Y ou’ve seen and felt it all before. The digitized version of the traditional five-gauge instru- ment cluster. The upright dash, windshield and steering wheel and seating positions. The “Braun shaver” shift dongle. The three-spoke wheel with its round hub. The ignition mounted to the left of the steering column. This is a Porsche 911, make no bones about it. Except this time, it’s a little different. Check that; it’s very different. It’s different simply because of what you’re look- ing at as you’re staring through that upright wind- screen at the road ahead – but it’s not really a road, is it? It’s more a path cut through fine, red sand the likes of which you’ve only ever seen in a James Bond flick or on the glossy pages of National Geographic . But this is no movie – this is real life and you’re at the helm of one of the most out-there 911 models to ever come out of Stuttgart: the 911 Dakar, and it’s quite literally made for this stuff. So named for the famous Paris-Dakar off-road endurance race (that actually now runs in the
Middle East after a brief sojourn to South America) that Porsche won in 1984 and ‘86, the 911 Dakar is one of those beautiful things in the car world whose very existence proves that still, even today, OEMs can put all the talk of autonomy and EV aside and just focus on what a car’s like to drive. Sure; you could make the argument that the 911 and others like it already make that point but this here’s another level. It rides 50 mm higher than the 911 Carrera 4 GTS plus a further 30 mm – that’s 80 mm total – if you raise it up via a button press or by selecting the Offroad drive mode. It will stay at that height all the way up to 170 km/h, which, according to Porsche, it should have no problem doing on rough roads. Unlike other 911 models that only get front lift, this gets both front and rear lift. Rallye mode joins Offroad as the two Dakar-specific modes this new 911 gets. And, if you wanted to, you could drop an additional 13 grand or so to have your Dakar look like those past winners Even without the fancy graphics (or the optional roof rack, spotlights or…tent. All official Porsche accessories) it doesn’t take long to see how the
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