Porsche Specialist Ruf Showcases B8 Supercar, Its Power Nearly 1,000 Hp

The Ruf B8 comes with Blossom Yellow graphics when tested on the road. This supercar prototype uses a 4.8-liter twin-turbo flat-eight boxer engine with almost 1,000 hp. Photo: Autocar.

Ruf, a German automotive company known as a specialist in the development of high-performance cars based on Porsche, introduced a prototype B8 supercar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. This test car uses a 4.8-liter twin-turbo flat-eight boxer engine with almost 1,000 hp.

Autocar, quoted Thursday, July 9, reported that the B8 engine was installed in the rear. The configuration is still close to the Porsche 911, namely a boxer engine with cylinders facing each other horizontally. The difference is that Ruf added two cylinders from the flat-six format that has been synonymous with the 911.

Ruf claims the engine produces more than 986 bhp and 737 lb ft of torque. For the layman, bhp is a unit of engine power, while torque describes the engine's rotational thrust. The bigger the number, the stronger the acceleration that can be produced.

The figure is far above the CTR3, a six-cylinder car that is the basis of the B8. The addition of two cylinders makes the B8 not just a change in appearance.

Internally, Ruf called this prototype Erprober, which means "tester". The name was used because the car was not yet a production model. Ruf called the B8 a special test vehicle for technology that will be used in the next Ruf model.

Ruf said his cars had been developed long before they were shown to the public. The appearance of the B8 at Goodwood signaled that the development of a production car with a flat-eight engine was likely to have progressed quite far.

Ruf also said that no other company, including himself, had ever used a machine like that "in this form". The appearance of the B8 at Goodwood is said to be a new chapter in automotive history.

Even so, this test car hasn't given much clue about the final shape of the production version. The appearance is mostly identical to the CTR3. The important difference is the body which is extended 100 mm to accommodate a longer engine block.

The massive power from the B8 engine is channeled to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual transmission. However, Ruf has not confirmed whether this configuration will be retained on the production car.

B8 also stands out with its Blossom Yellow body graphics. The color is inspired by the CTR Yellowbird, the most famous Ruf model with a strong reputation at the Nürburgring.

Porsche itself has tried the idea of a flat-eight engine. As reported by Autocar, in 2016, Porsche made a concept for the successor to the 918 Spyder called the 904. The concept car was designed to use a 5.0-liter flat-eight engine with power of around 750 bhp and 738 lb ft of torque.

However, the concept never entered the production line. Porsche only showed it to the public in recent years through a concept car exhibition that had never been shown before.