Video: 10 reasons to love the 911 Dakar

Rory puts Porsche’s iconic 911 through its paces in an environment you might not expect it to perform - the Sahara Desert. But this is no ordinary 911, this is the 911 Dakar, a new off-road inspired variant introducing off-road inspired dynamics based on the foundations of the existing GTS version. Pushing this adventure seeking machine to the limit in the toughest of conditions, Rory also takes a look back at the historic roots of where the inspiration behind this model came from.
Here are 10 specific reasons to get excited!

1 – It’s a rare beast

Despite being madly expensive at around £175,000 before you even consider the huge scope of wild optional add-ons, only 2,500 of these exclusive off-road 911s will exist – and they’re already sold out!

2 – You can have it in a classic rally livery

Porsche demonstrates another tribute to its heritage here with an optional Rallye Design Package, with a livery celebrating the 1984 Paris-Dakar winning rally car. The specific colour scheme of the Rallye Design Package mirrors the styling of this famous vehicle, and the full package costs a hefty £18,434 on top. But for this you get trademarked ‘Roughroads’ lettering on the doors as a replacement for the original cigarette sponsorship branding, white painted rims, and a red taillight strip as well as a two-tone paint finish. Customers can even go as far as choosing an individual 3-digit race number for the side of the vehicle, completing the truly authentic full rally package.

3 – It’s got outdoors footwear

19-/20-inch Dakar wheels come with Pirelli Scorpion all-terrain tyres as standard, so they look as good as they are practical. Whatever the conditions – sand dunes, uneven ground, wet grass - you’re fully equipped behind the wheel. Standard road-optimised tyres are also available.

4 – There’s a driving mode for that…

In addition to Normal, Wet and Sport modes, the Dakar introduces two new driving settings. Rallye is designed for loose surfaces and puts more power to the rear wheels while Offroad is there for when the going gets really tough. These also feature a new Rallye Launch Control, which deploys maximum acceleration even on sand or gravel.

5 – You can have it stealthy, as well

A new ‘Shade Green’ metallic paint debuts in the 911 Dakar and is exclusive to this model, although this will cost you an extra £1,919.

6 – It’s got performance to really cut loose

The Dakar is based on the 911 GTS, taking the same 3.0-litre turbocharged flat six engine. And we all know what that means, it’s very fast. Making 480 horsepower, the Dakar launches to 62 mph in around 3.5 seconds, a fraction slower than how the standard GTS .

7 – You can get all the gear

For a relatively modest £171 you can equip your Dakar with a special Porsche-branded folding spade to dig yourself out of trouble.

8 – You can take your accommodation with you

You can choose the option of a folding adjustable roof tent that pops out of a hard case on top of the roof and is big enough (at a squeeze) for two people.

9 – It can get over anything

Special suspension raises the ride height by 50mm over the standard car for increased ground clearance. Its four-corner lift system can raise suspension by a further 30mm at speeds of up to 106mph before lowering itself back to the default setting.

10 – It’s built for the rough stuff

Off-road specific additions for the Dakar include aluminium towing eyes front and back and stainless steel underbody skid plates for the front, side and rear to protect against rough ground. Enjoyed this video? Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more, and don’t forget to hit like and join the comments thread below!