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 certainly one of a handful of obtainable liveries, and this restricted manufacturing mannequin, which started its growth as a Carrera 4 GTS, makes a good stronger case for why it’s best to shell out the $223,450 it calls for.
Not that you might, although, even in the event you had the money. With manufacturing restricted to simply 2,500 models, the complete lot has lengthy since bought. In the meantime, peering at pre-owned values reveals asking costs effectively north of $300,000. As is typical of Porsche’s limited-run fashions, it’s seemingly 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 and marketing supplies see it photographed in desolate locations or tackling sandy dunes, the fact is that the majority will likely 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 supposed. 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 nearly 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 Heart in Los Angeles relatively than on the road or a fastidiously chosen off-road course, I jumped on the alternative. There’s a way to the insanity, nonetheless. Throughout 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 undeniable fact that’s caught with me since.
The Porsche Expertise Heart is an expansive facility in Carson, CA, lower than 20 minutes from Los Angeles Worldwide Airport. It’s certainly one 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 affords a driving expertise in almost each automobile it makes, starting from a Cayenne S to the newest GT3 RS. At the moment, 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 loads to do and much more to take a look at. Nonetheless, I used to be desperate to get behind the wheel, so after a fast espresso, I met with the driving coach who would experience 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 elective Rally 1978 livery, a nod to the 911 SC Group 4 automobile Björn Waldegård drove within the East African Safari Rally that yr. It sports activities a slick high devoid of a sunroof or any of the handfuls of equipment accessible for it. Crucially for a day on the observe, the employees at PEC had wrapped its five-spoke wheels with Pirelli P Zero summer season tires.
Whereas I perceive the reasoning behind the choice to shelve its normal Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus rubber, I used to be barely disenchanted. In spite of everything, Porsche developed the Dakar to be an off-roader first. Whereas its choices checklist 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 could 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, an enormous skidpad geared up with sprinklers to make sure you’re immediately sideways, a kick plat train to check your response occasions, and an off-road circuit. The latter is reserved for SUVs, so that is purely a observe day.
We kicked off with a number of runs on the kick plate, which, as its title suggests, makes use of a shifting metallic panel that swings a automobile’s rear randomly to the left or proper, simulating a hydroplaning occasion at freeway speeds. It’s concurrently an incredible check of your response occasions. 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 think 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 pace on the course, my foot slowly got here off the throttle whereas I tucked the nostril in direction of the middle of the observe. I floored it and counter-steered to catch the slide. I did it exactly as I’ve performed in numerous rear-drive BMW M automobiles and as I did on an ice observe with rear-drive V8 Maseratis. What I hadn’t performed is keep in mind that the Dakar is all-wheel drive.
Initiating proved simple sufficient; nonetheless, holding it was rather 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. Whilst 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 suitable seat as the trainer offers you a tour of the observe, stating braking zones and demonstrating the perfect racing line. Now, you additionally turn into conscious of the various different automobiles you share the circuit with. As you pull out of a nook, you may 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 trainer is consistently monitoring 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 aware of its cabin, GT sports activities wheel, and wonderful 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 normal elevate 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 growing the identical 473 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque output. It’ll dash to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and high out at 149 mph, with energy going to all 4 wheels by way of an eight-speed PDK.
Selecting up the tempo as I discovered the 1.3-mile observe, I felt myself settling properly right into a rhythm behind the wheel. This will likely come as a shock, however geared up with summer season tires, the Dakar drives like, effectively, a 911. Regardless of the elevate, its dealing with is assured, and due to the Pirelli rubber, it delivers the grip you’d count on 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 onerous 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 bear in mind the locations the place these automobiles 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’ll be able to have the advantages of added floor clearance, an incredible experience, and the cool issue that’s its distinctive aesthetic with out sacrificing something. Whether or not you go off-roading or, for no matter motive, you determine to take it to a observe, it’s nonetheless as versatile as a 911 ought to be.
