Randy Pobst hot laps the 2016 BMW M4 GTS for Motor Trend Best Driver's Car 2016

[Captain Unknown GT4]

We al make different selections. People think I lost it, but when BMW finaly told me I would get the M4 GTS, well I then told the Maclaren dealer who spend time with my testning the 570s I go For the M4 GTS. I was very close to buy on Maclaren, then BMW call, It was a fast and easy decision for me to buy GTS.

Thing is many cars on this test is very nice, but not for me. Minimum they must be developed on the Nurburgring, they must have cage from factory and they must deliver some kind of return of dollars when I finaly sell. I dont buy cars that drop hard used, thats not cheep in the end, even first layout of dollars was less. I dont see a camaro as cheep, it will cost me dollars when I sell. GTS is cheep, and It will return my dollar in +. That way I cant see how camaro is cheep?

As well they must be fun, fast and special. AWD is out!

Its not all importent on ultimat laptime in One lap, at One track, with One press car tester. Car should keep fresh and rock solid even after One year of trackwork. My GT4 is not the fastest car on the planet, still its rock solid For track work, developed on Nurburgring in 24 months time. I track it alot, no issue at al, car hardly wear out brake pads, thats how overbraked it is. Also its with cage. GTS will hold up For track work as well, its developed on Nurburgring, I track alot. I cant buy whatever car only due to it post a fast laptime overthere with some car mag tester and car is cheep dollars. Its more to it that that.

What many dont know is that 2 weeks consistent maximum fast lappning on the Nurburgring simulate a cars liftime (a cars lifetime wear on normal street driving) in regards to wear rate to diffrent parts. 2 weeks different development drivers keep that car on the loop For 2 week, full pace.

This track is hard on a car, weaknes show fast. Its my minimum demand when buy car. I go there on a regular base, I need a car thats is proven and tested. I need a cage. And I want these things to be stock from factory. We are all looking For different things. 991 GT3 RS solid, but to common where I drive. I wanted something special. And For sure, the GTS deliver, its so fun to drive. I wish more people could experience it.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

Car and Driver uses their writing staff to set times and they vary wildly in skill level. Their Audi R8 lap time made no sense.

Having watched most of the MT DCoTY videos now, contrasting them with C&D's Lightning Lap videos, it's become pretty clear that C&D are making a huge mistake by not bringing in a pro driver.

Although, there is something interesting to learn from looking at the differences between the results. Because C&D are using their staff writers to set lap times, the results are more reflective of what us mere mortals can expect to achieve behind the wheel of one of these cars. You could say that it speaks to the ease-of-use for each car.

I'd still take that with a boulder sized grain of salt though. Pro-drivers are vetted by their ability to rise through the ranks and be competitive amongst other pro drivers. Amateur capability varies greatly, and there's really no way to tell whether one C&D staff driver is particularly skillful (or not). So the signal-to-noise ratio (signal being lap time, and noise being driver skill) in their test is horrible. It'd be foolish to place too much confidence in the outcome of a poorly designed test, and that's what C&D have on their hands.

It is comforting to see that C&D managed to put down a very good lap time in the M4 GTS though. Even discounting the results to account for variation in driver skill level, the M4 GTS sounds like it is very well balanced and fun car to set a lap time in. That is, IMO, more important than outright pace, provided you're not participating in a timed event/race.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by BarryB

The threads on this topic are so entertaining. Can't believe all the hating or "opinions", as they're being called on lap times and cost etc. How many of us could pull those times off in any of the cars tested anyway? My '95 e36 M3 goes faster around MRLS than I could make my M5's go at a fraction of the cost. Does it make it a better car, better deal etc? Or your hot looking GF who is useless in bed or whose taste you can't afford etc. So nothing in life is one dimensional. It's more a personal preference than "mine's bigger than yours". Buy and drive what makes YOU happy then enjoy this entrainment for what it is worth.
Hopefully my car will show up soon so I can spend more time driving/enjoying it than being entertained online.

That's because the majority of the people speaking have never sat behind the wheel of a car on a track

Mag racing is what most people focus on, because that's all they have access too. Not saying it's right (I think it's silly), but I kind of understand what causes it.

