Dakar is something different. It rides higher on chunky off-road tires developed specifically by Pirelli for the Dakar and it gets wider fenders and skidplates both front and rear. This does add extra weight, but that’s countered by rear seat delete, lightweight glass and carbon bucket seats, frunk lid and rear spoiler so it only weighs 10 kilos more than a GTS. There’s also further optional under- body protection if you want it, but it isn’t fully necessary. “The rear axle is protected,” said Achim Lamparter, chassis manager for the 911 Dakar. “And we have double-stiff GT3 engine mounts…for (when) the car is jumping.” Jumping! In a showroom-spec 911! Power-wise, the Dakar is unchanged from the GTS – that’s 473 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of
torque fed to all four wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch ‘box – there is no manual option. Rear-wheel steering also comes standard and they have tweaked the Porsche Stability and Traction Management (PSM/PTM) systems to work with the new drive modes; Offroad gives you a 50/50 power distribution, while Rallye gives you more rear bias meant for faster gravel work. Power can always be shuffled around if need be. Indeed, we’d need all the help we could get consid- ering some of the certifiably bonkers terrain we’d be traversing – think 250 metre-high sand dunes. Even though we were in the middle of the Moroccan desert, we did have to drive to the dunes which meant our drive started out on the kind of surface most 911 models are accustomed to: tarmac. Here,
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