The latest variant of the Porsche 911 swaps racetracks for rally stages, with increased ground clearance, all-terrain tires and a motoring-derived name.
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Porsche is taking its iconic 911 sports car off-road from the showroom with the 2023 Porsche 911 Dakar, which will go into production in Australia late next year, priced at just under half a million dollars before on-road costs.
Named after a 911’s victory in the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally, the new 911 Dakar adds a host of off-road upgrades to trade smooth racetracks or mountain roads for gravel roads and dirt tracks, and go where no production Porsche sports coupe has gone before. .
Only 2500 examples of the 911 Dakar will be built globally, with an unspecified number allocated to Australia. Deliveries will begin in the second half of 2023, priced from $491,400 plus on-road costs.
The 911 Dakar sits 50mm higher than a regular 911 Carrera with sports suspension, with a standard lift system capable of raising both ends of the car by a further 30mm.
Porsche doesn’t quote an official ground clearance figure, but with the lift system engaged it’s estimated to be around 190mm to 200mm, higher than many road-oriented family SUVs, and not far off some true four-wheel drives (a Toyota Prado quotes 220mm).
High-lift mode is available at speeds up to 170 km/h, at which point the car lowers, as it approaches the 250 km/h limited top speed.
The unique 19-inch front and 20-inch rear alloy wheels are wrapped in specially designed Pirelli Scorpion all-terrain tires (245/45ZR19 front and 295/40ZR20 rear) with 9mm deep “grubby” tread patterns and reinforced side walls.
Road-oriented summer tires are available as an option, with the same sidewall reinforcement.
Two new driving modes have been added: Rallye, which is said to be “ideal for loose and uneven surfaces” with a rearward tilt for the all-wheel drive system, and Off-road mode, which automatically activates the position of higher suspension for tricky rocks and sandy terrain.
Both modes activate a new rally launch control feature called “[enable] impressive acceleration on loose surfaces.”
Rear-wheel steering is standard, along with 911 GT3 racing engine mounts, and active anti-roll bars that keep the car stable in corners.
The 911 Dakar’s engine is the familiar 3.0-litre bi-turbo six-cylinder engine from the base 911 range, tuned to suit the GTS models with outputs of 353kW and 570Nm.
An eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and (naturally) all-wheel drive are standard, and Porsche claims a 0-100km/h time of 3.4 seconds, a tenth slower than a 911 GTS coupe with full traction road tires
Aside from its wheels and tires, the 911 Dakar can be distinguished from standard 911s by its unique front and rear bumpers, metal skid plates on the front, side and rear of the car, front tow hooks and red rears and the black wheel arch. flares
The front “boot lid” is borrowed from the 911 GT3, with two air “darks” and CFRP construction, while the new carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) rear spoiler wears a matte black finish to its upper surface, which resembles the “whale tail” spoilers of Porsche 911s from the 1970s.
A 12-volt power socket is integrated into the roof, designed to power spotlights fitted to an optional Porsche-designed roof rack, capable of holding up to 42kg of ‘rally accessories’ such as fuel , water, folding paddles and traction boards.
A roof tent is also available for the car from the Porsche ‘Tequipment’ shop.
Inside, the 911 Dakar gains standard carbon fiber bucket seats, a rear seat deletion, Race-Tex synthetic suede upholstery with Shade Green stitching, lightweight glass and a lightweight battery.
Porsche claims the 911 Dakar weighs 1,605kg, or 10kg more than the automatic 911 Carrera 4 GTS it’s based on, despite the bulky off-road additions.
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Optional is a $54,730 Rallye Design Package, which adds retro exterior styling inspired by Porsche’s 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally winner, with white and gentian blue two-tone paint, red and gold stripes and race numbers on the doors
The car’s iconic 1984 livery included sponsorship from tobacco company Rothmans, which Porsche has given a nod to on the production 911 Dakar with ‘Roughroads’ text on the doors.
Also optional will be a Rallye Sport package, which adds a roll cage, six-point racing harnesses and a fire extinguisher. 911 Dakar buyers will also be able to order a matching watch, made of titanium carbide.
Standard equipment on Australian-delivered 911 Dakars is the same as overseas models, except for the addition of a tire repair kit and an electric air compressor.
The 2023 Porsche 911 Dakar is now available to order, ahead of the first deliveries in Australia in the second half of next year. Prices start from $491,400 plus on-road costs, around $140,000 more than the Carrera 4 GTS variant with which it shares the engine and driveline.
It is believed to be the second most expensive variant of the 911 not powered by a version of the standard Carrera engine, rather than the 911 Turbo engine, or one from a GT3 or GT2.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed to Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from perusing car magazines at a young age to growing up around performance. vehicles in a car loving family.
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