[The long haul]

Here's my take. People take Mag times seriously because the professionals set the time. When buying a car of this caliber, many people wanna know the max potential of it compared to the competition.
Myself I don't so much care. But that's my take.
As for the comment on the mustang being a plastic bin with poor quality, that's laughable. The GT350r screams lots of stuff to me, but poor quality and plastic bin aren't in mind.
Let's not act like BMW interiors are Fucking Bentley quality. It wasn't long ago they shipped cars with rusty seat rails and merino leather falling apart after moderately daily use.
The M4 GTS is a cool car. But I can't take it seriously. It's pretentious. It's like "hey look at me I'm a track car, priced like a track car..." but it isn't. The GT3RS is priced somewhat close to it and it's not even close. The GT350r is a far better bargain, as is many other cars.
Will the M4 GTS be a cool collector's item? Fuck yeah it will.
But it's always gonna be what it is. A car that never lived up to the hype. Period.

[The Choosey begger]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

Here's the Camaro SS 1LE going just .12 seconds slower than the M4 GTS. Despite having less power, more weight, a manual transmission, Goodyear tires (they might be excellent?) and costing less than a base 440i. And this isn't even the "fast" Camaro. There's two more of those to come....

Oh Uh!

[M3SSY]

You can tell by how excited Randy was about the GT350R, it is the best car of the bunch...

on another note.. it sounded like the GTS had a BOV at times... different setup than regular f80? or just more boost?

[CanAutM3]

Love this shot

[naut]

Originally Posted by CirrusSR22

Here's the Camaro SS 1LE going just .12 seconds slower than the M4 GTS. Despite having less power, more weight, a manual transmission, Goodyear tires (they might be excellent?) and costing less than a base 440i. And this isn't even the "fast" Camaro. There's two more of those to come....

1. McLaren 570S - 1:34.58 - $219.770
2. Mercedes-AMG GT S - 1:35.30 - $169,450
3. Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R - 1:36.11 - $66,990
4. BMW M4 GTS - 1:37.66 - $135,195
5. Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE - 1:37.78 - $45,700
6. Aston Martin V12 Vantage S - 1:41.77 - $211,910

Massive props to Chevy (and Ford) lately. They are killing it. Hard to deny that they deserve some credit from a performance standpoint.

Crazy to see the Camaro with a 38hp deficit, manual transmission, less aero, and nearly 150lbs heavier is within spitting distance to the track focused, caged GTS with DCT, and adjustable splitters/wings/coilovers.

Been tracking cars for 6 years myself and just a wing alone would of been a sizable second or so improvement for the average driver. Kind of mind boggling to see the GTS not really adding up to the sum of its parts.

[MyFragileHalogen]

My guess is they expected it better from the GTS as well and perhaps Randy had to go again and try to get the lap time he expected. Hence they spend more time on the video showing the serious face expressions he makes in order to emphasize he really drove hard.

[redux]

Anyone else interested those Eagle F1 tires (never thought I'd that about a Goodyear tire) on that the 1LE? These could be an interesting a summer tire option if they come down in sizes while keeping the same compound. That LE1 is getting it's speed from somewhere, and that somewhere isn't horsepower or aero. Magnetic dampers and an electronic differential can only take a car so far.

[s2k750]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

I would agree.... IMHO it's because he has logged a ton of time in Porsches

Two seconds a lap improvement over the standard car is a huge difference and shows how much more performance BMW has extracted with the M4 GTS!

Should be interesting to see him drive an M3 or M4 ZCP to see if it slots right in the middle.

I wonder how much of that is from the sticker tire the gt3 has.

[s2k750]

Originally Posted by naut

1. McLaren 570S - 1:34.58 - $219.770
2. Mercedes-AMG GT S - 1:35.30 - $169,450
3. Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R - 1:36.11 - $66,990
4. BMW M4 GTS - 1:37.66 - $135,195
5. Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE - 1:37.78 - $45,700
6. Aston Martin V12 Vantage S - 1:41.77 - $211,910

Massive props to Chevy (and Ford) lately. They are killing it. Hard to deny that they deserve some credit from a performance standpoint.

