PART 2:
I made the 3pm ferry crossing from Denmark to Puttgarden, Germany. It takes 45min which is a good rest for both the car and driver. (Forgot to say that I killed three Swedish birds on the way, literally not figuratively
, of which one completely covered half my hood and half my windshield with thick blood and bodily fluid that had dried hard. It looked like I had hit someone. Anyway tried to get some of it off on the ferry while getting dirty glances from fellow passengers. See the feathers... look...)
Now I am in Germany. I promised myself to behave and did the best I could. The goal is to reach Wurzburg down in southern Germany in time for dinner and to stay for the evening. Nothing really happended at first. I believe the reason for this is my driving style in Germany (and Sweden and Denmark
) is essentially to max out the car until traffic slows you down and as traffic clears then get as fast as you can until traffic slows you down again. This basically means repeatedly braking hard and accelerating from around 270kph to 130kph. This also means that I meet very few cars to play with. I passed numerous Boxsters, e39s e46s that were traveling at approx. 250kph, probably trying to max it but as you know the BT is very strong at 250kph+ acceleration so no fun for me. So over long distances fast cars and fun drivers coming from behind never can catch up to me and I can also never catch fast cars in front of me.
Nevertheless around Hannover I meet two new brilliant silver S600s back to back in the left lane waiting for traffic to clear. Traffic always clears for these two cars very quickly so they can maintain good pace but they refuse to cede the left lane to an old bmw at about 230kph. This is the first time I have met s600 drivers on the Autobahn (although we also own one) and I thought their driving style to be quite arrogant. Finally one of them in the front gives away and the other starts to accelerate fully from around 230kph with me right behind. It has good acceleration but I can stay with him quite easily. I put my left blinker on the whole time as we accelerate to 260kph. At that speed I still refuse to take the left blinker off and finally he cedes the lane. I pass him slowly and after a few car lengths signal right and change back to the right lane and keep accelerating to 290kph to show him this is proper driving etiquette. After I have gained 200m or so I slow down. He passes again at 260 I catch up to him and I do the same thing again twice to make sure he has learnt a lesson. The driver was trying to play it cool but he was clearly sweaing or maybe that was just too much oil in his hair... But it was an easy kill really as you know the s600 was probably speed limited but my high speed acceleration was also superior. But I must say the s600 has great braking for such a big car. Anyway that was all the fun really...
I was interested to see how the B10BT handles the high speed curves around Kassel as European drivers probably know. The rear 265 tread Goodyear F1s grip well and the overall chassis balance was superb and I could confidently take curves at well over 200kph. I have driven the same road with an E55 and the BT was far more stable and confidence inspiring. The only danger for the whole trip occured here. Here there were full of "sporty" BMW drivers usually e46 coupe drivers. In the right lane they would think they are taking the curves so fast that no one could pass. One came over approximately 1 m into the left lane in the middle of the curve without knowing that I am coming from behind 50kph faster. I have to say that that guy was shocked when a whole wall of wind suddenly threw him back to his lane.
In anycase I reached my destination safely and tomorrow would be my visit to RUF and Alpina.
The next day I drove to RUF which is located in Pfaffenhausen which is also 30km or so from Buchloe where Alpina is located. The are both nice small villages located 50km or so west of Munich as you drive toward Lindau in Switzerland. Gustav has a great writeup on this and good background info on RUF if you look on his articles page. RUF essentially builds annually approx. 30 high performance, fully customizable sports cars under the RUF name using Porsche base chassis which they purchase raw from Porsche. These cars have RUF vins just like Alpina has their own vins. What is attractive to me is that they can also be easily registered in the US. One can also bring in a regular Porsche and have RUF convert it and restore it. As they told me anything is possible... I said one of the few cars I fear on the Autobahn is RUF... As a new business line they also handle all sales and service for the Maserati brand in southern Germany.
Nevertheless the people at RUF were very kind and they gave me a tour of the factory and workshops and the rest of their business areas. Now for some photos from RUF.
Sorry for the poor light. This is from the main show room. The cars on the most right and left are 996 CTR2 based on 996turbo with 520ps going to US customers. The one on the left had bucket seats and racing harness. I said the customer probably bought it just to track it but Ruf said this was not so. The one in the middle is based on the 993turbo with the same 520ps engine (note that RUF is conservative with engine ratings) it is right hand drive and had been ordered by a customer in Singapore but now that the car is ready decided not to take delivery. So it is available immediately for sale for any right hand drive customers maybe in Japan or the UK... They tried to sell it to me but I replied I am looking for a car that would be possible to register in the US...
This is a pic from the main workshop. Note the Baby Blue RTurbo up on the lift. It is also going to a US customer.
This is another RTurbo in Baby blue. It uses a narrow body for aerodynamic efficiency instead of the regular turbo widebody. Note how RUF has welded shut the regular air ducts lower down and repositioned them higher for their own intercoolers. Note the 930 911 up on the lift was a regular Porsche which has been brought in to get a restoration and RUF treatment.
Now this is a very interesting car which is a secret and has not been shown publicly yet. You guys and gals are probably the first ones to see it as a group. It is a 996 CTR2 ordered by a US customer but he wanted it to be extra wide body. All four fenders have been flared by approx. 11cm on both sides and the bumpers have been widened and reshaped to accomodate. The new fenders are as original from steel. This is only allowed in the US market and would not be able to be registered in Germany. It reminded me of what MB did with the 500e fender flares on the regular 300e. A porsche turbo on steroids
It will be painted the dark blue which you can see inside the rear light enclosures.
Now here is another very interesting car which I came to try. It is a brand new model for RUF which is still under development. It was completed just a week ago and only one group of British journalists have been invited to drive it on the Hockenheim ring a few days ago. It is tentatively named the 3600S. It is based on a BoxsterS with a RUF tuned Carrera engine with 340PS tentatively. This is still all under development. RUF has developed interesting aerodynamics for it as you can see in the visible rear diffuser underneath and the black mesh air intakes in the front. Also note the twin exhaust placement in the bumper. I said that I don't like the front mesh which they agreed would be improved. Also I said I didn't like the exposed rear venturi altough I understand the merits of it.
Anyways enough of RUF for now as you guys are already bored. I am sorry for the size of the post but a bit more to continue later with B10 V8s RS6s to come....
Traffic clears again at approximately 200kph I mash the throttle and the road is all clear and straight as far as I can see. I am right behind him and at 250kph I feel I can overtake. It is two lane highway and I signal and switch to the right lane. I am slowly pulling away from him 260...270...280. I have one car length on him now and I feel that he has reached his maximum. He is in fully race position and I still remember the glance in his eyes as this old big car is pulling on him in the right lane. I keep pushing. I finally see 308 or so on the meter still slowly pulling by which time I am 300m in front. I brake to show that the test is over. He cruisies behind the car and reads the words ALPINA B10Biturbo. He exits soon after and I think he wanted to have a chat but I am on a mission to catch the ferry to Germany from were the real fun is still to come. I wave and he gives me a big wave of appreciation and a bow of respect. I left with a big smile
I couldn't believe this big old car is faster than a sportbike.
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