I think ill throw in my "2 cents" as it were...

I think the major consensus here is that RUF products are "overpriced" and thus are not deemed value for money. Well the reason they are overpriced is because of the large amounts of time and money spent developing the products, case in point the R Turbo has been constantly revised and has evolved from a car with 520bhp in late 01 to the Nardo spec 620bhp+ car now. All because of ongoing devlopment and tuning. Further more the warranties you recieve and the customer service and support is second to none.

Of course RUF cannot compete with with Porsche in terms of testing, they are a small company, but Alois RUF's tecnical mind is superb and the people who work for him are artists. Who are meticulous in their work and thought process's. Its quite mind boggling watching these guys work, every effort is done on their part to produce a product that goes above and beyond the original design parameter and specification.

Product quality can be quite an interesting thing to compare, had the chance to compare a Porsche Guards Red tt (03 model) with the ruf vin R turbo (03 model). Not only was the finish to the paint work appreciably better but so too was the interior. The porsche was finished to the highest standards with many extras, however the finish and "feel" of the car was somewhat lacking in comparison to the ruf product. It was a beautiful car, however even the owner agreed that the RUF finish was considerably better.

I remember reading on 6speedonline.com that construction of a tt takes little over a week. This is full on mass production of course. RUF cars take 6000 man hours, the cars are handbuilt, the way the alcantara has been weaved and moulded around the IRC is a delight,

Funnily enough in terms of relations, when we were taking delivery of the car Mark Porsche arrived, he was there because his Carrera 4S was being modified by RUF to R turbo spec. Black list relations well not really.

At the end of the day its a personal choice, and there are many good german tuners, RS is exceptional in their racing application. However for the road there is little that can touch a RUF, including Porsche.

To sum up, one Porsche owner i met who was visiting RUF with some friends summed ruf up nicely,
"its how porsche used to be, a small professional , specialist who can produce individual and outstanding cars"

all the very best
adam