Crazy to see the Camaro with a 38hp deficit, manual transmission, less aero, and nearly 150lbs heavier is within spitting distance to the track focused, caged GTS with DCT, and adjustable splitters/wings/coilovers.

Been tracking cars for 6 years myself and just a wing alone would of been a sizable second or so improvement for the average driver. Kind of mind boggling to see the GTS not really adding up to the sum of its parts.

Spot on. The GT3 isn't even a 135k car. Most are selling 175-200 otd. Insane.

[redux]

Daily Fix has some pretty interesting behind the scene commentary and such for BDC.



- BMW provided factory technical support at the event along with the other major players.

- The GT350r's sport cup 2's are superior to other sport cup 2's.

[Billj747]

Originally Posted by Captain Unknown GT4

The reason is, you hear randy tell in gt350 vid, he was deadly comited set a solid lap time, that almost never happen he say. He seems more on it in this car than BMW

Not really. You misunderstood his comment.

"I just had a great time in this car. It was literally putting a smile on my face while I was driving, even though i'm dead serious about turning a good lap time. That almost never happens".


I interpreted it as he is dead serious and focused for turning the best lap time he can (in every car), yet he enjoyed driving the GT350R so much that he couldn't help but have a big smile on his face during the fast lap in the 350R, which almost never happens when he's focused on turning fast times.

0.02

[VCP]

I screen shot that exact image yesterday as well

Originally Posted by CanAutM3

Love this shot

[M4_GTS]

Porsche is always impressive with their 911.

[VCP]

Whatever

Originally Posted by M4_GTS

Porsche is always impressive with their 911.

[DieGrüneHölle]

991.2 Carrera S backs up it's Sport Auto supertest performance.

MT BDC Laguna lap time - 1:36.44

These new base turbo Carrera's are really impressive.

[adc]

Originally Posted by SeanWRT

Who are we kidding? GT350R is the clear winner from this group, probably the BDC this year.

Nope, that should be the C7 GS.

Lighter, faster, better in every way on track. (Although it is more expensive as you would probably spec it).

[Billj747]

Pretty interesting when you look at performance per dollar, weight vs lap time, weight vs tire size, weight distribution vs tire size, etc...

Viper ACR – Previous years (1:28.65 – 1:30.46) – 1:31.58 didn’t talk
$131,990
645/600
3,379 50/50
98.8”
295/355 Khumho Ecsta V720 ACR

Audi R8 V10 Plus – 1:34.23 didn’t talk
$198,850
602/413
3,642 42/58
104.3”
245/295 P-Zero

McLaren 570S – 1:34.58 didn’t talk
$219,770
562/443
3,188 42/58
105.1”
225/285 P-Zero Corsa

AMG GT S – 1:35.57 (no wing last year) 1:35.30 talked
$169,450
503/479
3,698 48/52
103.5”
265/295 MPSC2

GT350R – 1:36.11 talked
$66,990
526/429
3,711 54/46
107.1”
305/315 MPSC2

NSX – 1:36.36 loose, talkes
$197,400
573/476
3,876 42/58
103.5”
245/295 P-Zero Corsa Trofeo

991.2 Carrera S – 1:39.0 (2013) - 1:36.44 Talks the most
$140,465
420/368
3,353 37/63
96.5”
245/305 Pirelli P Zero

Nissan GT-R Premium – Quickest non-Nismo prior: 1:36.35 – 1:37.08 - talked
$112,585
565/467
3,936 55/45
109.4”
255/285 SP Sport MAXX GT 600 DSST CTT RunFlat

M4 GTS – 1:37.66 twitchy, didn’t talk
$135,195
493/443
3,605lb 53/47
110.7”
265/285 MPSC2

Camaro SS 1LE – 1:37.78 talked
$45,700
455/455
3,735 54/46
110.7”
285/305 Eagle F1 Supercar G2

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by adc

Nope, that should be the C7 GS.

Lighter, faster, better in every way on track. (Although it is more expensive as you would probably spec it).

But the C7 GS is not on the MT DBC roster this year....

so my bet is on the 991.2 CS for the win

[DieGrüneHölle]

Originally Posted by Troll_991GT3

any lap times for 991GT3 at Laguna Seca?

MT has only run the RS in the past.