RUF has presented the CTR 2017 at the Geneva Motor Show. It’s hardly the biggest news of the show, but it’s always fun to see what the noted manufacturer of monster-Porsches and Porsche placeholder in video games comes up with.
RUFs can feature in games because the company is considered a manufacturer rather than a tuning company and they definitely honour that description with their newest creation. While the CTR 2017 may look like a 1980s 911, it has a carbon fibre body that is wider and has a longer wheelbase than old 911s. It sits on a proprietary carbon fibre tub with steel subframes front and back. And while it does preserve the original glass house, it is definitely a new car, unlike for example Singers, which are built on Porsche 964s.
The first thing you can trust RUF to do is to give their cars a ludicrous power output. Sticking with a six-cylinder boxer, here of 3.6 litres of displacement, the new CTR has a meaty 710bhp at 6,750rpm and 650lb ft of torque. True to tradition, this all is made possible by twin turbos. With a kerb weight of 1275kg, that should mean quite a lively experience.
Company Founder Alois Ruf referred to the famous video of Stefan Roser drifting an original CTR around the Nürburgring, saying that the new version should not be quite that demanding to drive and you don’t have to be a “sideways expert”. It will definitely take SOME finesse to pilot quickly with that much power, a six-speed manual gearbox and the engine in the back, but new pushrod suspension and a lengthened wheelbase should make it bit less twitchy. Interestingly, the overall length of the car has not increased compared to the original Yellowbird, which means that the engine must have moved further inside the wheelbase. This would make it more mid-engined, a rather friendlier lay-out.
Unlike many companies that ‘reimagine’ old cars, RUF has resisted the temptation to mess too much with the classic design. Although it’s wider than the original and has a longer wheelbase, they have tried to keep the proportions similar and haven’t added any ungainly spoilers beyond the ones that the original had. They have did make some alterations, though, like front and rear LED lights, slightly modernized wheels and Aston Martin-style doorhandles.
