Singer Modifies Porsche 911 for Off-Road Racing

Singer has looked to a golden era of Porsche rallying in the 1980s, and to automotive heroes including the 911 SC/RS and 959, and has revealed a reimagined air-cooled 911 as a World Rally Championship-inspired, all-terrain competition machine.

Singer’s latest services will enable its clients to go off-road racing, with a Porsche 911 modified by Singer for all-terrain use, the company said.

The All-terrain Competition Study has been undertaken by Singer, in partnership with 911 rally specialist Richard Tuthill, in response to the request from a client for modifications to his air-cooled Porsche 911 that would enable the car to compete in off-road racing and to demonstrate extensive all-terrain exploration capabilities. The client has commissioned two machines, one – in Singer’s iconic Parallax White – focused on high-speed desert rallying and a second – in Corsica Red – configured for high-speed, high-grip tarmac events and disciplines.

Porsche 911s prepared by UK-based off-road competition specialist Richard Tuthill have competed in rally events for decades, including a recent victory in the 2019 East African Safari Classic, marking a 4th win in the 5000km event across Kenya and Tanzania. These successes sit alongside expertise from the world of WRC competition and events such as the Paris-Dakar.

Modification services developed for the Porsche 911 Reimagined by Singer – All-terrain Competition Study include:

• Off-road competition capability, conceived with events such as the Baja 1000 and Dakar Rally in mind, but suitable for a range of surfaces
• Dramatically increased ride height, suspension travel and overall strength
• Carbon fiber body panels suited to quick replacement and easy underbody access
• Permanent AWD
• A twin-turbocharged, 3.6L, air-cooled flat-six with power starting at 450hp.
• Sequential racing transmission with front, center and rear limited-slip differentials.

Summary of Technical Specifications

• 1990 Type 964 Porsche 911
• Core strengthening to monocoque for heavy-duty off-road use, carbon fiber body panels and off-road race modifications including:

Suspension, wheels and brakes

• Specialized long-travel suspension with twin, 5-way adjustable dampers per corner
• (8 dampers in total).
• Forged aluminum 8×16-inch wheels with BF Goodrich All-Terrain tyres.
• 4-piston, monobloc steel disc brakes with hydraulic handbrake.

Engine

• 3.6L twin-turbocharged, air-cooled, Porsche flat-six.
• Water-to-air intercoolers, with individual-bank charge coolers housed within the plenum and cooled by a clamshell-mounted radiator.
• Tuned for the demands of each event, power starts at 450hp and 420lb-ft torque
• 5-speed sequential dog-box enabling flat-shifting. Manual and paddle-shift capable.
• Permanent AWD.
• Front, center and rear, mechanical, plated limited-slip differentials.

Additional Specialized Equipment:

• Long-range fuel tank.
• 2 x full-size spare race wheels and tires in front trunk area and rear storage area.
• Full FIA specification roll cage.
• Bespoke competition seats with FIA certification
• Rehydration system for driver and navigator
• State-of-the-art GPS race navigation system.

Notes Rob Dickinson, Founder and Executive Chairman, Singer Group Inc.

“So much of what we’ve done for the last decade has been inspired by Porsche’s competition success and the All-terrain Competition Study provides us the opportunity to showcase that idea literally and vividly,” said Rob Dickinson, founder and executive chairman, Singer Group. “We at Singer are motorsport nerds in our hearts and demonstrating our understanding of the discipline required our off-road vision to display deeply legitimate competition credentials from the structural engineering to the bodywork ethos, to the mechanical package.”

“We’ve taken particular inspiration from the iconic Rothmans-sponsored 911 SC/RSs and 959s that conquered events like the Qatar International Rally and Paris-Dakar in the mid-‘80s and, at the request of our client, have reimagined these all-terrain 911’s in their honor while utilizing fresh perspectives and state of the art know-how,” Dickinson added.

The commissioning owner has agreed that the results of the All-terrain Competition Study will be available to others who wish to equip their cars with this off-road capability.

The ACS restoration has been undertaken as a collaboration between the two companies. Singer’s Design Office in California has led a joint engineering team with assembly undertaken in the UK at the Tuthill facility in Oxfordshire. Future cars will all be modified at Tuthill’s facilities. Support packages for racing and maintenance will be available.

As with all Singer’s restoration services for owners of the Porsche 911, the car takes the Type 964 generation of air-cooled cars as its starting point and is powered by a “Mezger” air-cooled flat-six, here in 3.6L form, with twin symmetrical turbochargers and fly-by-wire individual throttle bodies.

A bespoke carbon fiber body is optimized to allow easy access to mechanical components at service stops and to enable effective breathing and cooling for the powertrain, the company said. The use of carbon fiber allows Singer to reduce overall mass and, for this car, to offset the extra weight of the roll-cage.

The bespoke suspension and damping, together with AWD configuration are designed to enable effective deployment of the car’s power off-road. The strength designed into the car’s structure and components is a response to the forces encountered during high-speed, off-road endurance events and pathfinding.

FIA specification seats and harnesses sit within a full roll cage. The car is equipped with a race GPS navigation system while both driver and navigator have access to in-seat rehydration systems.