BMW M4 vs Chevrolet Corvette

What's the difference?

Brutal, bruising and utterly brilliant, the M4 CS will be an acquired taste due to its no-compromise approach, but those willing to take the leap will find a performance car like few others at their disposal.

The Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray offers hypercar-level performance, aggressive design and brilliant dynamics at a bargain-price relative to similarly-configured Euro exotics. Blending raw V8 grunt with front-axle electric power it delivers an exhilarating drive experience.

While things like ingress and egress are a challenge and warranty coverage is modest, the car’s immense capability makes it an attractive option for anyone wanting a high-performance mid-engine machine without the astronomical price tag of a ‘traditional’ supercar.

The M4 CS is familiar in all the right ways, but definitely looks significantly jacked up compared to its lesser siblings.

Part of that is the extensive use of carbon everywhere, from its bonnet panels to its roof, front lip, side skirting and boot spoiler. But also because of its super-muscular angles and creases, including the huge dome in its bonnet.

Also exclusive to this M4 CS is the light treatment, with the front LEDs lighting up with yellow highlights the brand says are supposed to be reminiscent of GT racing cars.

At the back, the rear lights are flush with fibre optic lighting, lending a flowing and unique light signature that looks epic at night.

Inside, it's a sea of carbon, with the lightweight racing seats, the dash inserts and the centre console all lined in it. It is a perfectly finished space, though, and one that's also flecked with red, including a 12 o'clock band on the thick-rimmed steering wheel, the seat backs, the contrast stitching and the paddle shifts.

Be warned, though, it takes some acrobatics to climb into or out of the CS. The seat bottoms have these super high edges that double as grab handles, but require some awkward contortions to navigate.

In short, it looks angry, this M4 CS, inside and out.

If you asked primary school me to draw a ‘supercar’ I’d likely hand you a roughly hewn, multi-coloured wedge in Egyptian frieze-style 2D that could be interpreted as a prescient rendering of the current Corvette E-Ray.

GM has confessed that a big part of its motivation for going mid-engine with the current-gen Corvette is to help it appeal to a younger target market (maybe not under-10s) and Chevrolet has enthusiastically embraced the low nose, wide high-tail stance. You’re not going to miss it.

The E-Ray, like its track-focused Z06 sibling, is longer (+58mm) and wider (+92mm) than the standard Corvette Stingray, with huge air intakes in the nose and deep gills behind the doors.

Its distinctly angular design retains enough Corvette DNA to keep the C8 in the family. The headlights are reminiscent of the C7 that preceded it and the dual tail-light design is a neat reinterpretation of that signature element. A clear engine lid showcases the longitudinally mounted V8’s bright red engine cover.

Far from a clean or curvaceous shape, the E-Ray is all business with function driving its fighter jet form. And that carries over to the interior with the driver-focused cockpit making no apologies for concentrating almost exclusively on the person behind the wheel.

Multiple screens wrap around the instrument binnacle with the flat top and bottom steering wheel affording a clear view of them all.

The jagged lift-up gear selector controls would be right at home in an F-22 Raptor and despite the layout’s relatively fussy look it works super-well ergonomically, with clearly marked buttons (haptic and physical) easy to sight and operate.

It all boils down to how you classify practicality in a car like this. I mean, the basic stuff is all there – it's got two doors, four seats and a boot capacity of 440 litres.

It measures 4801mm in length, 1918mm in width and 1399mm in height, and room for front seat riders is good, but less so for anyone you squeeze into the back. There are even ISOFIX points for a child seat.

But if you consider practicality the practical pursuit of performance, then the M4 CS has plenty of perks.

Practicality is a relative concept when you’re looking at a two-seat, mid-engine sports car, which means the Corvette E-Ray is not functional in the Kia Carnival sense. But there are some concessions to the need to store things inside it.

In terms of storing people, getting in and out of a C8 Corvette isn’t exactly straightforward. The car sits close to the ground, which despite decent door apertures, means to gain access you’re lowering yourself across and into the heavily bolstered seats using an ungainly, vaguely yoga-style technique. Same goes on exit with more than a little grunting required to hoick yourself out of the car. Not an easy proposition for a daily driver.

Once inside, headroom for me at 183cm is good and for storage there are slim pockets in the doors (with no scope for bottles), two cupholders in the centre console and an oddments tray ahead of them. The glove box is a good size, a lidded box between the seats houses USB-A and USB-C outlets and there’s an awkward-to-use upright wireless phone charging slot between the seat backrests.

Boot volume is 204 litres, unless you’ve removed the roof panel and clipped it into its storage position there. A surprisingly easy process, by the way. If that’s the case you’ll be leaning more heavily on the 142-litre frunk. Overall storage capacity of around 350L is pretty handy for a car of this type.

Not surprisingly, given the scale of this car’s wheel and tyre package, there’s no spare. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres are run-flats.

And substantial practicality points go to the front lift system which, via the press of a console button, rapidly raises the car’s nose by 50mm to help avoid driveway and speed bump scrapes.

In the US the Corvette E-Ray is offered in three imaginatively titled trim levels - 1LZ, 2LZ and 3LZ in coupe and power-folding hardtop convertible form.

