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Mud, sweat and gears
4 years ago
The 911 Dakar is effectively a tribute to the Porsche 953
It is 1984 and Porsche is about to do something it has never done before. Its 911 had once been an accomplished rally car, winning a hat trick of Montes between 1968-70, but that was in an era where all rally cars were driven by one axle or the other, but never both. A decade and a half later it was not just rally cars that had changed – the Audi quattro ushering in the all-wheel drive era in which we remain today – but also rallying’s most coveted prize. It may have just been five years old, but the Paris-Dakar was already known as the most gruelling rally on the planet and therefore almost by definition, the most prestigious to win. And Porsche wanted to win it.
And it was the 959 that was intended to do the job. Revealed as the ‘Gruppe B’ concept in 1983, the 959 was the car that was planned to blow the road and rallying world apart, by being faster across both disciplines than anything that had gone before. But while Porsche waited for the fiendishly complex 959 to go through an elongated and often difficult gestation, it thought it might have a little look at the Dakar while it waited. Indeed, such was the importance of the event, Porsche felt no need whatsoever to rally anywhere else: a win on the Dakar would trump winning every other rally there was, and the championship to boot.
"Only when you’re travelling at 106mph (170km/h) does it conclude you’re probably having about as much fun as is wise and returns the car to a less abnormal ride height"
One of the main prime movers behind the first exploratory toe-dip into the Dakar was none other than Jacky Ickx who, having already won Le Mans four times for Porsche, was a man with an awful lot of clout down Stuttgart way. After a dozen or more years at the top of sports car racing, he’d been smitten by the Dakar from the word go, not least because he never felt more alive or at home than in Africa. And in 1983, driving a Mercedes-Benz 280GE he won the Paris-Dakar outright at his third attempt.
So to win it again with Porsche sounded like a dream, and Porsche needed very little persuading to divert three street 911 Carreras and prepare them for the event, especially after long-time Porsche sponsor Rothmans agreed to help out with the finances. Officially the cars were entered by ‘Rothmans Team Jacky Ickx’ though they were fooling no one. It was a full works effort, right down to the two MAN trucks and 12 mechanics that went with it.
The 3.2-litre 911 Carrera engines were actually detuned with lower compression ratios so they’d tolerate poor quality fuel in the event that ran for 7500 miles across Africa and the suspension was completely transformed, with double wishbones replacing struts at the front, additional coils being added at the back and a massive 270mm of wheel travel achieved. They featured the first all-wheel drive system ever used on a 911, with a fixed 31:69 front to rear torque split with a manually lockable centre differential. The roof, side windows, rear screen and doors were made from plastic and the front tank replaced with a 120-litre item while the space where the rear seats would have been was filled with another, allowing the cars to carry a total of 270 litres or almost 60 gallons in old money. The result even got a new name: the Porsche 953.
"Further evidence that this is an off-road 911 in more than name is provided by the standard twin carcass Pirelli Scorpion off-road tyres with a very chunky 9mm deep tread pattern. In addition to the usual driving modes, there are additional ‘rally’ and ‘off-road’ modes"
Three drivers were selected: Ickx keen to win again, chief development driver Roland Kussmaul in another and Dakar specialist René Metge in the third. Such was Ickx’s determination to win, his co-driver Claude Brasseur lost 18kg specifically for the event.
But on only the second day in Africa, disaster struck Ickx, when smoke started pouring from the dashboard, as an errant stone had short-circuited the electrics which were now in the process of burning themselves out. All appeared to be lost, but those who presumed them retired (which was most people) reckoned without the determination of the supporting Porsche mechanics who repaired the car in the middle of the desert. But by the time they rejoined, they were in 139th place with all chance of victory gone.
To Porsche that would have scarcely mattered as Metge already had a lead he’d maintain to the flag having negotiated his way through France, Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal and well over 3000 miles of special stages. Yet, absolutely extraordinarily, Ickx still came sixth.
