Ruf runs 1,000-hp flat-eight at Goodwood
The German manufacturer showed its new 4.8-liter B8 engine in a lengthened CTR3 test car at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
2 min read
Ruf has publicly fired up a new flat-eight engine at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, according to Ars Technica. The debut matters because the German company, long associated with Porsche-based performance cars, is signaling a new powertrain direction for its next generation of vehicles.
The engine is called the B8, Ars Technica reported. Ruf installed it in a lengthened CTR3 development car named the Erprober, a German word meaning tester, for a run up the Goodwood hill.
Full specifications have not been released, according to Ars Technica. The figures available so far put the 4.8-liter engine at more than 1,000 hp, or 745 kW, and 737 lb-ft of torque, or 1,000 Nm.
Ruf’s shift from tuner to manufacturer
Ars Technica noted that Ruf began with deep ties to Porsche tuning, but German authorities have treated the company as a separate manufacturer for decades. The BTR, introduced in 1983, was the first Ruf model to carry a Ruf vehicle identification number rather than a Porsche-stamped chassis number, according to the report.
That distinction has shaped Ruf’s later work. In 2007, the company revealed the CTR3, a car whose Porsche influence was visible but whose layout departed from the rear-engined 911 formula, Ars Technica reported.
The CTR3 used a mid-engine configuration and a frame chassis developed by Ruf with Multimatic, according to Ars Technica. The new B8 is being tested in a stretched version of that model rather than in one of Ruf’s more recent carbon-monocoque cars.
A break from Ruf’s flat-six tradition
Ruf’s newer SCR and Rodeo models use the company’s own carbon-fiber monocoque chassis, Ars Technica reported. Those cars retain a visual connection to the 964-era Porsche 911 and use horizontally opposed six-cylinder engines.
The B8 points to a different approach. Ars Technica reported that Ruf appears to be preparing something beyond the flat-six formula for its future cars, though the company has not yet provided a full technical breakdown of the engine or identified a production model for it.
The Goodwood outing places the engine in public view before the release of those details. Ars Technica reported that Tanner Faust was set to drive the Erprober up the hill with the B8 installed.
For now, the headline numbers are the available story: a 4.8-liter flat-eight, more than 1,000 hp and 737 lb-ft of torque in a Ruf-built test car. More information on the engine’s design, production plans and vehicle application has not yet been disclosed.
This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.