In narrow body trim, top speed was 176mph which dropped to 165mph for the wide-body version. For comparison, the standard 930 had a 154mph top speed.

Because the five-speed gearbox reduced the wide spread of power delivery over the standard four-speed version, acceleration times were much-improved and it was considerably easier to keep the engine on boost.

In terms of the benchmark 0-62mph time, the Ruf car posted a figure of just 5.2 seconds compared to 5.7 seconds for the production 930.

Production Changes

Although Porsche introduced their own 3.3-litre 930 in September 1977, Ruf still did good business uprating existing three-litre cars for their customers. There was also plenty of demand for factory 3.3-litre 930s with Ruf’s five-speed gearbox.

In 1978, Ruf began to offer their turbocharged model with similar style bumpers to the new SCR. The impact absorbing elements were retained at either end while up front were the aforementioned RS-style intakes complete with a jutting chin spoiler. Koni dampers were also added to the options list along with a four outlet exhaust.

In 1981, Ruf moved on to a dog-leg gearbox based on the four-speed unit from the 930 to which an additional gear was added. Cabriolet and Targa body styles were now offered as well.

That year, Ruf received certification from the German Federal Motor Vehicles Bureau as manufacturer in its own right. This was done because Porsche insisted Ruf be responsible for the safety of its cars that were operating at performance levels well above the originals.

End of Production

1983 saw Ruf replace the Turbo 3.3 with their new 374bhp BTR.

By this time it is believed that around 15-25 turbocharged cars had been converted by Ruf to varying specifications.

Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Ruf – https://www.ruf-automobile.de/en/ & Auto Motor und Sport – https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/