Category Archives: Tuning

Tuning

RUF Rodeo: A 618-Horsepower Carbon-Fiber Wrangler in a Porsche Suit

RUF has finally done it. They’ve built a Porsche 911 you can aim at the nearest desert without immediately calling your chiropractor afterwards. It’s called the Rodeo, and while at first glance it looks like someone gave a Carrera a pair of hiking boots and told it to “be more outdoorsy,” this thing is far more serious.

First, let’s kill the obvious thought: this isn’t just a 911 with a lift kit. The Rodeo sits on a bespoke carbon monocoque chassis, which makes it the only off-road–ready supercar of its kind. That’s right—RUF didn’t just take Stuttgart’s finest and slap on mud tyres. They built a completely new skeleton designed to take a beating while still letting you commute at warp speed.

The debut car wears Jordan Black paint set against white forged wheels with a single central nut. It’s very “stormtrooper in cowboy boots.” But the stance tells you the story: anti-roll bars integrated into the bumpers, chunky fender extensions, and a rear track widened by a full 142 mm. That’s not just for show. That’s so it doesn’t fall over the moment you point it at a sand dune.

And under the skin? Oh, just a 3.6-litre turbocharged flat-six, pumping out 618 horsepower and 700 Nm of torque, fed through a 6-speed manual and an adaptive all-wheel-drive system with variable torque split. Translation: you can drop the clutch, and the Rodeo will decide whether the sand, gravel, or snow should be redistributed to your rear tyres, your front tyres, or into the atmosphere as dust.

Suspension is handled by pushrod-activated coilovers with active dampers—the sort of setup you normally see on F1 cars, not things with mudflaps. Those dampers also lift the car 242 mm higher than RUF’s road-going SCR, meaning you could, in theory, clear speed bumps without clenching. Stopping power is courtesy of carbon-ceramic brakes with six-piston calipers and 350 mm discs all round.

And just in case you’re wondering, yes—RUF also brought along some company for Monterey. The CTR3 Evo turned up wearing Howe White paint and an 811-horsepower, 990 Nm turbocharged 3.8-litre, because apparently, RUF customers want to bend time as well as space. Meanwhile, the RUF Tribute kept things air-cooled with a twin-turbo 3.6 that still belts out 558 horsepower, proving that nostalgia doesn’t have to be slow.

But the Rodeo is the headline act here. It’s not a Dakar homage, nor is it a cynical cash grab on the SUV craze. It’s RUF saying: why not? Why shouldn’t a flat-six supercar wear hiking boots, climb over rocks, and then annihilate a mountain road in the same breath?

The only real question is—who’s brave enough to take their €700,000 carbon monocoque cowboy up a muddy trail?

Source: RUF

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RUF Rodeo: A 618-Horsepower Carbon-Fiber Wrangler in a Porsche Suit
Tuning

From Track Monster to Coffee Run: Lanzante’s Road-Legal Bugatti Bolide

There are track toys. There are hypercars. And then there’s the Bugatti Bolide—an 1,850-horsepower guided missile that was never meant to leave the safety of pit lanes, much less venture onto the public highway where pensioners in Toyota Yaris hybrids roam freely.

The Bolide is the sort of car you don’t so much drive as survive. It’s a “purebred track machine,” Bugatti said at its launch—basically a W16 engine with some bodywork attached, a set of tires that wear out quicker than an iPhone battery, and downforce figures that make jumbo jets blush. It is, in essence, a car designed to chase lap records, not Lidl parking spaces.

But where most of us look at a car like this and say, “Wow, cool—shame I’ll never see one outside YouTube,” Dean Lanzante looks at it and thinks: Right, let’s make that legal for the school run.

Yes, Lanzante, the British outfit famous for making the impossible mundane, is now working on converting the Bolide for road use. These are the same mad scientists who once made a McLaren F1 GTR—a literal Le Mans winner—legal for the motorway. They’ve done it with the Porsche 935 too. And now, they’re turning their spanners on the most insane Bugatti ever built.

Which is a bit like trying to turn a shark into a house pet. Technically doable. In practice? You’d better know what you’re doing, or you’ll lose a leg.

