Porsche 911 Dakar: the latest madness from Porsche is an off-road 911

It’s called Porsche 911 Dakar. And yes, it’s completely serious, no joke at all: at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 16, Porsche will present a version of the 911 prepared to run safely over any surface off the asphalt, as if it were a Porsche Macan.

I’m sure you’re wondering the same thing: why does Porsche need a car like this, when it already has a SUV range with its Macan and Cayenne? I’m sorry, I don’t have the answer. What Porsche says is that it is a “nod to the brand’s first outright victory in the Paris-Dakar Rally”. We have to go back to 1984, when the German brand took part in the legendary desert race with a modified Porsche 911. Back then, Porsche could not have imagined that years later it would be an SUV (and a diesel one) that practically took the brand to where it stands today.

Having passed the first phase of off-road testing

We’ll see what the production model brings, and the plans Porsche has reserved for such a unique vehicle. For now, more than half a million kilometres of testing have been covered, 10,000 km of them off the asphalt, not only on the off-road tracks the brand has at its headquarters in Weissach. The prototypes have also been tested in different parts of the world: on snow and ice, on dirt tracks, on sand…

Romain Dumas, a Porsche driver, has already expressed his surprise at the off-road behaviour of this 911 adapted with greater ground clearance, a reinforced chassis and all-wheel drive. Walter Röhrl, who collaborated on the snow and ice tests in Arjeplog, also seems to have had a great time. “It’s incredibly fun to drive, no Porsche customer will believe what this vehicle can do until they drive it themselves,” says the enthusiastic Porsche ambassador and two-time World Rally Champion.

During tests in Dubai and the Moroccan desert, the 911 Dakar has shown its ability to climb dunes up to 50 metres high and to cope with temperatures of over 45 degrees Celsius. But the “transformation” needed for the 911 to overcome all kinds of obstacles has not left aside the sporting behaviour expected of a “nine-eleven”. This is confirmed by Lars Kern, Porsche development driver, and Jörg Bergmeister, brand ambassador, who was surprised that “a vehicle with so much ground clearance and off-road tyres could behave like a Porsche 911 on asphalt”.

Porsche 911 Dakar – Photo gallery

Technical specifications of this car

CoupePorsche 91119 versions · from 157,835 €