Later this month at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Porsche will unveil a special variant of the 911: the new 911 Dakar. It will be the first two-door sports car from Porsche to offer off-road capabilities, the automaker said.
The model name Dakar is a nod to the first overall victory by Porsche in the Paris-Dakar rally, which was achieved in 1984 by a purpose-built Porsche 911 that had been fitted with an all-wheel-drive system for the first time.
In testing the new 911 Dakar, the development engineers used the off-road proving grounds in Weissach, and around the world under extreme conditions to the tune of more than 300,000 miles, including more than 6,000 miles off-road, Porsche said. The Château de Lastours test track in southern France, for example, was used to test the car’s handling on typical rally courses and fine-tune the suspension.
Two-time world rally champion Walter Röhrl also put the 911 Dakar through its paces at the large testing grounds in Arjeplog, Sweden, the manufacturer said, providing an ideal basis for an approximately 90% closed compacted snow surface.
In Dubai and Morocco, test drivers also drove the off-road sports car up steep, 160 foot dunes in temperatures of up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit, to gauge its ability on sand tracks and dunes.
