Fast Luxury 4-Door Coupe Poll: Which Of These Ultimate Flagships Is Your Favorite?

Those of you who aren’t ready or willing to go fully electric just yet, but want a flagship luxury four-door model that stands out thanks to its appearance, are faced with a pleasant but hard choice.

Do you buy into the segment by getting the 2021 Audi RS7, or perhaps go all-out on the near $200,000 Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid? What about everything in-between?

We’re here to help you choose your ultimate four-door coupe, so let’s look at how they match up.

We’re going to start with the Audi, because it’s the cheapest of the four to purchase. We almost didn’t even throw it in the mix, but it’s not particularly smaller than its three rivals here, and it still puts down roughly 600 horsepower, which buys you a ticket at this table.

Audi RS7 Sportback ( $114,000 )

Audi announced pricing for the 2021 RS7 just last month, with U.S. customers needing to pay upwards of $114,000 for one. If you think that’s unreasonable, then you might want to skip the part where we tell you how much the BMW and the Mercedes cost.

Now, technically this is a five-door coupe, not a four-door, but let’s not get caught up in semantics. Besides, the only car here that’s not a hatchback is the M8 Gran Coupe, which is a good old fashioned notchback sedan.

The RS7 comes in at 5,009 mm (197.2 in) long, 1,950 mm (76.7 in) wide and 1,424 mm (56.0 in) tall, with a wheelbase measuring 2,930 mm (115.3 in) in length. It also weighs 2,140 kg (4,718 lbs), meaning it’s the second-heaviest car here after the Panamera. Alas, you get plenty of earth-shattering performance if you opt for the sleek Audi, thanks to its 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged TFSI V8 engine, putting down 591 HP (600 PS) and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque. As for your zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) time, that would be 3.5 seconds. It’s the slowest car here, but really not by much.

You also get Audi’s quattro sport differential as standard, an adaptive air suspension and dynamic all wheel steering.

BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe ($143,000)

Even in Competition spec, the M8 Gran Coupe only manages to be the second-least expensive car here, coming in at $143,000. If you go for the “regular” four-door M8, you’ll still be spending $130,000, but you’ll be missing out on having slightly better performance.

Power comes from a twin turbo 4.4-liter V8, offering up 617 HP (625 PS) and 553 lb-ft (750 Nm) of torque in Competition spec. According to BMW, that’s good enough for you to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in just 3 seconds flat. That will pretty much shut the Audi up, although if you’re racing from a rolling start, the RS7’s superior torque figure might shine through.

The M8 Gran Coupe weighs 2,055 kg (4,530 lbs) and measures 5,098 mm (200.7 in) in length, 1,943 mm (76.5 in) in width and 1,420 mm (55.9 in) in height. Its wheelbase is 3,027 mm (119.2 in) long. So it’s actually not as wide as the RS7, but is otherwise longer and less tall.

Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4-Door Coupe ($161,200)

If we just look at the numbers, the Mercedes is quite simply a beast, even among rivals as strong as the RS7, M8 and Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.

In the U.S., this range-topper comes with AMG Performance seats as standard, a rear-axle steering system, AMG Ride Control+ air suspension and loads more. Its price? An imposing $161,200, for which you get a 4.0-liter twin turbo V8, pushing down 630 HP (638 PS) and 664 lb-ft (900 Nm) of torque. That’s good enough for a zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) time of 3.1 seconds.

We reckon that one of the reasons the Merc isn’t quicker on paper than the BMW M8 Competition Gran Coupe is the fact that it weighs an extra 65 kg (143 lbs), for a total of 2,120 kg (4,674 lbs)

As for its dimensions, the AMG GT 4-door is 5,054 mm (199.0 in) long, 1,871 mm (73.7 in) wide, 1,477 mm (58.1 in) tall, while its wheelbase measures 2,951 mm (116.2 in). It’s the narrowest car here, but possibly also the most elegant, in a generic sense.

Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid ($187,700)

Let’s get rid of the elephant in the room first. This is a $187,700 car, which basically makes it a $200k+ car the second you tick one or two boxes on the options list.

In its defense, it is a plug-in hybrid and it’s also a Porsche, which does tend to matter if you’re simply badge-hunting. Seen as how it’s the heaviest car here at 2,385 kg (5,258 lbs), it needs all the power it can get in order to keep up with its German rivals.

Thankfully, its 4.0-liter twin-turbo hybrid setup produces 671 HP (677 PS) and 627 lb-ft (850 Nm) of torque. Get the Sport Chrono Package and your 0-60 time drops to 3.2 seconds, which on paper means you’re keeping up with the Mercedes and BMW, while edging ahead of the Audi.

As for size, the Panamera is 5,049 mm (198.8 in) long, 1,937 mm (76.2 in) wide, 1,427 mm (56.2 in) tall and has a 2,950 mm (116.1 in) long wheelbase.

So, what will it be?

In the end, choosing between these four cars can be quite difficult. They’re all big enough, posh, blindingly quick and seriously expensive. The Porsche may be the one to get if you’re mostly concerned about status, while the Audi probably makes the most sense if you want the most bang for your buck.

The other two? It all comes down to the one you fancy most in the looks department. But enough about that. Time to vote!