The 911 Dakar's all-terrain Pirelli tyres
After he got going again, Jacky won the next four stages on the trot, stages measuring 125, 345, 148 and 380 miles respectively, two miles short of 1000 miles during which no one got near him. By the time he finished, he’d won more stages than anyone else including the aforementioned 380 miles at an average speed of 110mph. In the desert, in a converted road car nearly 40 years ago. It really doesn’t bear thinking about. The following year the 959s should have swept the board, but all three cars broke. Better prepared in 1986, Metge won again, with Ickx second and Kussmaul back in sixth.
By then the 953s were museum pieces, to be wheeled out on the right occasions, one of which is today, press day for the Los Angeles Auto Show. Compared to the survival cells on wheels that are modern Dakar competitors, it looks incredibly crude and vulnerable today, but it’s the car parked next to it we’re here to see.
The 911 Dakar is a limited edition model, though 2500 units is still a considerable number of cars. You can order one now for £173,000 with first UK deliveries taking place in the spring. That makes it only a fraction less expensive than a new GT3 RS and therefore very nearly the most expensive Porsche on sale.
At its heart lies a Carrera 4 GTS (£120,800) with a PDK gearbox. Unlike the standard GTS, there is no manual option. The engine is the stock 474bhp twin-turbo 3-litre GTS unit. But the suspension is rather different. It runs a ride height fully 50mm higher than that of a standard Carrera S on sport suspension, which can be raised by a further 30mm by the lift system. But this is no ordinary lift, for it lifts the car front and rear and, Porsche says, once it has done so, ground clearance and ramp angles rival those of ‘more conventional off-road vehicles’.
But that’s not the party trick. The really fun bit is it doesn’t drop the car back down to its standard ride height at the usual 30mph or so. Nor does it at 40, 50, 60 or any other remotely legal speed. Only when you’re travelling at 106mph (170km/h) does it conclude you’re probably having about as much fun as is wise and returns the car to a less abnormal ride height.
Further evidence that this is an off-road 911 in more than name is provided by the standard twin carcass Pirelli Scorpion off-road tyres with a very chunky 9mm deep tread pattern. In addition to the usual driving modes, there are additional ‘rally’ and ‘off-road’ modes, plus ‘Rally Launch Control’ specifically designed to maximise traction from rest on loose surfaces. Active engine mounts from the GT3, active anti-roll bars and standard rear-wheel steering makes the Dakar ‘as capable on sand and gravel as it is on the [Nürburgring] Nordschleife.’ How I hope we get to put that claim to the test.
We can see Porsche is serious about this car by its stainless steel skid plates front, rear and under the sills, and the steel grilles over the air intakes to stop the engine inhaling a rock. Want more? How about a 12V socket mounted on the roof so you can power up the light bar that comes with the additional roof rack capable of carrying up to 42kg of stuff. What kind of stuff? Porsche recommends fuel and water canisters, folding shovels, traction board and a tent.
Efforts to offset weight gain come from a carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) rear spoiler, and the GT3’s CFRP bonnet. There’s thin glass, deleted rear seats and a lightweight battery too. All up it weighs just 10kg more than the GTS.
For those who want to go full Jacky, there’s also the £18,434 Rally Design Package to consider which comes in white and Gentian Blue paintwork (Porsche won’t say it because it probably can’t, but it’s essentially Rothmans livery) with the customer’s choice of number from 001 to 999 slapped on the door roundels.
I expect some people are going to be cynical about this car, pointing out that it’s probably quite an easy way to shift 2500 units at a vastly inflated price, but this is no run out special – the second-generation of the 992 is not due until 2024 – nor is this the last limited-edition gen one 992 we’re going to see.
It will, I am sure, be hugely profitable for Porsche but beyond that, I suspect the real motivation for it is that we are moving into the 911’s 60th birthday year and it will be an integral part of those celebrations. Me? I just want to drive it, preferably on sand, certainly at over 100mph while channelling my inner Jacky. Three weeks and 7500 miles across Africa would be ideal but honestly, I’d settle for a run up the beach at Bognor.
