done with nary a complaint from the chassis or steering; you can tell the Dakar was made for this. While the Porsche 953 (pictured on page 21) and 959 models used to win the race in the ‘80s were a far cry from what’s seen here, some of the mech- anics at play there remain today. Namely, do not be scared to control this thing with the throttle. During our time through the sand dunes, I swear I can count maybe on two hands the amount of times I actually depressed – or even brushed – the brake. Doing so could cause the front end to dive, and even a little of that could cause it to dig in and stick, which is what happened to a colleague of mine – but let’s not go there, eh? Instead, all I would do was lift a little off the throt- tle, let the front end pick up just a little and bam! Right back on the gas to get the weight over the rear axle, allowing those blocky Pirelli treads to just dig in and power out.
As cool as this all is, though, it begs the question: why? How many are going to be bashing through sand dunes in their Dakar? Well, for starters you can swap “bashing through sand dunes” to “slid- ing through winter” and for many, that makes more sense. Secondly – it doesn’t really matter. This is a “because they can” or a “because I can” type of vehicle, executed to perfection. People like to know they have something special, even if they never put it fully to use – how many Pagani Huayra owners are ever going to come close to its claimed 238 mph top speed? How many Dodge Demon owners are going to slap on the skinny tires and regularly go drag racing? Well, perhaps a few more than those that will test their Pagani’s V-max but that’s just it; they know they can, and that’s enough. The Dakar, with its liveries and high ride height and rear seat delete is an event, and that’s what matters.
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