ICON - RUF RTURBO

More powerful than Porsche’s contemporary GT2, the 347kmph Rturbo was once the fastest new production car money could buy. Today, almost two decades later, it remains as desirable as ever

- JETHRO BOVINGDON

IT STRUCK ME AT THE LATEST ECOTY test that perhaps the era of the great all-round performance car is over. In a world where so many cars can do everything well all the time, it’s natural to gravitate towards extremes, to want to mainline the wildest experiences and seek out cars that present an opportunity to feel like you’re on the edge. Of something: grip, reason, the boundary between road car and no-holds-barred racer. As power outputs continue to spiral and performance becomes more and more accessible – homogenised, even – we crave something raw, something that makes us feel alive. Brilliance is no longer enough.

This trend has created some extraordinarily thrilling cars in recent times and slain the monsters of old. You see a picture of an old Diablo SV and imagine it to be a fire-breathing monster, don’t you? Or shudder at the thought of an early 911 Turbo in a suddenly tightening bend. But the reality, in the context of something like a 765LT or modern GT2 RS, is that those Widowmakers from the past feel about as edgy as a butter knife that’s slipped behind a kitchen unit and gathered dust for a dozen years.

What hope, then, for an ageing model designed and built by a company whose very DNA is to create cars with extreme performance but wield it in a useable, understated way? Yesterday’s subtle is very often today’s unremarkable. So I approach the slim-hipped 996-generation Ruf Rturbo with trepidation. Its holistic, considered and beautifully executed approach makes me swoon. But even as my heart skips a beat I’m worried that this highly evolved 911 won’t be able to thump it off the rev limiter once the wheels are rolling.