity to drive the base 911 and the s version back to back and while the 3.4L engine packs a nice punch, you can really feel the 50 horsepower deficit especially above 4k rpm. However I was pleasantly surprised with the way the base model sounded. The 997 base model sounded weak especially compared to the 997 s however the base 991 sounds awesome, not sure how they accomplished a deeper throatier sound while decreasing engine size from 3.6 to 3.4.

The base 991 is a great car, I personally loved it. It's fast, sounds great, and almost looks as good as the s version that costs 10k more. I personally would never go with the base model for the simple fact that I know the s is that much better and seeing it in the streets would drive me crazy.

[Holset]

I posted this in an other thread but i think it maches the topic so i paste it in here as well.

Here is my take on the M4/M3 competitors.

Some people seems to forget that M3/M4 is based on BMW AG's regular 3 and 4 series which in turn is basically the same cars underneath.

The BMW M then make some modifications to the standard chassis and develops some new parts and tune them for the cars to make them more sporty ect ,the same is done at for example Audi RS and Mercedes AMG.

This ensures if not to heavily modified that the standard versatility is still intact and i guess this is why so many people like these type of cars.

So i think the competitors for the M3/M4 is Audi RS5/RS4, Mercedes C63 AMG sedan/coupe, Lexus RCF/IS F, Cadillac ATS-V and maybe some future Jaguar based on the coming XE model.

I dont think the for example Porsche 911 or Corvette C7 is M3/M4 competitors those cars are dedicated bespoke sportcars built from the ground up to be sportcars.
Look for example at the Corvette C7 bespoke aluminium chassis thats a long way from regular 3/4 series chassis.
When building a dedicated sportcar mostly it results in a faster car than one based on a regular family car.
But of course there are drawbacks when you built a dedicated sportcar you lose some of that versatility and comfort,interior space,luggage space, number of seats, to low ground clearance ect often a standard based car can bring all days all year round.

[omegaSMP300]

Get a year old 911 S and your price will comparable at top m3/m4. I looked at a 2012 911 S with 6k miles for 84k Msrp was 127k. Spend a little more and that Msrp can be 130-140 (all the options you would want.) Good luck.

[elitex]

Get the Cayman S/GTS. I love mine. Mine was about $86K.

[Romo]

Originally Posted by sparkyg

I had an E90 M3 and will be moving away from BMW M cars. Too heavy, fat, overpriced and they have lost their way.

A fully loaded car in Canada is $100k.

I'll get a used GT3 from the US or a used 991S instead.

Is there anything that special about this car?

I know there are tons of fanboys and I was with the E90 M3 but this car is just mehhhh.

Too big, too stretched, too big wheelbase, meaning loss off agility.

No doubt fast en great build quality, but not what I`m looking for.

I want small, nimble, agile.....and that is why I have, after owning a E46 M3, E92 M3 and now E82 1M, bought a Cayman GTS....

Keeping the 1M though, so a 4 seater 6 IL TT and a 2 seater 6 flat NA.......

I love it when a plan comes together

Next BMW stop; M2

[sparkyg]

Yeah Cayman GTS is sure closer to the old school small sports car.