2015 BMW M4

The M4 designation was new in the US for the 2015 model year at BMW. No longer would there be two- and four-door 3-series cars. Now the 4-series would be the name for the two-doors and their four-door siblings would retain the 3-series moniker... unless they had fastback hatches in which case they were "Gran Coupes" and badged as a 4-series. BMW's naming was getting a little incoherent if you ask me, but I don't have a degree in marketing so probably you shouldn't.

The F82 was the designation for the M coupe derived from the regular F32 4-series. Motorvated by BMW's S55 twin-turbo 3.0L DOHC inline six rated at 425 SAE net horsepower, the car could be had with the buyer's choice of a ZF six-speed manual or a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

When Car and Driver put a 2015 car with the dual-clutch gearbox through its testing procedure, the 3,615 pound coupe laid down a 3.7 second sprint to sixty and scorched the quarter in twelve flat at a buck nineteen. The governor shut off the fun at 163mph.

The base price for the M4 was $65,150 but options like the $8,150 carbon-ceramic brakes and $2,900 DCT box pushed the MSRP of the test car up to $86,225, which is about $121,500 in current coins.

The Yas Marina Blue example in the photos was snapped a couple times back in July of 2021 using a Sony RX100.

2015 Mercedes-Benz SL400

The 2013 model year saw the launch of the sixth generation of Mercedes-Benz's SL-class of two seat sporting luxo convertibles. (Well, most were convertibles. And most were 2-seaters, although the R107 could be had with a sort of vestigial back seat-ette which could accommodate pets, small children, double lower-extremity amputees, Peter Dinklage, or people you hated.)

Styling-wise, the new R231 was a little less overwrought than the outgoing refreshed R230, which had gotten a little carried away in the vents and strakes department.

Structure-wise, it featured extensive use of aluminum alloy, which helped counter the increasing weight bloat of all the bling expected in a $100k+ luxury sporter. Still, the SL400 in the photo would have tipped the scales at less than a couple hundred pounds shy of two tons.

The SL400 was the junior partner to the SL550. Instead of the latter's V-8, the SL400 had the first six-cylinder motor offered in an SL on the North American market since importation of the R129 SL320 stopped after the 1998 model year. Instead of the classic inline six of the 320, though, the 400 sported a DOHC twin-turbo 3.0L V-6, rated at 329 horsepower.

In a test by Car and Driver, the 2015 SL400 sprinted to sixty in 4.6 seconds and blistered the quarter in 13.1 seconds at 109mph. Price for the well-optioned test car was $106,335 in 2015 dollars, or $144,221 in current bucks.

This one was photographed in July of 2025 using a Canon EOS R and an RF 24-105mm f/4-7.1 IS zoom lens.

2015 Porsche 911 Turbo S

The seventh iteration of Porsche's wild-eyed turbo supercar, the blown version of the 991 debuted in 2013. The 991 was only the third entirely new chassis for the classic roly-poly 911 and it was the most civilized yet by far. With all-wheel drive and four wheel steering and a much evolved suspension, the Turbo S had come a long way from the snap-oversteering ditch seeking missile that was the original Seventies turbocharged 911.

Stuffed in the ass end of the car was a twin-turbo 3.8L flat six belting out 560 horsepower, sent to all four 20-inch wheels via a 7-speed PDK dual clutch transmission.

Car and Driver hustled their 2015 Porsche 911 Turbo S test car to sixty in a mere 2.5 seconds and rocketed through the quarter in 10.3 seconds at 130 miles per hour; these would have been credible literbike numbers when I was a teen. Almost as impressively, it circled the skidpad at 1.07g. You'd want to keep a lid on your Frappuccino lest you poured your Starbucks horizontally onto the passenger window while cornering hard.

All this eyeball-flattening fun came at an as-tested price of $195,175, or about $261,600 in 2025 dollars.

The one in the photo, which is in Agate Gray Metallic, I believe, was snapped in October of 2023 with a Nikon D800 and 24-120mm f/4 VR zoom lens.

2015 Alfa Romeo 4C

The first batch of Alfa Romeo 4C mid-engine 2-seaters came ashore in the USA in the summer of 2014, ending what had been a twenty year absence from the American market for the marque.

A little bantamweight coupe with fiberglass bodywork enclosing a carbon fiber monocoque chassis, the hardtop 4C coupe rode on a 93.7-inch wheelbase and only weighed 2,471 pounds all gassed up and ready to rock. The roofline barely came up to a six-footer's belly button and it cast a shadow hardly more than 13-feet long.

Thanks to these diminutive measurements, the 4C didn't need a lot of motor to put up decent performance numbers. Powered by Alfa's turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16V 1.7L inline four, rated at 237 SAE net horsepower, the 4C managed to crack off a 4.1 second zero-to-sixty time and a 12.8 second quarter at 107 through the traps when tested by Car and Driver.

It was a head to head test against a Porsche Cayman, which the Alfa handily out-accelerated despite a nearly forty horsepower deficit, thanks to a quarter ton weight advantage. Top speed was measured at 159mph and it stopped from seventy in only 144 feet.

Alas, the 4C coupe was discontinued in the US market after the 2018 model year, with less than 2,000 units having sold here. This means the Rosso Alfa Red and Basalt Gray Metallic coupes here are uncommon sights indeed. The red one was snapped with a Fuji X-T2 and XF 16-80mm f/4 R WR OIS zoom lens in July of 2021, while the gray one was photographed in April of 2021 using a Sony RX100.