Australia takes the top-spec 3LZ coupe only, priced at $292,990, including GST and LCT but before on-road costs. 

If your heart’s set on a full-convertible Corvette you’ll need to opt for the non-hybrid Stingray ($232,990, BOC), but the coupe’s targa-style, lift-out roof panel gets you most of the way there, anyway.

Aside from the safety tech we’ll get to shortly, that figure gets you a heap of standard fruit, the highlights including:

• An extended leather interior (upper and lower sections of the instrument panel, trim panels, console cover and centre floor console) 
• Microfibre on the pillars and headlining 
• Heated, ventilated and power-adjustable ‘GT2’ seats (with nappa leather and carbon-fibre trim)
• A heated leather and carbon-fibre trimmed steering wheel 
• Carbon shift paddles
• A 14-speaker Bose audio system
• Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay
• A multi-readout head-up display
• A performance data recorder
• Removable roof panel 
• Body colour mirrors and spoiler
• Carbon splitters 
• Carbon rocker panels 
• Black exhaust tips
• Gloss black five-spoke forged alloy rims (20-inch fr / 21-inch rr), 
• Carbon ceramic rotors 
• Red brake calipers 
• Magnetic Selective Ride Control suspension 
• Front-lift system 
• Engine Appearance Package (including a flashy red engine cover)

Other, similarly-configured ways to accelerate from 0-100km/h in less than three seconds cost twice as much as the E-Ray. Ferrari 296 GTB? Prepare to part with $604K. Lamborghini Temerario? You’ll need to cough up $534,169. Porsche 911 Turbo S Coupe? It’s $577,300. 

On that basis, this Corvette is a supercar bargain.

BMW has found yet more grunt lurking in its trusty 3.0-litre 'M TwinPower' six-cylinder petrol engine, with the M4 CS now pumping out 405kW and 650Nm.

That's a decent jump from the 390kW and 620Nm served up by the M4 Competition, and a giant leap from the outputs of the 'base' M4 – 353kW and 550Nm.

Predictably, then, the CS is the fastest of the lot, knocking off the run from 0-100km/h in 3.4 seconds, compared to 3.5 and 4.2 in the Competition and M4, respectively. The top speed is also dialled up to 302km/h.

All that power is channeled through an eight-speed automatic and sent to all four wheels on demand, with the help of an 'Active M Differential'.

The Corvette E-Ray is powered by a mid-mounted 6.2-litre, naturally aspirated ‘LT2’ V8 featuring dry sump lubrication, a billet steel crank, forged conrods and variable valve timing for 369kW (at 6450rpm) and 637Nm (at 5150rpm).

It sends drive to the rear wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch auto transmission with (carbon) paddles on the steering wheel for manual shifting.  

A single 119kW/170Nm electric motor on the front axle contributes to total outputs of  488kW/806Nm and delivers ‘eAWD’. 

Claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time is a sizzling 2.9 seconds.

The M4 CS is fitted with a 59-litre fuel tank, which – given the BMW's official fuel claim of 10.2 litres per hundred kilometres – should deliver a driving range on a full tank of 541 kilometres.

But... BMW also says the regular M4 – you know, the one that makes 52 fewer kilowatts and 55Nm less torque – uses 10.1L/100km, so do with that information what you will.

The Corvette E-Ray’s official fuel consumption figure for the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 11.5L/100km.

The car’s Active Fuel Management system is able to subtly drop four cylinders under light loads, a small V4 (rather than V8) light on the dashboard the only clue this sleight-of-hand trick has been performed.

Auto stop-start is also standard, although we admit to switching it off (via a haptic button on the dash) most of the time. And purely in the name of science and fully exploring the car’s performance potential we may have leaned into the E-Ray’s dynamic abilities more than once.

Overall, across a week of mainly city and suburban running with some freeway sections thrown in, we recorded an on-test average of 13.5L/100km, which is still more than acceptable for this type of performance car. 

Brim the 70-litre tank with minimum 95 RON premium fuel and using our real-world figure you can expect a driving range of around 520km.

The E-Ray features a 1.9kWh lithium-ion battery, self-replenished from coasting and braking, allowing an EV-only (and neighbour-friendly) ‘Stealth Mode’ for four to six kilometres at a maximum of 72km/h. 

And there’s a ‘Shuttle Mode’ (not suitable for public roads) which also engages just the front axle on electric power for moving silently around a driveway or into a garage to a speed of 24km/h.  

The hardest and angriest M4 of all time is, perhaps unsurprisingly, hard and angry. This is a race track specialist, but because I don't happen to own one of those, my first experience with the barking (and barking mad) M4 CS was navigating my way back from BMW's inner-city dealership.

Like it or lump it, you're going to read some Porsche comparisons here, because you're talking not too far off base 911 Carrera money, and suddenly I find the two Germans doing battle for a spot in my dream garage.

First things first, the BMW won't be much chop for daily driving for most people. Happily, I have a sickness for uncomfortable sports cars. It tells me that no compromises have been made in the pursuit of punishing performance.

