“At the Los Angeles Auto Show…Porsche will unveil a very special variant of the iconic 911: the new 911 Dakar,” reads Porsche’s bombshell press release from this morning.” It will be the first two-door sports car from Porsche to offer off-road capabilities.” The rest of the press release includes amazing photos of Porsche’s upcoming off-road 911 undergoing over 6,000 miles of off-road testing. You’re gonna want to see these.
Named after the race in which Porsche won first place in 1984, the Porsche 911 Dakar has been put through the wringer by Porsche engineers, the Stuttgart-based brand would like you to know. Porsche’s press release mentions that the car saw many hours in an off-road proving ground in Weissach. That appears to be a gravel quarry — pretty much the only place one can go off-roading in Germany, in my experience:
Testing didn’t stop in that quarry, of course, with Porsche saying its “development team tested the 911 Dakar around the world under extreme conditions to the tune of more than 300,000 miles, including more than 6,000 miles off-road,” mentioning the “Château de Lastours test track” in southern France to dial in handling on a loose rally course.
The press release throws out some famous names who had a chance to get behind the wheel. “Two-time world rally champion Walter Röhrl naturally couldn’t resist the opportunity to put the 911 Dakar through its paces at the large testing grounds in Arjeplog, Sweden,” says Porsche, who included this quote from the racing legend: “‘The car is incredibly fun to drive,’” he says. ‘Everything works so precisely and calmly.'”
Here are a few others who apparently enjoyed driving the Porschce 911 Dakar prototype:
Porsche brand ambassador Jörg Bergmeister was also able to test the 911 Dakar as part of the car’s development and was surprised by the driving dynamics of the unusually high-riding sports car on both loose surfaces and asphalt: “I wouldn’t have thoug
ht that a vehicle with such ground clearance and all-terrain tires would still feel like a Porsche 911 on asphalt,” he says. Development driver Lars Kern was also impressed during the final drives intended to fine-tune the car: “I am very satisfied with the handling on loose surfaces. Even the ABS has been optimized for braking on gravel. It’s amazing how much traction the all-terrain tires deliver. The car is a blast to drive.”
Arguably the flashiest photos involve the dunes, with Porsche writing in its press release: “In Dubai and Morocco, test drivers drove the off-road sports car up steep, 160 foot dunes in temperatures of up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit time and time again.” Check out these awesome photos of the 911 Dakar’s wheels whipping up loose sand.
What a time to be alive. We’ve got 700 horsepower rally trucks from Ford and Ram, a rock-crawling V8 Wrangler, a ridiculous sand dune and rock garden-crusher in the Bronco Raptor, a dune-bashing Jeep pickup truck, and now we’ve got a Porsche 911 Safari car coming. The off-road gods are pleased. Very pleased.
(A bit of an aside: Porsche’s photos include the following caption: “911 Dakar: Fuel consumption* combined (WLTP) 11.3 l/100 km, CO₂ emissions* combined (WLTP) 256 g/km, Fuel consumption* combined (NEDC) 10.5 l/100 km, CO₂ emissions* combined (NEDC) 239 g/km.” Those figures translate to 20.8 MPG on the WLTP drive cycle and 22.4 MPG on NEDC. Not that anyone with the kind of money to buy these (we don’t know pricing, but we know it won’t be cheap) is going to give a damn about fuel economy).
[Ed note: An aside to an aside, an interpretation of EU Directive 1999/94/EC that most automakers now seem to follow is that you pretty much have to list fuel economy standards everywhere you market the car, which is why you see these numbers listed on, like, Instagram posts – MH]
Do I think the 911 Dakar is going to be legitimately good off-road? Well, if the production car looks like the ones above: Not really. The single most important attribute of a good-offroader is favorable geometry, and what I’m seeing is poor approach and departure angles (likely limited by the cooling module up front and engine out back), low ground clearance (likely limited by suspension geometry constraints), and minimal suspension articulation. I’m always one to give engineers the benefit of the doubt, and until I drive it, I can’t say anything with authority. But some things you can learn by just looking, so I hope Porsche’s marketing team does a good job at setting expectations that align with the car’s capability when this car debuts later this month, because as I’ve said before, an off-road-ish vehicle doesn’t have to be amazing off-road, it just has to meet expectations.
All images: Porsche
Huh, I read that article 3 times and still couldn’t find the part about how it’ll rust.
I bet they sell a ton of them to rich arabs.
This is my new “if I won the lottery” purchase. I would absolutely love to hoon this at Silver Lake sand dunes on a holiday weekend just to see if it can outroost the local dune heads in their LS powered sandcars.
This thing would be great on forest road / lumber roads, generally shitty roads, beaches, mild dunes … it’s just not a rock crawler. One day, if I save up, maybe I can get a picture of one.
They are going to sell all of these they care to make. Half will go into preservation vaults, a third will be mall crawlers, 12% will be daily drivers, and three will be driven hard off road.
I am truly pleased at the almost total lack of Porsche bashing comments in this string!
David ( and others), Porsche 911s have run countless Paris-Dakar rallys. And a bunch of other ones. Granted, these are race prepared for extreme conditions. But, this 911 gets you at least some of the capability in a car you can hoon on bad roads, snow, AND the Autobahnen. It’s gonna be frightfully expensive, of course, but you could buy it and drive it home. I’m certain, from my 911 experiences, that its capabilities in most conditions would leave you smiling and shaking your head in wonderment. Nobody builds a super car that you can also putter around town, as well as driving like a madman.
