Ruf`s new Turbo Florio unites the Targa with

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Ruf’s new Turbo Florio unites the Targa
with forced induction – and pays homage
to the great Sicilian road race where
Porsche cut its teeth
H
Words: Johnny Tipler
Photography: Antony Fraser
urtling up to Granza
hairpin, the tifosi line
the outside of the
corner three deep,
waving and cheering,
with almost as many lining the inside
of the turn as the blue and orange
908 Spyder sweeps into the halfhidden apex, chutzpah and bravura
rendering them oblivious to the
dangers from wayward sports-racing
and GT cars. It’s a sight that
frequently greeted Brian Redman en
route to his Targa Florio win with Jo
Siffert in 1970, though mercifully
absent from our recent Bavarian
backroad blitz in the Ruf Turbo Florio.
The world’s oldest motor race, the
Targa Florio was a round of the World
Sportscar Championship from 1955 to
1973, and it’s a scenario typical of the
event’s halcyon days when Porsche
ruled the roost on the 72-mile
mountain course. With 11 outright
victories and numerous podiums and
class wins during a 17-year period
spanning 1956 and 1973, the
Zuffenhausen marque celebrated its
successes by identifying its top-off
911 variants as the Targa from 1967.
And it’s also commemorated in one of
the latest offerings from the Bavarian
tuning and manufacturing wizards Ruf
Automobile, which is why we’re at
Pfaffenhausen to see what makes
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911 & PORSCHE WORLD
Alois Ruf’s Targa substantially
different to the standard factory 991
version. Well, for starters, it uses the
turbocharged Mezger-based engine,
twin turbos lifting power output to up
to 700bhp against the no-slouch
400bhp of the standard model, and
what’s more they’ll build it in two- and
four-wheel drive format as required.
And with overt Ruf styling
modifications it is a distinctive
variation on the Targa theme.
Taking the Targa name and
applying it to the removable roof
version of the 911 – the targa shield
doubling as the lid of the car – the
topless format has been a key model
in the line-up since 1967 with the softwindow version, through to the
ingenious glass-roofed 993, 996 gen 2
and 997, and then as the distinctive
Targa roll hoop incarnation with the
991 in 2014. The current car emulates
the Boxster’s electronic decapotable
roof mechanism to lift the ceiling
panel over the heads of the occupants
and setting it down in the well at the
rear of the cockpit, leaving roll hoop
and rear screen in place, just like the
original 911 Targas.
Alois describes the thinking behind
his new car: ‘The idea of the Turbo
Florio was to combine the new
technology of the Targa with the
drivetrain of the Turbo 991, adding a
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RUF TURBO
FLORIO
911 & PORSCHE WORLD
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RUF TURBO
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A subtle ducktail
wing and reworked rear apron
define the Ruf look.
The turbo cooling
ducts can just be
seen on the top of
the rear arches
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touch of Ruf, which is the extra
performance of the 3.8 engine that delivers
630bhp. And it’s also about the stance of
the car when you look at the front end, so
we have a different appearance and a
sportier vehicle. One of our special
touches is the signature Ruf air intake,
which is very subtle, and that makes it a
unique car.’ No one is more conscious of
the status of his marque in the historical
framework, and since Alois grew up with
Porsches at his father’s garage he’s
intimately acquainted with their race
history. ‘The name came from the Targa
Florio, because Vincenzo Florio was the
founder of that race, and we thought it
would be good if his name could also be
on a car named after him. We were
thinking of his inspiration, and how brave
he was to bring the first automobile to
Sicily, and so we thought that this open-top
car that’s essentially designed for good
weather driving, we should give it his
name. I don’t think that’s ever happened
before. It’s a unique car for the individualist
911 & PORSCHE WORLD
who likes to have a Targa-top car
combined with turbo power, driving with
the double-clutch gearbox, and lovely flat
handling.’ Though Porsche never raced a
works 911 Turbo in the Targa Florio, a
couple of privately-entered 930s placed
4th and 8th in the swansong 1976 race,
legitimising the Ruf Turbo Florio
connection, if any justification were
necessary.
