2023 Porsche 911 Dakar Is Snicker-Out-Loud Enjoyable within the Sand

“Aired Down a Porsche 911” has by no means appeared on any bingo card we have ever held, and but right here we’re, deflating our 911 Dakar’s tires earlier than play commences on an enormous Moroccan sand dune formation known as Erg Chebbi. It isn’t instantly clear how nicely we’ll fare within the large dunes, a go to to which usually requires a rented Toyota Land Cruiser Prado or a neighborhood camel-caravan clothes shop. To this point, we have been traversing desert hardpan and gaping like vacationers on the odd meandering single-hump dromedary whereas making an attempt to keep away from rocks and well-intended cairns hidden behind persistent hanging curtains of choking mud.

Earlier, whereas we cruised via dusty cities that gave the impression to be the inspiration for Star Wars‘s Tatooine, youngsters generally waved (that was a wave, wasn’t it?) as we handed by in our shiny Land Speeders. Then, on the final checkpoint earlier than the open desert, the native constabulary stopped our three-car convoy, whereupon the lead driver was obligated at hand over . . . his Instagram deal with. (The following day, on the best way again, he can be required to carry out . . . a launch management begin.)

It seems that the Erg—a lifeless ringer for Southern California’s Glamis sand dunes (which performed the a part of Tatooine, come to think about it)—is actually the 911 Dakar’s sandbox. It is sensible, as a result of the 911 Dakar is basically a quarter-million-dollar dune buggy that is primarily based on the mighty Carrera 4 GTS as a substitute of a Volkswagen Beetle.

Like an OG dune buggy, the Dakar has a rear-mounted engine, a pan-flat flooring, and broad rear tires which can be proportional to the 911’s inherent rear-biased weight distribution and supply useful flotation in sand. Lightweighting measures imply that its curb weight is just some 20 kilos heavier than a Carrera 4 GTS, so although it does weigh round 3550 kilos, it makes a lot much less of an impression within the sand than your common SUV and undercuts a base Porsche Macan by some 600 kilos.

From there this Porsche takes the dune-buggy format a number of large steps ahead on account of its wailing 473-hp twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six engine from the GTS. This engine’s broad torque peak of 420 pound-feet from 2300 to 5000 rpm is much more essential. Within the thick of it, every time we glanced on the tach, often whereas yelling, “I am unable to imagine I am doing this in a 911!” the engine was invariably grinding it out between 3000 and 4000 revs, blissful as we had been in mountains of dry sand.

One other incongruous ingredient in all of that is the inside, which, regardless of tasteful Dakar touches and trim selections, by no means misses an opportunity to remind that you simply’re nonetheless in a 911. The microsuede-wrapped steering wheel is one instance: The wheel is in a lot fixed movement as you noticed via the sand that the top-center hash mark appears laughably pointless. Ditto the one-piece carbon race buckets, which beat you up like a boxing opponent while you’re bouncing round on the market. Professional tip: Choose as a substitute for the (no-cost) heated leather-based GT Sport steering wheel and ditch the hard-shell buckets for 18-way power-adjustable heated sport seats (one other no-cost choice).

If you happen to hadn’t already guessed, the Carrera 4 GTS additionally donates its all-wheel-drive system with Porsche Traction Administration and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus. To those, the Dakar provides GTS choices akin to rear-wheel steering and the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Management system of energetic anti-roll bars, and the mix of all of that, plus a caravan load of software program optimization, offers the added Rallye and Offroad driving modes some actual tooth.

Because the identify implies, Rallye shifts the torque bias rearward and units up the energetic anti-roll bars and rear-steer programs to advertise controllable rally-style oversteer on unfastened, gravelly surfaces. However these are adaptive programs, to allow them to reel issues in if the pendulum swings too far. Offroad mode delivers a extra even entrance/rear torque break up, and it could actually loosen up the anti-roll bars and lock the rear differential to keep up ahead progress on uneven terrain. Each modes’ baseline torque splits are extra like tips than precise guidelines, because the system has the bandwidth to shunt torque wherever from 88 % entrance to 100% rear, relying on the place the traction is.

To this, the Dakar has one last ace up its sleeve: elevated static journey top, plus a farther 1.2-inch suspension raise. Routinely deployed in Offroad mode and manually selectable in different modes, the system raises the Dakar’s stomach from a wholesome 6.3 inches of normal clearance (1.8 inches greater than within the GTS) to 7.5 inches of most clearance. The 911’s brief 96.5-inch wheelbase interprets that into a good 19.0-degree breakover angle, which is firmly in crossover SUV territory. This proved useful within the dunes, the place high-centering was by no means a priority.

However let’s not child ourselves. Even with reprofiled entrance and rear overhangs, the Dakar’s 16.1-degree strategy and 18.2-degree departure angles are too shallow for really rocky trails. If there’s any doubt, enlist your passenger as a spotter. The usual surround-view digicam can solely reveal a lot, and there are low-hanging turbos within the rear corners. L.A. driveways, nevertheless, ought to be a cinch. You will not even want to have interaction the raise to clear them.

The raise system employs coil springs resting atop an upgraded model of the hydraulic front-end raise that is optionally available on different 911s. The same raise mechanism is fitted on the rear, and the engineers added an accumulator and a extra strong pump so the system can keep the raised posture indefinitely as long as pace does not exceed 105 mph. To additional optimize the suspension for work on tough terrain, the PASM entrance strut and rear damper our bodies are longer and rigged for extra journey, and the correspondingly longer springs are softer than their roadgoing counterparts’ by some 50 %.

None of this could matter with out applicable tires, and the Dakar’s bespoke Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus knobbies do the work. With 19-inch wheels up entrance and 20-inchers in again, the Dakar’s wheels are every an inch smaller than the GTS’s. And the 245/45ZR-19 entrance and 295/40ZR-20 again tires are additionally about an inch taller from prime to backside, and that combo offers the edges an additional inch of protecting sidewall. The enlarged air quantity inside permits for a decrease commonplace strain, and that helps the Dakar higher deal with rough-textured surfaces. Air them all the way down to 17 psi on sand, as we did, and so they present flotation and traction with out digging in.

On pavement, the Scorpion A/T tires aren’t overly noisy, and so they additionally supply good directional stability and safe steering response. In reality, Porsche engineers had been so happy with their efficiency that they backed away from their authentic plan to supply them as an choice and made them commonplace as a substitute. The summer time tires are the optionally available ones right here, and rightly so. Patrons who’re going to spend almost $225K—for a automobile inside $1800 of a GT3 RS—in all probability are doing so for the Dakar’s distinctive capabilities, and this footwear offers them the very best likelihood to make use of Porsche’s final dune buggy as meant.