Ruf Btr 1983-1989 Motorpedia ALL models, history and specifications

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Description
Model Variants

Ruf BTR

Overview
Manufacturer	Ruf
Production	1983-1989 (about 20-30 built from scratch, rest converted from customer cars)
Body and chassis
Class	sports car
Body style	2-door coupé
Layout	Rear-engine, rear-wheel drive
Related	Porsche 911, Porsche 911 Turbo
Powertrain
Engine	3.367 litres (205.5 cu in) turbocharged flat-6
Transmission	5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,272 mm (89.4 in)
Length	4,251–4,291 mm (167–169 in)
Width	1,652–1,775 mm (65–70 in)
Height	1,270–1,295 mm (50–51 in)
Curb weight	1,169–1,356 kilograms (2,577–2,990 lb)
Chronology
Successor	Ruf CTR, Ruf BTR III, Ruf BTR2, Ruf BTR 3.8

The Ruf BTR (Gruppe B Turbo RUF) is a sportscar built by Ruf Automobile of Germany starting 1983, based on the classic 1978-1989 Porsche 911, available in a narrow 911 or optional in a wide Turbo body configuration (the drag difference causing more than 12.5 mph (20 km/h) difference in top speed).

It was powered by a 3.4 liter, flat-6 turbocharged engine, producing 480 N·m (350 lbf·ft) @ 4800 and 374 bhp (279 kW) @ 6000 rpm. It was coupled to a five-speed transmission, a six-speed transmission became available 1988 by request.

The Ruf BTR was the first car with Ruf VIN, construction of each vehicle began at the bare chassis level. About 20-30 were built this way, probably even more were converted from customer cars.

In 1984 a Ruf BTR won the "World's Fastest Cars" contest of the American car magazine Road & Track with a 10 mph (16 km/h) lead and also dominated the acceleration tests. It did 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.7s, 0-100 mph (161 km/h) in 10.4s, ¹⁄₄ mile (402 m) in 13.3s reaching 110 mph (177 km/h) and managed a top speed of 186.2 mph (300 km/h).

At the next contest three years later the same car, with 211,000 trouble-free miles on the odometer, visited outside the competition and did 187 mph (301 km/h), still able to outperform most of the newer cars including Lamborghini Countach 5000 QV, AMG Hammer, Ferrari 288 GTO, Ferrari Testarossa and Isdera Imperator 108i, only the Porsche 959, a RS-Porsche and the Ruf CTR were faster.

In Auto, Motor und Sport 22/1984 a Ruf BTR set a new 0-100 km/h acceleration record for production cars tested by the magazine. It did 0-100 km/h (62.1 mph) in 4.6 seconds, 0-200 km/h (124.3 mph) in 15.5 seconds and 0-1,000 m (0.62 mi) in 23.0 seconds.