New off-road Porsche 911 Dakar revealed: everything you need to know
November 17, 2022 by carwow staff
Car changing is a big deal
Ever fancied taking your Porsche offroad? With this new 480hp 911 Dakar, you can. This stripped-out, jacked-up sports car is on sale now. Read on for full details鈥
- New Porsche 911 Dakar revealed
- Twin-turbo flat 6 engine
- 480hp and 570Nm of torque
- All-wheel drive
- Special jacked-up suspension
- Stripped-out interior
- Optional Rally Design Pack
- Costs from 拢173,000
- Limited to 2,500 cars
This is the Porsche 911 Dakar, and it鈥檚 what happens when Porsche decides to build a supercar that can go offroad.
This jacked-up 911 is based on the Carrera 4 GTS but uses parts from the hard-core GT3. However, this racy sports car is built for rallying, not race tracks.
It鈥檚 on sale now and costs from 拢173,000. If you fancy one, you鈥檒l have to be quick 鈥 Porsche is only going to make 2,500.
New Porsche 911 Dakar design
The standard Porsche 911 is a low-slung Coupe, but this new Dakar definitely isn鈥檛.
It still has a sleek body, but the jacked-up suspension and huge knobbly tyres are all new. It also has the same vented carbon-fibre reinforced bonnet as you get on a GT3 and plenty of new stainless-steel skid plates.
Down each side, you鈥檒l spot plastic wheel arch extensions and Dakar exclusive 19-inch alloy wheels at the front and 20-inch rims at the back. These are smaller than the wheels on a Carrera S to help make space for the massive off-road tyres.
At the back, there鈥檚 a new black bumper with a second towing eye. All 911 Dakars come with a unique fixed spoiler.
If you want your 911 Dakar to stand out even more, tick the box marked 鈥楻ally Design Pack鈥 on teh options list. This gets you听a new paint job inspired by the 911 that won the Paris Dakar rally in 1984.
You might recongise it as the Rothman鈥檚 livery, but Porsche has given it a healthy rebranding and called it the 鈥楻ough Roads鈥 paint job.
New Porsche 911 Dakar engine
This limited-edition 911 comes with the same 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six as the 911 GTS.
That means it has 480hp and 570Nm of torque. It also comes with an 8-speed PDK automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive.
Porsche also fitted the same dynamic engine mounts as you get in the 911 GT3.
These normally help stiffen the GT3鈥檚 rear end to make it as agile and as predictable as possible on a race track.
Watch Mat鈥檚 review video to see just how good this 911 GT3 is to drive鈥
Extra stiffness will also help this new Dakar model鈥檚 suspension work more effectively to maximise grip.
Speaking of which, the Dakar sits 50mm higher than a normal Carrera S, and you can raise it up an extra 30mm if you need to crawl over serious boulders. This gives you about 205mm of total ground clearance. That鈥檚 only 5mm less than a standard Porsche Cayenne.
Porsche has limited the Dakar鈥檚 top speed to 106mph in jacked-up mode, though. It鈥檒l drop down automatically if you accelerate past that speed.
New Porsche 911 Dakar performance
Porsche has developed a couple of exclusive driving modes for the 911 Dakar including a Rally Mode designed for loose surfaces like gravel and sand. This sends most of the engine鈥檚 power to the rear wheels rather than split it evenly front-to-back.
There鈥檚 also a new Rally Launch Control mode that鈥檚 allows 20% more wheel slip to give you the best possible start on slippery surfaces.
So, how quick is it? Well, the new 911 Dakar will do 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds. That鈥檚 only 0.2 of a second slower than the standard 911 Carrera 4 GTS.
Watch this Porsche drag-race video to see how the quickest 911 you can buy compares to other rapid Porsche models鈥
Those fat tyres do affect the top speed though. The standard 911 Carrera 4 GTS will hit 192mph but the 911 Dakar tops out at 149mph.
New Porsche 911 Dakar Roof Rack
There鈥檚 another weird upgrade you can get for the new 911 Dakar. It鈥檚 a roof rack with Porsche-branded jerry cans, water bottles, folding shovels and traction boards.
These are like grippy snow shoes that you can stick under a car鈥檚 wheels if they get stuck in deep mud or sand.
The roof rack also comes with built-in fog lights and a 12V power supply and you can buy a roof tent if you鈥檙e the sort of 911 driver who prefers camping to 5-star hotels.
New Porsche 911 Dakar interior
The new Dakar-spec 911 doesn鈥檛 just look wild on the outside 鈥 it comes with some pretty racy interior upgrades, too.
Porsche has completely removed the standard GTS鈥檚 back seats. Instead, you get a meaty roll cage, just like in the GT3 and GT3 RS. The Dakar also comes with fancy carbon-fibre bucket seats like in those cars.
Check out the hardcore 911 GT3 RS in Mat鈥檚 review video, below鈥
Unlike its ride height, Porsche tried to keep the 911 Dakar鈥檚 weight as low as possible. All these interior upgrades help, and so does the carbon bonnet from the GT3, but you also get lightweight windows and a lightweight battery.
This means the Dakar weighs 1,605kg. That鈥檚 only 10kg more than a Porsche Carrera 4 GTS with an automatic gearbox.
New Porsche 911 Dakar price
Fancy a new 911 Dakar? Well, you鈥檒l have to be quick. It鈥檚 on sale now and Porsche is only going to build 2,500 of them.
They aren鈥檛 cheap either 鈥 the 鈥榮tandard鈥 Dakar costs 拢173,000. That鈥檚 over 拢50,000 more than a standard 911 Carrera 4 GTS, and it鈥檚 over 拢4,000 more than a 911 Turbo S.
And that鈥檚 before you add things like the Rally Design Pack. That鈥檒l set you back 拢18,434.
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