Porsche 911 Dakar review (2024): from the deserts of Morocco to the Kielder forest

Porsche 911 Dakar review (2024): from the deserts of Morocco to the Kielder forest 

This is the worst hidden secret in Porsche development history. After years of rumors and months of unmistakable spyshots - you can wrap a 911 in as much camouflage as you like, but you'll never disguise an 80mm ride height increase - the Porsche 911 Dakar has reshaped our perception of what a 911 can and should be capable of. We drove it both on and off-road.

What is the solution to a question no one has asked? Potentially. While based on the 'humble' Carrera 4 GTS, the Dakar-ification of the 911 has increased the price to an astonishing £173,000.

If Stuttgart intended to move tens of thousands of people, it may be an issue. But it's not. Porsche enjoys building (at least) one less car than the market requires

and in this instance it’s taken that approach to extremes. Just 2500 911 Dakars will be built, in total. 

Just when you thought the concept of an off-road-ready 911 couldn't get any more unique, you realize that seeing one in the wild will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And if you haven't bought one yet, it's very definitely too late.

So, do we miss out? Our Porsche 911 Dakar review contains the answer.

Has Porsche damaged the 911 as a road vehicle?

Before driving the 911 Dakar, I hoped it would feel like a luxurious Ariel Nomad. That car rides rough tarmac brilliantly, and, because to the ample bodyroll and low grip threshold of its off-road-biased wheels and tyres, it's a delight to drive on any surface, sliding into, through, and out of corners with such little effort you could do it. 

Has the 911 been Nomad-ified with a 50% drop in spring rate, a 50mm ride height increase (an additional 30mm may be obtained via the pneumatic lift kit, an upgraded, high-pressure version of the normal 911 nose lift designed to work on both axles), and a set of chunky bespoke Pirelli Scorpion tyres?

Initially, we had no idea. While we traveled a long distance for the first launch event in Morocco, the roads were mostly straight and heavily policed. The Pirellis are pretty hard boots, however, and even here, the Dakar fidgets on bumpy roads at low speed, even if road noise is luckily a lot less than one of those 'One life, enjoy it' mud-plugging Defenders you see blasting down the M1.

However, we've spent some time behind the wheel here in the UK. And, while we can confirm that the ride performs better at high speeds (as well as off-road), the Carrera 4 GTS is, predictably, the superior bet for long-term road use. Despite the extra journey, the Dakar is firm and boisterous. With little inside space, it can feel like you're driving a less comfortable GT3. For better or worse, when the tyres are cold and the boost is high, you must also be alert, as it is not afraid to go sideways with little provocation. The stability control will most likely collect you, but only after letting the rear end to swing in a way that will either thrill or terrify you.

With a more measured right foot, the 911's steadiness is less impacted by its unique dual-purpose role. The standard rear-wheel steering (along with lighter, stronger GT3 engine mounts and Porsche's anti-roll control system) tightens the turning circle at low speeds. However, it also improves stability at higher speeds, even with high-rise suspension and a roof tent installed.

Right. So far, the Porsche 911 Dakar appears to be going backwards for more bucks.   

Well, yes. But wait. We've also drove the Dakar in Morocco, which is sort of an off-road utopia. Every road travels through silent wilderness, and each road is scarred at regular intervals with tire traces that abruptly arc from secure, simple pavement to wild, unpredictable desert, the many tracks that zigzag to the horizon evidence to the desert's beautiful, if slightly ominous siren song. So, without hesitation, we leave the road and head into the desert, starting with some rather flat trails and low-lying puddles of sand.

This is more like it. The 992-generation 911 bodyshell may not have been reinforced in any manner for the Dakar, but the vehicle feels tight as a drum as we pick up the pace, return the stability control to Sport, and select one of the Dakar's two special drive modes, Offroad. This adjusts the variable front/rear torque distribution to a nominal 50:50 for maximum traction and increases the suspension to its highest setting.

The four-wheel drive soon performs tiny miracles every 100 yards or so, the flat-six pulling hard regardless of revs and keeping this odd off-roader moving even as the sand deepens, and this ignorant pilot frequently does the wrong thing at the wrong time.

We skim between tufts of elephant grass and skeletal, long-dead trees, filling the air with dust, sand, and expletives as the car's underbelly (armoured to some extent with CFRP-reinforced panels) clonks off the landscape. Furthermore, we avoid becoming stuck. Even as I sweat, I smile.

How is this fragile road-based two-seater still in one piece? Approach, breakover, and departure angles are astonishingly good for a modified sports car, aided at the front by the removal of the primary central radiator. (Upgraded radiators on either side, along with more powerful fans borrowed from the 911 Turbo, more than make up for the deficit.)

While you're pummeled at moments like an avocado in a Nutribullet, you're thankful for the standard fixed-back carbon bucket seats and reassuring (optional) rollcage.

Will it boogie?

To really utilize Porsche's low-slung, 150mph 4x4, you'll need a suitable recreational area, desert, or abandoned open-cast mine. Fortunately, for our Porsche 911 Dakar review, we have one on hand in Morocco. The Dakar is absurdly excellent fun as it speeds across towering dunes, their cambered slopes of soft sand providing an all-consuming driving challenge unlike any other.

In Rallye, with its more rear-biased power distribution and stability control turned off, the Dakar is in its element - faster and incomparably more enjoyable than any SUV, capable not only of getting through this scary landscape but of enthusiastically reveling in it.

The (in)famous 911 balance is in full swing here, with the low-grip, almost liquid surface slowing the action down like the world is moving at half speed. The slides come easily, triggered by a light brush of the brakes or a good squirt of gas, and the fun lasts for what feels like hours as you experiment with the alcantara-rimmed wheel and pedal-operated flat-six out back.

Perhaps it's the heat and thirst, but something unusual happens to the 911's engine note as well. Previously, the 3.0-litre twin-turbo six (in GTS tune here, for 473bhp, truckloads of torque, and a savannah-flat torque curve that works well in this application) was up to its usual tricks, sounding industrial and performing its low-effort duties with a strange and mostly uninspiring combination of bassy blare and part-throttle gurgles.

As we careen between thorn bushes with the sports-exhaust button depressed and the rear-engined weight distribution working to summon traction and make holding a state of mild power-oversteer as easy as breathing, a spell is cast and this modern Porsche six (hybrid-ready, of course) starts to sound like something altogether more special and of a '80s, air-cooled persuasion. At least until the fluttering wastegates break the illusion.

Porsche 911 Dakar review: judgment.

Interestingly, the 911 Dakar is priced similarly to the 911 GT3 RS. (Equally amazingly, both fall far short of the 992-generation 911's financial powerhouse, the heritage-mining Sport Classic.) Given the two cars' very different engines (the RS has a spine-tinglingly turbo-free 4.0-litre race unit), not to mention the GT3 RS's more expensive optimization engineering, that feels like a mistake only for as long as it takes to drive the Dakar as intended.

Do that, and you'll be astounded by Porsche's rear-engined icon's bandwidth and how well its peculiar dynamics operate in places as disparate as Silverstone and the Sahara.