Porsche builds some of the finest sports cars in the world, but without the Carrera GT, the brand doesn't currently have a wild, world-beating exotic. Apparently RUF, a highly regarded aftermarket Porsche tuner, saw that gap in the market, so it went ahead and built its own.
The RUF CTR 3 may have taillights from a Cayman, and yes, it is based on a 911 chassis, but this is no normal Porsche. The CTR 3 uses a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter pumping out 700 hp--over 200 hp more than a 911 Turbo--and 656 lb-ft of torque. The car's 0-to-62 mph figure of 3.2 seconds is just a few tenths faster than that of the aforementioned 911 Turbo's, but the CTR 3 is capable of a tear-inducing 235 mph. With that sort of capability, fifteen-inch, six-pot, ceramic composite brakes aren't just impressive, they're necessary. As are the steamroller-wide 335/30 ZR20 tires holding the car's rear in place.
Some aspects of the CTR 3's aluminum and carbon-fiber body, including the 911's smiling face, may look familiar, but from the rear, this thing looks like a road-ready race car. It better look that way, because at approximately $510,000, it will go head-to-head with the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, the Ferrari Enzo, and a batch of boutique cars like the Koenigsegg CCX. That's not to mention the fact that Porsche's own exotic, the Carrera GT, cost about seventy thousand less. But in a world were Paris Hilton drives an SLR and Kevin Federline has personalized "Federline" brake calipers on his Ferrari, isn't a half million dollars worth it to avoid the mainstream?