God! I just LOVE the 911.
Most people are probably unaware, but Porsche was building off-road capable vehicles, including hybrids, nearly 80 years ago.
https://www.motorious.com/articles/features-3/ferdinand-porsches-tanks/
Can’t wait to “flex” mine with a Rothman’s 959 wrap on the front of the valet car line at the local steak house.
Im sorry but i believe this is all marketing and no substance. Woohoo sand being thrown up. Just fake. A 911 is not made or designed for anything but hard pavement sharp corners at high speed. And it is spectacular at this. But porsche knows noone but themselves is taking a new 911 4 wheeling. They ate doing a Jeep thing. Market fun knowing noone is taking a over $100,000 vehicle 4 wheeling.
I’m sure some jeeps cost more than 100k with all the upgrades, but they’re clearly made for off road from the ground up. this is clearly not the case
if you want to take a Porsche off road get a cayenne at least
Rode in a Cayenne with the base suspension to and from Le Mans from London and I as a teenager thought I was going to piss blood because of how rough it rode, and half the journey was on French toll roads which were extremely smooth.
It was just that the car’s suspension was crap, and it was bought new
We’ve got 700 horsepower family trucks from Ford and Ram, a curb-crawling V8 Wrangler, a ridiculous fairgrounds overflow parking lot-crusher in the Bronco Raptor, a jet-ski ramp-bashing Jeep pickup truck, and now we’ve got a Porsche 911 garage queen coming.
FTFY to align with how they’ll actually be used.
I had to think about this comment for a long time. I currently own both a Carrera 4 (which I’ve taken on the Mojave road and has been through Wisconsin winters) and a Jeep Rubicon which has been to Moab many times. So, I’ve got a pretty good perspective. I really like the idea of this car, but it’s not really practical. Off road tires have a very very low grip limit on the street, so you won’t be able to take pavement corners very fast. It also has very unfavorable geometry, so it won’t be great on trails. This will excel on gravel roads, and snowy (under 6ish inches) roads. I want to see a gravel road coarse race with this against a Ford Raptor, and a Range Rover Sport.
[spongebob_voice.wav] I NEEEEEEEED ITTTTTTTT
The longer overhangs kinda remind me of the 411, which honestly wasn’t too bad out on Big Bend’s rougher trails. Not ideal, not a serious crawler, but definitely manageable with the right angle. 10/10 would absolutely hoon, want to hoon, need to hoon, my gosh, this is the biggest Stefbait drop of the year. I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED TO SAY THAT THE PARSH IS GOOD
I’d be surprised if it’s more capable than even a Subaru forester off road, but I would totally rock one if I had the funds just because it would be more fun to drive in all other circumstances.
Portal axles should give better clearance than the Subaru. I picture this being used by rich people in the winter.
One thing about a 911 that comes up frequently is that they are solid enough to be used as daily drivers. This takes the car to the point of being able to drive it anywhere your standard accord driver might think to go. Extra ground clearance to clear speed bumps and ramps, check. Ability to drive it in the snow, check. Ability to drive it down the gravel path to your beachouse/ranch/cabin, check 3x.
If some cars are the human equivalent of a bimbo you want to be seen with, this is the one you marry and enjoy their company well after their looks have faded.
For me, the best part is the turbine-blade pattern of the sand flung out of the turning wheels. May have to print a large copy of the lede picture as my Dakar 959 poster is long gone.
Testing at the dunes implies that this is an off-road car, but like you said nothing about the engineering indicates any ability off of flat surfaces. I see this as more of a rallycross car even if they market it otherwise.
Somehow, I’m not thinking I’d like to take this on the Rubicon Trail….
And I’m also guessing that the number of these cars that actually get used as suggested will hover at or below zero. Who wants to mess up the paint or pay their detailer to do the extra cleaning?
This thing is unbelievably cool. I’ll never be able to afford it, but make no mistake…if I could I would buy one. One of the things I like about Porsche is that they offer so many unique takes on their cars across the lineup. If you’ve got the funds, you can choose one or spec one out that’s really unique in the grand scheme of things…and they don’t just reserve it for their high end stuff. You can get a Macan T, that new pink 718 variant that’s based on the entry level spec, et cetera.
I’m sure the “my Corvette best Corvette” stuff happens with them all the time and is insufferable…but in our sea of greyscale SUVs I think it’s cool that, despite the sheer quantity of their products, there’s always a Porsche out there that stands out. If I could have any car in the world regardless of price I might well pick a GT3…but for now I’m going to keep saving and maybe be able to custom order a Macan of some sort in a few years.
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
Glad it exists, I’m sure I’ll probably never see one and I’m certain I’ll never own one but I’m happy to know it’s out there somewhere!
Um https://www.theautopian.com/lets-look-at-the-incredible-portal-axle-equipped-911s-porsche-drove-up-a-volcano/
Yep. The news is that it’s confirmed for production! (Also new pics)
C’mon, no 959 style rear wing?
“The off-road gods are pleased. Very pleased.” They want their blood sacrifice. As an off-roader, I am glad the stuff is being built, they are just crazy expensive.
Oh man, the Porsche WRX! That’s awesome!
I suppose if I have to ask the price, it’s not for me, though.