The Porsche 911 Dakar Is A 4x4 Sportscar Fit For Dune Bashing

• 911 Dakar pays tribute to Porsche’s first Paris-Dakar rally victory in 1984. 

• It’s the first production-spec off-roading version of the 911 in the sportscar’s history. 

• Gets ample ground clearance, bigger wheels and a purpose-built chassis. 

• New four-wheel drive system likely to be paired with a six-cylinder engine. 

• Launch details to be revealed later. 

We recently brought you the news of a Porsche 911-based off-roader that scaled a volcano in Chile. That was a special, one-off project that you can’t buy, but Porsche has come up with a new version of the 911 that is destined to become a reality. The 2023 911 Dakar is set to be unveiled at the LA Auto Show on November 16 as a jacked-up, four-wheel drive variation of the 911 sportscar.   

Porsche 911 Dakar isn’t just any 911 

Simply put, the 911 Dakar is built to offer a similar level of performance and handling as the coupe version does on tarmac. Porsche hasn’t told us the exact changes to the sportscar’s platform, but it has hinted at structural improvements, saying that the 911 Dakar’s chassis can even handle jumps. 

The sportscar also has a reworked suspension, more ground clearance and bigger wheels. Up front, it gets a vent in the bonnet and large side air vents, but it looks largely similar to the 911 coupe in other aspects.

Porsche hasn’t revealed the 911 Dakar’s interior, but we’ll get a closer look at the upcoming off-roader at its unveiling.

Expected specs and powertrains 

In a first for the production-spec 911, the Dakar version gets a four-wheel-drive system. Yes, the Carrera 4S is all-wheel drive, but its AWD system is built for on-road handling instead of off-roading. The 911 Dakar’s 4x4 system is much more rugged and can take the vehicle much further off the beaten trail. 

Porsche is yet to reveal its specs, but the mid-rear-engined, four-wheel drive 911 Dakar should get the more powerful 450PS six-cylinder petrol engine found in the 911 Carrera 4S. The standard all-wheel drive Carrera 4 gets a 385PS engine. It’ll likely be paired with an eight-speed DSG automatic transmission. 

911 Dakar has been extensively tested globally 

Porsche does have off-road proving grounds in Weissach, Germany, but the 4x4 911 Dakar went much further in its testing – more than five lakh km – covering over 10,000km of those off-road. It has been tested in the hot dunes in Dubai and Morocco, in the snow in Arjeplog, Sweden, and in the south of France.  

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Four-wheel drive sports cars purpose-built for motorsport have been around for multiple decades, but off-roading production-spec supercars are a new concept. The market for such vehicles is likely to be a small niche initially, but in places such as India where good roads are far apart, the 911 Dakar’s ruggedness won’t go unappreciated.