Monday 4th December 2017

RUF RtR: Spotted

Can't get a GT2 RS? Want a manual? Do we have the car for you...

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There can be little doubt, regardless of your prejudices, affinities or beliefs, that the Porsche 911 GT2 RS is a very exciting motor vehicle. It's a 700hp, rear-wheel drive sports car, after all, despite its new-found apparent civility. It's going to be entertaining.

Trouble is, as with so many limited-edition Porsches, the RS will prove very tricky to get hold of. If you missed the boat and didn't get a new car, one or two might leak onto the used market in time; expect them to carry a hefty premium over the £207,506 list price though. Especially when most will surely have the £21,042 Weissach Package.

Let's call it £300K. And at that money one or two interesting alternatives come into view. One of which is this, a narrow-body Ruf RtR. It's another ludicrously fast, turbocharged 911, just ever so slightly different...

Launched in 2013, the RtR was a 40th anniversary celebration of the original Ruf Turbo. It was described by its makers as offering "the best levels of stability for handling performance without compromising daily drive comfort". Honestly, that's as florid as Ruf's description of the car gets. It's simple, direct and to the point, which is rather how the car appears.

RtR buyers had a few decisions to make when speccing their cars; not complex options that might make a subtle change (we're looking at you Porsche), but clear choices that would have a significant impact on the finished product. Rear- or four-wheel drive? Manual or PDK? Narrow body or wide? Big power, or absurd amounts of power? That seems to have been about it.

This Ruf RtR is a narrow body manual, with the lower-output engine. So yes, just the 645hp. It was registered in 2013 but only had 650 miles on it; the car is effectively brand new because it's spent a lot of its life being used as Ruf's show car, and is now being sold by Ruf UK. Predictably enough, therefore, it's absolutely pristine. And looks absolutely terrific. What the heck must a widebody car be like, if this is the attitude of a narrow one?

At £300,000 this is a very expensive car, although one that comes with the provenance, desirability and kudos of Pfaffenhausen product. This yellow thing is not going to depreciate much, is it? Best of all, the cost of Ruf cars has been made to look more affordable - all things being relative, of course - with the extortionate rise in Porsche values. This 993 Turbo S, for example, is £40K more than the Ruf. It's not just air-cooled stuff either, with this 996 GT3 RS for sale above a quarter of a million. A previous-gen, left-hand drive GT2 RS with 10,000 miles on it is available in Germany at £385,000. So if ever £300,000 could look good value...

And it's a yellow Ruf. A very fast, turbocharged Ruf that looks like a 911. Whether on video, on Gran Turismo or on YouTube, you will have discovered at some point in your childhood that yellow turbocharged Rufs are very, very cool. No argument - they just are. Oh sure, the vast majority will see it as simply another 911 in a daft colour with a silly spoiler (and an integrated roll cage), but a select few will know. And they'll love it. Who wants a regular 911 anyway?

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SPECIFICATION - 2013 RUF RTR

Engine: 3,746cc, flat-six turbo
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 645@7,300rpm
Torque (lb ft): N/A
MPG: 20.9
CO2: 320g/km
First registered: 2013
Recorded mileage: 650
Price new: Probably about £300,000
Yours for: £300,000

See the original advert here

[Source: Ruf]

[Bencolem]

To my eyes I completely agree - that looks by far the best value out of the alternatives offered and really rather well done. Lovely.

[HardMiles]

As a classic man, I'd go with an older car for 300k, but this is sublime. Fantastic in every sense, so for a change I really do get the value in this! Awesome machine!

[W00DY]

Now that is cool.

[Yipper]

Way overpriced.

[havoc]

Bencolem said:

To my eyes I completely agree - that looks by far the best value out of the alternatives offered and really rather well done. Lovely.

Utterly gorgeous...and rather amusingly this makes the 'standard' GT2RS look like a naff tuner special.


If I'm splitting hairs I'd swap the wheels for something a couple of inches smaller and in a different style, but that's it...

