#ruf

The 2017 RUF CTR is the world’s first rear-engine, carbon-fiber monocoque road car.

It’s the first-ever in-house developed supercar from the German automaker.

Looking to score yourself a truly one-off vehicle in America? Up for sale is this 1989 Porsche RUF CTR Yellowbird, the only aluminum lightweight variant of the Yellowbirds ever created for importation into the United States.

RUF, known for their amazing Porsche creations, looks to have beaten Porsche at creating the rumored long-wheelbase Panamera for the Chinese market.

That is exactly what Ruf does. For 34 years, Alois Ruf has been working on Porsches. His process is so thorough, Porsche sends him bare shells of their cars, and everything is then put in place by Ruf technicians. Each car is thus tailor made for its new owner.

Infamous Porsche tuner RUF has unveiled their third generation CTR, the Cayman-based supercar featuring a mid-engine design with a 3.8L flat-six with 750-hp and 708 lb-ft of torque. RUF’s CTR variants have always been known to be in a league of their own, and the CTR 3 is no exception, featuring a Kevlar-carbon body shell, with a hood and a pair of doors made from lightweight aluminum.

RUF has produced some of the world’s finest modified Porsche variants for as long as we can remember. Their newest rendition was on display at the Geneva Motor Show and showed just how proficient RUF has become with modifying Porsches to perfection. The RUF Rt 12 R is based on the 911 Turbo, but instead of the factory 500-hp and 516 ft-lbs of torque, RUF takes it to new heights with 730-hp and 693 ft-lbs of torque.

Don’t label RUF Automobiles as a mere Porsche tuner. They install enough of their own parts in Porsche bodies to be considered by the German government to be an independent manufacturer. And while Porsche is experimenting with electricity on their own, RUF has beaten them to the punch, with three different electric drivetrains, stuffed in ten Porsche testers, with help from electronics giant Siemens and the German government.

We haven’t heard a lot out of RUF recently, making us wonder where the famed Porsche tuner has gone. But it looks like they’re just taking things nice and slowly, recently releasing a new tuner kit for the Porsche Cayenne Diesel Turbo. With two options available to the public, customers can choose from either 288-hp or 310-hp. The two kits are available for the 3.0L V6 turbo (with eight-speed Tipstronic S transmission).

For $4,875 you can have the Upgrade One package, (essentially an ECU upgrade) bumping horsepower from 240-hp to 288-hp with 428 ft-lbs of torque (22 ft-lbs increase)  to play with. The Upgrade Two package is available for an astonishing $9,245 and with that comes a modified turbocharger along with the ECU upgrade. You will however get 310-hp with 465 ft-lbs of torque.

We find the mods to be pretty extensive considering what you’re getting in return, and we’re sort of confused as to why even with a modified turbocharger and ECU reflash why it wouldn’t put out more than 310-hp. But here’s to thinking RUF is taking it conservative to keep the Cayenne Diesel fuel-efficient and reliable. What’s the fun in that?

Official press release available after the break.

What’s the only Porsche faster than a RUF? Why, another RUF of course.

While generating 700hp and 657 ft-lbs of torque from a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter boxer engine is incredible, such things are hardly out of the ordinary at RUF. What is amazing, however, is that this car, while looking an awful lot like a Carrera GT, is actually loosely based on a 997 Turbo. Even more amazing is that RUF designed the car with the engine mid-mounted, rather than in its standard rear-mounted position.