Top News

Renowned Porsche specialist Ruf has unveiled a stunning new prototype supercar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, featuring a groundbreaking flat-eight boxer engine.

Named the Ruf B8, this development mule is powered by a twin-turbocharged 4.8-litre horizontally opposed engine mounted at the rear — the same configuration traditionally used by the Porsche 911, but now with two additional cylinders.

According to Ruf, the engine produces more than 986bhp and 737lb ft of torque, significantly surpassing the output of the six-cylinder CTR3 on which the B8 is based.

Internally, Ruf refers to this prototype as the “Erprober” (which translates to “tester”), highlighting that it is “not yet a production model but serves as a dedicated testbed for technologies that will shape a future Ruf model.”

The German marque explained that all its cars begin development “long before the world sees them,” suggesting that work on a production-ready flat-eight car is already well underway.

Ruf further stated that neither it nor any other manufacturer has ever implemented such an engine “in this form,” describing the B8’s debut at Goodwood as “a new chapter in automotive history.”

The prototype’s design reveals few hints about what the eventual production car will look like. It closely resembles the CTR3, though the chassis has been extended by 100mm to make room for the longer eight-cylinder engine block.

Power from the engine is sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission, although Ruf has not confirmed whether this gearbox will feature in the production version.

The B8 is also distinguished by its eye-catching Blossom Yellow livery, a colour choice inspired by Ruf’s most iconic model, the record-setting CTR Yellowbird, famous for its performance at the Nürburgring.

Interestingly, Porsche itself has experimented with a similar engine layout in the past, developing a concept for a potential 918 Spyder successor called the Porsche 904. This 2016 concept featured a 5.0-litre flat-eight engine producing around 750bhp and 738lb ft of torque.

Although the 904 concept never reached production, it was later showcased as part of Porsche’s exhibition of previously unseen concept cars, providing a glimpse into what could have been a flat-eight-powered future.