Hey Corte, it's been a while! Yes the engine got held at the US border, it did not surprise me, coming from Saudi Arabia Although I dismantled the engine at home before shipping it to avoid delays, but I was expecting something to go wrong anyway.
Since I missed the October race, I told the engine builder to take it easy, no rush anymore. Engine will be here in 3 weeks and the final tuning and testing on the car will be done first week of December at the F1 track in Bahrain, they're both flying over there from the US for the setup. It will be fun.

 

Jean
Hope you get you're engine soon, I bet you can't wait to see the fruits of all the work. Should try to come down to the next event anyway. I'll find out more and let you know.

In the mean time, I have attached some photos that were taken by a friend; just some of the cars at the last event... BTW, the Carrera GT was there at a different event + notice the yellow bird in some of the pix.

The Blue 996tt had the best time (claimed +800bhp), you could see it was very very quick compared to all the other cars (which included M3, M3 CSL, 996 GT2, 996TTs, EVOs, Ferrari, Bentey!). There was only one 993tt - 450bhp. (hope this works when I click submit).
Ziad

 

Ziad,

The cars are just unbelievable. The silver RUF is outrageously pretty. Too bad, somehow RUFs always end up not participating in races and shootouts so we can never know their real potential on a track.

That Blue 996TT certainly looks wicked, I can see an EVO sticker on the front hood. I seriously doubt it has 800 hp though, do you know who was the tuner and where was it put together? I know that in Saudi, every Porsche or Skyline has 200 hp less than claimed a 996TT from Techart, claimed 650 hp, clocked 0-200 in 15.5 sec when I timed it from the onboard video cam, the owner quickly made the tape disappear when I told him

The latest is a GT2 being prepared by 9FF in Germany, and before even getting the car back in Saudi , 9FF is already claiming they tested it at 0-300 kph in 18 sec !!

Good fun though. Thanks for the pictures and don't forget to post yours when you get the baby.

Best,
Jean

 

Congratulations on the car. Enjoy it!

 

Thanks MOD500 !

Jean, you're right, the RUFs never participated. It would amazing to see them on the track in the right hands...

You know what, I think the claims of 800bhp are exagerated. To be fair, I never spoke to the owner, I was told that it packed 800 hp.

I'm in the process of finding out the exact details of who did the mod/tunning + the hp on the car. It was definately done in the US. I did hear from a reliable source that the owner spent more than $100K on all the mods... Is this possible??? That's mad. Mind you the car was shipped to the US and back more than once. The thing is bloody quick though.

I'll try to get you the lap times too... I'm sure with a lightweight 993 GT2, you could get a better time....

I'll come back to you with the details.

Regards,
Ziad

 

Ziad,

Spending $100k can easily be done. Serious tuner charge somewhere between $100-150 per hp, and they always count from zero... (But this is custom work...)

 

Welcome aboard Ziad, Really good bunch of people on these boards full of invaluable advice. Your car sounds great, can't wait to see pictures.

 

Ziad,

As Rassel said, $100k is a lot of money but not unusual for a car yielding this kind of HP. If the car has been shipped back and forth to the US, I would not discount that it might be wild and properly tuned. My guess is that it was done at Evolution Motorsports, they have a stage V GT package that gets you to around a claimed 700 FWHP. The best US tuners I have seen can give you around 620 RWHP for a reliable engine. I would say 800 hp is optimistic, bearing in mind that the engine has not been tuned in Bahrain with the local gas and temperatures. Most likely these levels (700 hp) will never be achieved without race gas and CO2 or NOS on the intercoolers in a country with this heat. If they do, this output might last for a few minutes by the time they heat soak and hp drops dramatically.
While you prepare for your mods on your car, and you will be often reminded but the great pool of technical gurus here, always keep in mind that what you need to look for is not peak hp or torque but rather what is the area under the hp/torque curve like, something most people in our side of the world don't really understand. Also, how fast will your turbos spool and how little is the lag.
This is what will make your car fast, and faster than a peaky, bolt-on 600 hp 996TT.
I am getting the video of the event in the next couple of days

 

Rassel
Thanks for that.

Ruf-Dan-Ruf,
You've got a BTR2, blimey... Is it your daily car? What size wheels have you got on it.

Jean
I spoke to a friend of the owner of the blue 996TT. He says it does 720bhp. The owner did a few of the upgrades here in Bahrain (let's just say he has complete access to an auto dealership) and then I was told he did a "stage V" upgrade in the US (it went there more a couple of times) - you guessed the upgrade package right. He still needs to tell me who did the work.

btw, just before he started racing, a friend of his pulled out a funky looking cylinder and started spraying it all over the intercooler - very theatrical - no idea what that was about; you should be able to see it on the video - btw who shot the video?

I guess you've applied the wealth of knowledge you've picked up to your project GT2 can't wait to see the result....

 

Ziad,
Yes my daily car, on 18" RUF Speedline rims. It had 12000 k's on it when I bought and now has done just over 20000 k's. It had one owner in Singapore and I am the first owner in NZ. The car is like new.

We had an engine failure (melted hole in cylinder) due to wiring loom fault. I have completely rebuilt the engine, rings, bearings balanced crank etc. We rebuilt it to RUF factory specifications with help from RUF Germany. We also rebuilt the Turbo just in case.

The car runs 1 bar of boost. I will be dynoing soon and will post the results. Hoping for 500+hp. Fun with only two wheel drive.

 

Words of wizdom!

I know that we're talking about engine power here. But I'd like to say that if you want to be quick on the track, weight, a good chassi, a good setup is just as crucial.

We have a 740bhp 993GT2 and a very light 300 bhp Mazda RX-7 in Nordic SuperCar. These cars give so much entertainment! The Porsche kills the Mazda on the straights until it comes to braking. The Mazda easily brakes past the Porsche and leaps through the corners, just to get blown away on the next straight again!

vs.


If I where in your clothes Ziad, I'd first be very happy about my new car! (Actually we all are, kind of a proof that there are more of us outhere )

Second, no matter how much money I had. I'd setup a budget and a few goals and see how I get there the best way. Budget doesn't go through the roof really, until you set your foot on the track and time the laps. If you really want to go for quick laps, include the costs of tires...

So my question to you Ziad is, what do you want from your car?
Is it;

• *Bling*-*Bling* a la pimp-my-ride?
• Fun on the track - but still a street car?
• Excellent lap-times?
• A hot ride?
• A HP beast? (I'd love it..!)
• M3/M5/AMG - killer?
• Or perhaps something else?!!

 

Woops, I put 19" not 18" in my previous post by mistake (which I've now edited)...... was not reading what I was typing

I have 18" RUF factory Speedlines.

 

Rassel, gotta love that picture with the GT2 leading the pack of beasts behind it

Surprised about the braking thingy though, a lightweight GT2 with the right Brembo F50 brakes should not be beaten by the Mazda so easily on braking. Maybe it is the driver??
I think Ziad will hit the track sooner or later having the F1 track 10 minutes away from home, I fully agree with the suspension mods.

 

Rassel,

Thanks for all your input. I'm looking for a wicked all-rounder.

Fun on the track? a big yes.

Excellent lap-times? Only when the $$$ flows like wine. Not a priority right now. I think I need to lrean how to drive properly on the track first...

I still want to crush M3s, M5s, AMGs... Can't wait to come across the new M5... I think I would be pushing my luck with the new Ferrari 430...

A HP beast? Oh yeah - but can't afford a beast just yet.

No bling.

Re the braking; isn't the braking all about the weight? U said the Mazda was very light.
Ziad

 

Wow, Ziad! I'm glad you are here. And thanks for sharing all the pics and local info with us.