comparing subclasses that call parent constructors vs. cloning empty object

ctortest.php

<?php

$iterations = 100000;

class zero {

    public static function one() {
        static $empties = [];

        $empty = &$empties[static::class];

        if (!isset($empty)) {
            $empty = new static();
        }

        return clone $empty;
    }

    public static function reflect() {
        static $empties = [];

        $empty = &$empties[static::class];

        if (!isset($empty)) {
            $rc = new ReflectionClass(static::class);
            $empty = $rc->newInstanceWithoutConstructor();
        }

        return clone $empty;
    }
}

class one extends zero {
    public function __construct() {
    }
}


class two extends one {
    public function __construct() {
        parent::__construct();
    }
}

class three extends two {
    public function __construct() {
        parent::__construct();
    }
}

echo "PHP Version ".phpversion()."\n\n";

foreach (['zero', 'one', 'two', 'three'] as $class) {
    echo str_repeat('-', 50)."\n";

    echo "Testing {$class} over ".number_format($iterations)." iterations:\n\n";
    

    // -- constructor ---------------------------------------------------------

    $start = microtime(true);

    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
        $obj = new $class();
    }

    $end = microtime(true);

    $duration = ($end - $start) * 1000;

    echo str_pad('new '.$class.'()', 30)."{$duration} ms\n";

    // -- one -----------------------------------------------------------------

    $start = microtime(true);

    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
        $obj = $class::one();
    }

    $end = microtime(true);

    $duration = ($end - $start) * 1000;

    echo str_pad($class.'::one()', 30)."{$duration} ms\n";

    // -- reflect -------------------------------------------------------------

    $start = microtime(true);

    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
        $obj = $class::reflect();
    }

    $end = microtime(true);

    $duration = ($end - $start) * 1000;

    $totals[$class]['reflect'] = $duration;

    echo str_pad($class.'::reflect()', 30)."{$duration} ms\n";
}

ctortest.txt

PHP Version 5.6.3

--------------------------------------------------
Testing zero over 100,000 iterations:

new zero()                    38.282155990601 ms
zero::one()                   190.81401824951 ms
zero::reflect()               189.72611427307 ms
--------------------------------------------------
Testing one over 100,000 iterations:

new one()                     140.82789421082 ms
one::one()                    188.9488697052 ms
one::reflect()                181.81800842285 ms
--------------------------------------------------
Testing two over 100,000 iterations:

new two()                     259.14406776428 ms
two::one()                    177.83093452454 ms
two::reflect()                175.33683776855 ms
--------------------------------------------------
Testing three over 100,000 iterations:

new three()                   374.38988685608 ms
three::one()                  173.34198951721 ms
three::reflect()              190.68098068237 ms

isn't this supposed to be more like

public static function one() {
    static $empties = [];

    $empty = &$empties[static::class];

    if (!isset($empty)) {
        $empty = new static();
    }

    return clone $empty;
}

same for the other reflect version