The new Porsche 911 Dakar is a limited-run and substantially modified take on the firm's flagship coupé, designed to offer rapid off-road pace with minimal compromise to its abilities on Tarmac.
Revealed in full at the Los Angeles motor show, the Dakar has undergone a lengthy development process, having made its debut in prototype form at the Nürburgring more than two years ago. It arrives hot on the heels of the even more exclusive Porsche 911 Sport Classic and track-focused Porsche 911 GT3 RS.
Porsche has a long and successful history in top-flight rallying, most famously clinching victory in Dakar with the Porsche 911-based 959 Group B racer in 1984 and 1986, and supporting various successful privateer efforts with 911s in the early years of the World Rally Championship.
Underneath, the Dakar is most closely related to the four-wheel-drive Porsche 911 GTS and shares that car’s 473bhp, 420lb ft 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat six and eight-speed PDK automatic gearbox. But wide-reaching modifications to the chassis and body make it a completely different beast from its standard sibling.
Most obviously, the Dakar sits 50mm higher off the ground than a 911 Carrera S and can be raised another 30mm on command, which significantly boosts ground clearance and increases its approach and departure angles. Porsche points out that the suspension is “not designed merely for driving over obstacles at low speed” but can be used at speeds of up to 106mph for “ambitious off-road adventures”.
That ethos extends to the purposeful off-road rubber wrapped around the Fuchs-inspired alloy wheels: bespoke Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus items with 9mm-deep treads and super-strong reinforced sidewalls. Porsche says that, despite their off-road focus, the tyres allow for engaging on-road dynamics, but it also offers more Tarmac-friendly P Zero items as an option.
