See Porsche 911 Dakar Off-Roader ahead of Its L.A. Auto Show Debut

Porsche is preparing to reveal a rally-bred version of its 911 sports car at the Los Angeles auto show next week.In a nod to the victorious 1984 Porsche team for the Paris–Dakar Rally, the company is calling its all-wheel-drive sports car the 911 Dakar.In addition to the all-wheel-drive system, the 911 Dakar sports more ground clearance than the standard 911 as well as meatier all-terrain tires.

Before its official production debut at the Los Angeles auto show next week, Porsche is sharing details about the development of its off-road-ready 911 Dakar sports car. If this lifted 911 has you asking “What in the Subaru Outback–loving nonsense is this?” we’d like to remind you of Porsche’s rich rally racing heritage, particularly with the famed Paris–Dakar Rally, which the manufacturer won for the first time back in 1984.

Porsche says it has gone to great lengths to stress-test the 911 Dakar model, putting on 6000 off-road miles during the car’s development and 300,000 miles in total under what the manufacturer calls “extreme conditions.” Honestly, judging by the photos here it looks like a heck of a lot of fun, sliding the 911 Dakar around on gravel, sand, and icy surfaces in far-flung locales such as Morocco, Dubai, and Sweden.

We have no details yet about the 911 Dakar’s powertrain, but it’s safe to say it will use one of the 911’s turbocharged flat-six engines and will likely come only with Porsche’s eight-speed PDK automatic transmission. We recently reported that a pair of prototypes used for development in Chile were modified Carrera 4S models with a twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six making 443 hp. All-wheel drive will obviously be standard and we’re interested to find out what other off-road enhancements have been made to the car beside the raised suspension and upgraded tires.

If you’re as intrigued as we are, come back at 10 p.m. ET on November 16, when we will have full details on the production model.

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