You couldn’t miss it in the event you tried. Its lifted stance, widened fenders, and Fuchs-style five-spoke wheels make the Porsche 911 Dakar immediately recognizable. Adorn it with one in every of a handful of accessible liveries, and this restricted manufacturing mannequin, which started its growth as a Carrera 4 GTS, makes a fair stronger case for why you need to shell out the $223,450 it calls for.
Not that you would, although, even in the event you had the money. With manufacturing restricted to only 2,500 models, all the lot has lengthy since bought. In the meantime, peering at pre-owned values reveals asking costs properly north of $300,000. As is typical of Porsche’s limited-run fashions, it’s possible already bought out by the point you’ve heard of it.
Why trouble driving it then, you ask. The Dakar’s persona, like a lot of the 911 vary, is multifaceted. Whereas its advertising supplies see it photographed in desolate locations or tackling sandy dunes, the fact is that the majority will probably be stashed in collections by speculators or relegated to a lifetime of pounding asphalt. Just like the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, solely a handful will ever be pushed as meant. And so, its engineers haven’t constructed it to be an uncompromising off-roader. That is nonetheless a 911, in spite of everything, one which guarantees to be simply pretty much as good on the paths as off them.
I’ll admit I’m pushing it to the opposite excessive right here. When Porsche floated the concept of driving the Dakar for the primary time at its Expertise Middle in Los Angeles moderately than on the road or a rigorously chosen off-road course, I jumped on the alternative. There’s a way to the insanity, nonetheless. Through the LA Auto Present in 2022, as I stood at a media preview for the Dakar, the carmaker sneakily talked about that it’s as fast across the Nurburgring as a 996-generation 911 GT3, a incontrovertible fact that’s caught with me since.
The Porsche Expertise Middle is an expansive facility in Carson, CA, lower than 20 minutes from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport. It’s one in every of two PECs within the US; the primary opened in Atlanta, Georgia, the house of the carmaker’s North American headquarters. In LA, the marque provides a driving expertise in practically each automotive it makes, starting from a Cayenne S to the most recent GT3 RS. At present, nonetheless, I’m right here for the 90-minute session within the Dakar, an expertise that’ll set you again $1,025.
As soon as checked in, you step previous rows of preserved classics, a world-class workshop, a small cafe, and a full restaurant that makes up a lot of the constructing’s second flooring. There’s a lot to do and much more to take a look at. Nonetheless, I used to be desirous to get behind the wheel, so after a fast espresso, I met with the driving coach who would journey shotgun for the expertise and stepped out to the PEC’s staging space.
The Porsche 911 Dakar I’d be driving sat amongst a row of 718 Caymans, 911s, and Tacans of all flavors, carrying an optionally available Rally 1978 livery, a nod to the 911 SC Group 4 automotive Björn Waldegård drove within the East African Safari Rally that 12 months. It sports activities a slick prime devoid of a sunroof or any of the handfuls of equipment out there for it. Crucially for a day on the observe, the employees at PEC had wrapped its five-spoke wheels with Pirelli P Zero summer time tires.
Whereas I perceive the reasoning behind the choice to shelve its normal Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus rubber, I used to be barely upset. In any case, Porsche developed the Dakar to be an off-roader first. Whereas its choices listing does provide units of summers and winters as extras, I puzzled how a lot of its driving expertise would now mirror that of the Carrera 4 GTS upon which it’s primarily based. I sunk into its normal carbon fiber bucket seat fired up its flat-six and slowly crept onto the observe.
The Porsche 911 Dakar expertise might solely be 90 minutes lengthy however has a choose-your-own-adventure really feel. The crown jewel of the PEC is its 1.3-mile dealing with circuit. Nevertheless, there are low-friction programs, a large skidpad geared up with sprinklers to make sure you’re immediately sideways, a kick plat train to check your response instances, and an off-road circuit. The latter is reserved for SUVs, so that is purely a observe day.
We kicked off with a couple of runs on the kick plate, which, as its title suggests, makes use of a shifting metallic panel that swings a automotive’s rear randomly to the left or proper, simulating a hydroplaning occasion at freeway speeds. It’s concurrently an important check of your response instances. Transfer too slowly, and also you’ll full a full loop earlier than you even know what occurred. Catch the preliminary slide, nonetheless, and the all-wheel-drive Dakar recovers with solely a twitch of its again finish. I believe that one thing mid-engined, like a GT4 RS, can be extra of a handful.