At this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lanzante revealed that a road-going Bolide is officially in the works. The engine will pass emissions, the gearbox will be light and “easy to use,” and according to Dean Lanzante himself, the whole thing will be designed so you don’t feel like you’re accidentally entering Le Mans every time you pop to Starbucks.

That last bit is important, because as Lanzante explains, race cars used to start as road cars, only later adapted for track life. These modern hyper-track specials are the other way round—pure racers made slightly more habitable. Which is why some are borderline unusable outside of pit lane: they need preheating, bump-starts, or have batteries so fragile you’d get three starts before it dies. Imagine explaining to an audience of honking commuters that no, your $3 million Bugatti isn’t broken—it’s just “doing racecar things.”

So Lanzante’s job isn’t just about bolting on some number plates and pretending it’s all fine. It’s about serious engineering: emissions tweaks, new gearboxes, drivability upgrades. The dark art of making the Bolide behave itself on a speed bump, not just a straight.

There’s no timeline yet, but when the Lanzante Bolide finally prowls onto the streets, it’ll be one of the most outrageous sights the civilized world has ever seen. Imagine pulling up to your local café in something originally designed to lap the Nürburgring until it caught fire. It’s ludicrous. It’s unnecessary.

It’s also brilliant.

Because while most of us will never get behind the wheel of a Bugatti Bolide—road-legal or otherwise—it’s nice to know that somewhere, somehow, the line between track lunacy and everyday traffic is being blurred. And if anyone can make a car like this survive the chaos of rush hour, it’s Lanzante.

Source: Lanzante

Tuning

Vuk Manufaktur Gives the AMG C 63 S the Engine It Deserves—Plus a 190E-Inspired Makeover

What’s the best way to make Mercedes-AMG’s controversial C 63 S more appealing to purists? For Vuk Manufaktur, the answer is simple: rip out the four-cylinder hybrid and stuff a twin-turbo V-8 under the hood. Yes, the engine enthusiasts felt the car should’ve had all along is back—just not from Affalterbach.

Earlier this year, the German tuner unveiled its V8-swapped W206 C 63 S, effectively delivering the AMG sedan that never was. But that was merely the opening act. Now comes the Vuk EVOlution X, a hotter, wider, and wilder take on the C-Class that looks like it just rolled out of DTM’s glory days.

The AMG That Wasn’t

Let’s be honest: AMG’s decision to replace the C 63’s thunderous 4.0-liter V-8 with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder hybrid was always going to sting. Sure, the factory setup is technically advanced and makes big numbers on paper, but emotionally? It’s a tough sell in a segment where sound and soul matter almost as much as speed.

Vuk’s solution? Return to basics—if “basics” means a twin-turbo V-8 and a visual overhaul inspired by one of Mercedes’ most iconic touring cars.

The Evo II Connection

The EVOlution X body kit makes its intentions clear from the first glance. Up front sits a jutting splitter with support rods, the sort of aero appendage that suggests it’s ready to trade paint on the Nürburgring. The Evo II influence becomes unmistakable from the side profile: massively flared fenders stretch the stance far beyond stock, while six-spoke black wheels and deep side skirts complete the retro-racecar vibe.

And then there’s the rear. A towering wing dominates the tailgate, a wink to both the Evo II and AMG’s modern Black Series creations. A new diffuser, custom badging, and Petronas-green accents tie it all together with just enough motorsport flair to make you wonder how Mercedes-AMG didn’t think of this first.

Limited and Likely Pricey

Production will be capped at just 63 units worldwide—a nod to the model designation and a guarantee of exclusivity. Vuk hasn’t said how many of those will get the full EVOlution X treatment, nor has it revealed pricing. But given the amount of custom fabrication and the return of eight-cylinder thunder, don’t expect it to be anywhere near entry-level AMG money.

Why It Matters

The EVOlution X isn’t just a tuning exercise; it’s a statement. It proves there’s still demand for a visceral, V-8–powered C-Class—even if it takes a small German firm to deliver what AMG won’t.

For now, the factory C 63 S may be the efficient, electrified future. But the Vuk EVOlution X is the car enthusiasts will remember.

Source: Vuk Mnufaktur