[MrGeoff]

Aes87 said:

I don't understand why all these Porsches, whether old or new, are so expensive now. There are so many alternatives to different extremely expensive Porsches from within Porsche's own ranks, so why is *that* particular 997 GT2 RS worth 250k? Probably something I will never understand, a bit like Bitcoin

I'm with you, I guess you just need to be a Porsche owner to get it?

[sc0tt]

havoc said:

Bencolem said:

To my eyes I completely agree - that looks by far the best value out of the alternatives offered and really rather well done. Lovely.

Utterly gorgeous...and rather amusingly this makes the 'standard' GT2RS look like a naff tuner special.


If I'm splitting hairs I'd swap the wheels for something a couple of inches smaller and in a different style, but that's it...

I think the wheels are spot on so if you do decide to buy it I will happily take it off your hands

[ZX10R NIN]

If I had the money I'd buy this over a GT2 in a heartbeat utterly gorgeous & the likelihood of seeing another would be slim to none I bet it gets snapped up.

[7795]

Aes87 said:

I don't understand why all these Porsches, whether old or new, are so expensive now. There are so many alternatives to different extremely expensive Porsches from within Porsche's own ranks, so why is *that* particular 997 GT2 RS worth 250k? Probably something I will never understand, a bit like Bitcoin

China, Russia and emerging markets money coupled with the value of the GBP.

I agree though, some of the values seem absurd. In my life, I've owned two Ruby 964 RS' and i see what they are going, for now, it makes me weep!

[J4CKO]

Yipper said:

Way overpriced.

Indeed, its a lot of money but nothing surprises me with 911s any more.

[gigglebug]

i'm sure the asking price has actually gone up and then back down on this, it's been up for a while and at more than one vendor. It was at 450K at one point I think when the advert was using just the photos of the car outside rather than any indoor shots and through RUF uk.

It's the same with the CTR2 that's for sale which has fluctuated between 450-800K in the time it's been for sale with its different vendors.

I think it's a good looking car, not 100% on the colour though. I like the fact that you can still retain the use of the rear seats if and when you need them as well which always seem to be the first thing that ditched with these types of efforts nowadays.

[hondansx]

I think it looks a bit odd, personally. Can't be alone, or it would have sold easily.

[PaulD86]

I like this a lot. Apart from one thing. The steering wheel. RUF have taken the ugliest version of the steering wheel offered on that gen 911 and made it look worse. Apart from that, I like it. Bit rich at 300k though.

[Turbobanana]

I like it.

I like the colour (I own a yellow car anyway).

But...

...for me there's something missing. I think if I was in the fortunate position of having a spare £300,000 I'd want something that either looked like a nice, smart 911 or like something else entirely. Like a Ferrari. Or Lamborghini. Etc.

Here is a car that was a 911, was heavily modified and given a new identity, and now looks... just like a 911.

Whoever bought it new must have spent a fortune to end up with something that looked exactly like what he / she started with. (Yup, I know it isn't, but do you see what I mean? It LOOKS like a 911).

[Trophy-GTA]

"There can be little doubt, regardless of your prejudices, affinities or beliefs, that the Porsche 911 GT2 RS is a very exciting motor vehicle. It's a 700hp, rear-wheel drive sports car, after all, despite its new-found apparent civility. It's going to be entertaining."

This is PH nonsense that only the gullible would buy into. Drive the gt2rs at city speeds and it'll drive and feel like any other German sports car. Yawn, pose, yawn again.

If driven enthusiastically, it will thrill until you wee yourself or have a heart attack. But the same can be said of many other lesser sports cars. Drive it like you stole it and it will excite. Call me old fashioned but to me an exciting car should excite at any speed!

[HardMiles]

As a classic man, I'd go with an older car for 300k, but this is sublime. Fantastic in every sense, so for a change I really do get the value in this! Awesome machine!

[skylarking808]

Really like the simplicity of the design, it flows well.

Makes me laugh when you look at the back end and think that's a "narrow body version" these days?

[FerdiZ28]

Yipper said:

Way overpriced.

Don’t feel the moron troll everyone!

[GravelBen]

Can we have a video of Stefan Roser playing silly buggers around the Nurburgring with this one too?

[bluesierra]

Love the rollbar-cum-backseat there. "It's like a rollercoaster, kids!"