Though it’s finished in a familiar Porsche
sapphire blue, the Ruf components on the
Targa contrive to differentiate it markedly
from the factory model, and I’ll highlight
those in a moment. Because, perhaps
most strikingly, it’s the air intakes in the
topsides of the rear wheelarches, tapering
off subtly into the rear three-quarter panel
to the sides of the rear window, which
provide the most surprising visual
departure from standard, plunging deep
into the recesses of the rear wings and
optimised to supply the intercoolers
without being affected by the heat
dissipating from the engine and the brake
“
discs. ‘The design and creation has all
been all done in-house, together with an
external freelance designer, so we’re using
the original part from the Targa, cutting the
shape of the holes and then welding in
extra metal that’s shaped in detail to make
this design. The decreasing size of the
duct accelerates the air to provide a better
flow to the intercooler, so we’re using the
shortest, most direct way to the intercooler
here, behind the wheel, instead of ahead
of the wheel.’ Vast, mesh clad ducts
behind the wheelarches each side of the
rear apron help vent hot air from
intercoolers and brakes. ‘These are
basically just the exits for the air that has
gone through the intercooler, and this
mesh is really a visual thing so that you
don’t see the insides, but they also protect
the intercoolers from stones thrown up
by the tyres.’
The ducktail rear spoiler is another
obvious addition: ‘There’s no movement in
the three vanes on the engine lid because
the turbochargers are sucking the air in so
It’s a unique car for
the individualist who
likes to have a targatop car combined with
turbo power
”
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Ruf design 20in
alloys are to Ruf as
the Fuchs design is
to Porsche – a
defining feature.
Rear diffuser is
more show than
go, but the neat
ducktail wing
provides all the
downforce that’s
required
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you don’t need to optimise that by lifting this
up, and as regards the aerodynamics we
get the maximum downforce we need with
the ducktail because the airflow pours over
the low angled surface of the rear window.
Anyway, we don’t need so much downforce
at the back because the car would become
too light at the front.’ The exhaust tailpipes
protrude from either side of the carbon-fibre
diffuser – a conceit that serves more
aesthetic than practical purpose though it is
in keeping with the turbo iconography,
likewise the carbon-fibre door mirrors. ‘The
diffuser is not going underneath the
complete body, so it doesn’t have a huge
function because the downforce from the
ducktail is already more than enough, so
we really didn’t want to have more
downforce with the diffuser.’ The wheels are
hunky Ruf five-spoke alloys, shod with
325/25 ZR 20s on the rear and 255/30 ZR
20s on the front. The carbon front lid sports
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911 & PORSCHE WORLD
the Ruf logo, as do the door-shut kickplates, while the engine lid displays the
subtle Turbo Florio signature. The
instruments are inscribed with the Ruf
legend, and the logo is embossed in the
headrests, which is a nice touch of class.
And then the front panel. Really, this is the
car’s signature, if you discount the Targa
roll-hoop; starting with those vast air intakes
and corresponding slits beneath the small
light clusters, central gaping maw, and the
twin semi-circular outlet slats in the upper
surface of the front panel; and the sculpted
upward aerodynamic slashes on either
corner, echoes of the deep carbon-fibre
front splitter traversing the leading edge. It’s
an exquisite artwork in the chunky, no
messing, Giacometti style.
What about the Ruf power hike, though?
I’m with Marcel Groos, Alois’s son, and he
describes the mechanical DNA of the Florio:
‘We started with a 991 Targa chassis and
We started with a 991
Targa chassis and fitted
our Tt35 twin-turbo engine
fitted our Rt35 twin-turbo engine with a
double clutch transmission, so we can
achieve up to 700bhp. So that’s the
drivetrain, and then we have designed
these air intakes in order to supply enough
air to the intercoolers.’
Handling and stopping have also been
addressed in respect of the extra horses.
‘The Turbo Florio brakes are carbon
ceramic, with 380cm discs on the front and
380cm discs at the rear. The suspension is
a coil-over system that we’ve developed
and set up especially for this car. It also has
the hydraulic lift system as a standard
feature so you can always push the button
and the car lifts up and lowers automatically
when you go more than 45mph.’ Indeed,
the button in question is mounted in the
centre console just ahead of the armrest;
flip a lid to reveal a Ruf logo’d switch, which
I press, and the nose rises up, enabling me
to negotiate rough ground or sleeping
”