It seems that when RUF claims 520/590 hp, that is what they are dynoing at the wheels. Maybe 612 Tq is at the wheels.

 

I and PV996TT spoke to Alois Ruf at IAA about the Nardo (590 hp) package.

He said that the car produces more than 590 hp, around 615 is more true.

He said that RUF has bigger ponies than other tuners

But what you really should take note of is note the top power output, take a look at the torque and the area underneath.
It is a very useful engine!


Check link for pics of the RUF Nardo (590 hp):
http://www.rs6.com/forum/showthread....ighlight=nardo

 

Actually Ruf has been building their own cars for several years. Cars that Porsche builds and Ruf converts do not carry the Ruf VIN. Cars that carry the Ruf VIN are cars that are built from the ground up at Ruf utilizing Porsche compenents. Ruf is in the process of building their own car, meaning not based on a Porsche model (i.e. 996, Boxster, 993). This new car will still use many Porsche parts.

Also, Ruf cars are built to the highest specifications and are designed for longevity. These modified Porsche's with "similar" power will be useless cars after being driven hard for 20,000 plus miles.

 

"These modified Porsche's with "similar" power will be useless cars after being driven hard for 20,000 plus miles."

That's a pretty bold statement ... why do you say that?

 

While I tend to agree (to the better reliability of RUF), I'd also like to see it demonstrated a bit. Why would the RUF boys be better than the rest?

 

Unless you are digging into the motor, most tuning being done is just obvious stuff like intake, exhaust, fuel, timing, etc. and increased boost. As long as the programming is decent, there is no reason that an XYZ tuned car is going to exhibit problems down the line that a Ruf tuned car wouldn't have. Either the stock motor can take it or not ...

 

Well, I can say that I find that the thoroughness of the development of the Ruf kits is beyond that of some of the other tuners that have gotten into the game more recently. It is not that Ruf is smarter so much, but that they fully test, develop and de-bug the modifications before bringing them to market. That is not to say that you cannot achieve fantastic results with other tuners...the Shootout showed that. But it also quite clearly showed that some of the tuners' modification kits are still works in progress and that in other tuners' cases the cars have been developed for a year or even longer to get them to where they are today...after the tuners' modifications were initially installed. In the end I think it just comes down to what a person is looking for.

 

.... and how much you're prepaired to spend.

 

I think that was the point. Ruf built the engine with the current specs ~600hp/600tq and tested it. They found bent rods and thus new, stronger rods are included in the kit (and thus the engine needs to be "dug" into).

Other tuners, who provide the same level packages (600/600) do not include rods in there kits. Why? Who knows. Testing wasn't done, they didn't get the same results (bent rods) as Ruf, we don't really know...

The point is not to disrespect other tuners, but rather to respect Ruf as they took the time to test it, found how to make it reliable and then proceeded to release the kit. Of course, only time will tell, but from the few years that i've really been into cars and modifications, the safest kits provide the least headaches in the end.

Also, some other kits may be cheaper in the short run, but what happens if they engine blows? Than whats cheaper? Even if it doesn't blow, how much is peace of mind worth that you can always push the car as hard as you can and know it will be fine. To some that's worth a lot, to others its worth nothing...

NB: Again, i'm not trying to disrespect other tuners, i'm simply trying to shed light on the increase priced, and the reason certain companies do some things some way, while others do it another.

You can also look at it from this perspective. Say tuner Bs kit is cheaper, gives more hp than a comparable kit and the buyer of the kit never experiences a problem, then which deal is better...

Another edit: Just to show that I'm not favouring sides, even they as argued that the tested kit is better, I'm the type of person that would go for the cheaper, higher hp kit and take the risks associated with it

 

It's also interesting, at least to me, that Ruf is apparentely the only ones seeing bent rods at the 600 level. I know of at least a handful of cars setup by "the other tuners" that get beat to hell, and no one has seen any bent rods yet. I wonder what the extra profit is on those "necessary" rods Ruf includes in their kit ...

 

Mabey the "bent rod" comment by Ruf isn't true. Stronger rods sound great to me and obviously make for a stronger engine long term, but perhaps his comments were situated more to drive sales than state actual facts. Just a thought....

 

RUF is a registered auto manufacturer. When you buy an Alois Ruf car, the badge is a RUF not a modified Porsche. Promotive, EVO, etc are tuners, RUF is not.

 

Actually, my next mod with Protomotive would have been to put in fortified rods.

If I crank my GT2 up to a lowly 600hp, I am definitely going to be looking into Ruf titanium rods. Better to be safe than sorry.

The main difference between Ruf and other tuners is that Ruf has a more conservative philosophy. It's not that US tuners don't want rods as part of their package, it's just that they want to keep the cost of the conversion down.

Look at the cost of Ruf's 550hp kit, it is very expensive for what it is-- bolt on's with no engine work.

Ruf's Nardo engine costs something like 50K euro which is over $60K USD. If you give Protomotive $60K, I guarantee you they will build you something just as reliable as Ruf and with better acceleration.

BTW, Ruf's poster boy Steve Beddor and his family once commissioned Protomotive to build some 911's for them. The Protomotive cars were MUCH faster than the Ruf cars, but the old man Beddor decided to go with Ruf because of the prominent name. True story.

 

Rosie O'Donnell has RuF.

 

How the heck does she fit in???