A good thing, too, because the BMW, at city speeds, can be punishing. Everything feels heavy, the seats aren't overly comfortable – especially the hard bits that tend to dig in when cornering – and it stiff-arms its way over road imperfections, that exhaust booming and barking as it does.

Again, I loved it, and you probably will, too. But it's still not the kind of car I'd relish sitting in the morning peak hour rush in.

But escape the confines of the city and the BMW M4 CS suddenly makes a whole heap of sense. The acceleration is genuinely brutal, and wonderfully theatrical, with that quad-tipped titanium exhaust barking and snarling as you rocket towards 100km/h.

The steering is brilliant, with feedback fed to your wrists via that thick-rimmed wheel, and the entire experience feels sharp, super engaging and edgy.

You can push the M4 hard and fast, and I'm certain my limited talents would run out far before the BMW's would, but there's this thrilling sense of peril sparked by the aggression of the experience, that I love.

It's like the magic of a roller-coaster, I guess. Even if you know nothing is going to happen, you never really know, right? And in that lies the magic.

But back to original question, this or a Porsche 911? There's no doubt a Carrera is a better all-rounder, in terms of comfy commuting and race track fun, but this angry M4 is all shouty theatrics, all of the time.

I bloody love it.

Let’s get the acceleration thing out of the way. The Corvette E-Ray is obscenely fast. If you’re determined to bend the space-time continuum, it’s keen to assist.

Claimed 0-100km/h time is just under three seconds but on a closed track using launch control we’ve previously recorded a time of 2.4sec, which is hypercar territory.

The big V8’s furious roar is amplified by the standard performance exhaust and the dual-clutch auto is a slick, positive, high-quality unit. Manual shifts via the wheel paddles are rapid-fire.

Suspension is by forged alloy double wishbones front and rear with magnetic adaptive damping standard, the latter allowing you to dial in Sport, Touring, Track and Weather modes as well as two customisable settings - MyMode for everyday driving and the performance-focused Z Mode. 

Weather optimises the car’s systems for slippery conditions, as its name implies, and Track is best left for the circuit as it’s unbearably harsh on anything less than a billiard table smooth surface. Sport is more liveable but the pick is Touring which retains the car’s fundamental agility while providing excellent compliance.

Shudder over patched suburban roads in Sport then switch to Touring to illustrate an amazingly forgiving ride.

Despite its aluminium-rich space frame, the E-Ray still weighs in at 1800kg but it responds like a lightweight. The steering is brilliantly precise without being overly sharp and road feel is superb. In terms of cornering, the C8 Corvette is the quintessential apex predator. 

Thanks in no small part to an electronic limited slip differential the E-Ray puts its power down on corner exit with impressive force and grip from the monster Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber is prodigious. 

The tyres measure 275/30x20 at the front and no less than 345/25x21 at the rear, bearing in mind a current F1 car’s rear tyres are 375mm across the tread.

Brakes are also professional grade with carbon ceramic rotors (398mm fr / 391mm rr) clamped by Brembo six-piston alloy calipers at the front and four-piston units at the rear. While some carbon set-ups need to be at a high temperature for optimal performance there are no such worries here. The E-Ray washes off speed with prodigious yet satisfyingly progressive power. 

Worth noting if you’re a track day demon, there’s an ‘Enhanced Performance Data Recorder’ and ‘Performance App’ that jointly provide everything from side-by-side video analysis and graphical data displays to tyre temp and pressures and even coaching tips.

‘Performance Traction Management’ also allows you to fine-tune traction and stability controls to suit specific track conditions.

Under the heading of miscellaneous observations; the GT2 seats are grippy yet supremely comfortable, an 11.1m turning circle is sizable and over-the-shoulder rear three-quarter vision is limited, although there’s enough camera coverage to minimise the problem for parking. 

No surprise, given the Corvette’s relatively low volume, it hasn’t been assessed by ANCAP but active (crash-avoidance) safety tech includes:

• Forward collision alert
• Low-speed auto emergency braking
• Follow distance indicator
• Lane-keeping assist
• Lane departure warning
• Rear cross-traffic alert and
• Blind-spot monitoring
• HD reversing camera
• Front kerb-view camera
• Dual-mode camera rearview mirror system
• Intelligent auto high beam
• Tyre pressure monitoring.

The airbag count is four, front and side for driver and passenger, which is fair enough for a two-door sports car.

For the record, no child seat top tether or ISOFIX anchor for the passenger seat. 

The M4 CS is covered by BMW's five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with condition-based servicing available in packs, which will cost you $3530 over five years/80,000km, or $2900 over four years/60,000km.

GMSV’s warranty cover for the Corvette sits at three years/100,000km which is woefully under-done, even in the context of high-dollar sports cars.

For example, Aston, Ferrari, Lambo, McLaren and Porsche, while still at three years, offer unlimited-kilometre cover.

Service is recommended every 12 months/12,000km, the average annual price for the Corvette coming in at around $1100 over the first few years, largely because the first and every second service thereafter is a major one, including things like a transmission fluid change.

That’s way lower than most mid-engine Euros and it’s important to note service price will vary according to the car's use, different state and territory labour rates and other factors.

There are around 55 GMSV dealers in Australia focused on capital cities as well as major regional and rural centres.