The skidpad and essentially the most difficult a part of the expertise got here subsequent. With sprinklers raining on the floor, the enormous donut-shaped course was prepared for slides. I, nonetheless, was not. As I picked up velocity on the course, my foot slowly got here off the throttle whereas I tucked the nostril in the direction of the middle of the observe. I floored it and counter-steered to catch the slide. I did it exactly as I’ve completed in numerous rear-drive BMW M vehicles and as I did on an ice observe with rear-drive V8 Maseratis. What I hadn’t completed is keep in mind that the Dakar is all-wheel drive.
Initiating proved simple sufficient; nonetheless, holding it was way more difficult. The Porsche 911 Dakar can maintain excessive angles because it glides throughout a observe sideways. It requires extra throttle than steering enter, and as soon as within the drift, complete dedication to the throttle to maintain it going. At the same time as you are feeling you’re a cut up second away from looping it, it calls for a gentle feed of energy. Grant its want, and also you’ll be rewarded with controllable drifts that don’t finish with you dealing with backward. All it takes is a little bit of psychological rewiring.
Earlier than we pulled onto the 1.3-mile circuit, my teacher directed me to a brief autocross course to familiarize myself with the Dakar’s efficiency on a dry floor. Inside minutes, nonetheless, it was time for some citing laps.
The observe expertise kicks off from the precise seat as the teacher provides you a tour of the observe, stating braking zones and demonstrating the best racing line. Now, you additionally grow to be conscious of the various different vehicles you share the circuit with. As you pull out of a nook, you might even see a GT4 RS creeping up from behind or catch as much as a Carrera S on a cool-down lap. There’s extra to the expertise than simply the observe itself, and the teacher is consistently monitoring site visitors to make sure everybody retains their distance and passes solely on designated zones.
Again within the carbon buckets, I lastly felt like I used to be attending to grips with the Dakar. Though a lot of it feels accustomed to its cabin, GT sports activities wheel, and glorious visibility, some variations instantly emerge. For one, its stance. The Porsche 911 Dakar sits 1.9 inches taller than a Carrera geared up with a sports activities suspension. A typical raise system raises it an additional 1.2 inches, a stature it maintains till you cross 105 mph.
Its hood, a present from the GT3, and rear spoiler are carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. A combo of light-weight glass and a lighter battery retains its weight at 3,552 kilos. That’s 16 lb heavier than a 911 Carrera 4 GTS geared up with a PDK transmission. But regardless of weighing roughly the identical, the Dakar sports activities further underbody safety and a redesigned consumption system.
The oily bits carry over from the Carrera 4 GTS largely untouched, with its twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six creating the identical 473 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque output. It’ll dash to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and prime out at 149 mph, with energy going to all 4 wheels by way of an eight-speed PDK.
Selecting up the tempo as I realized the 1.3-mile observe, I felt myself settling properly right into a rhythm behind the wheel. This may increasingly come as a shock, however geared up with summer time tires, the Dakar drives like, properly, a 911. Regardless of the raise, its dealing with is assured, and due to the Pirelli rubber, it delivers the grip you’d anticipate from a Carrera 4 GTS. I’d like to let you know that it leaned within the bends or felt drastically completely different, however that wasn’t the case. Even beneath exhausting braking zones, the nostril by no means dipped significantly, nor did the again squat whereas taking pictures out the opposite facet.
As anti-climatic as this revelation is, that additionally appears to be the Dakar’s secret sauce. Though Porsche developed it with off-roading in thoughts, I can’t assist however keep in mind the locations the place these vehicles truly reside. Constructing a compelling off-roader is one factor, however its attraction can be restricted if it solely excels in that setting.
But that makes Dakar distinctive; it doesn’t ask you to decide on. You may have the advantages of added floor clearance, an important journey, and the cool issue that’s its distinctive aesthetic with out sacrificing something. Whether or not you go off-roading or, for no matter cause, you resolve to take it to a observe, it’s nonetheless as versatile as a 911 needs to be.
