Porsche 911 Dakar 2024 Review

Even in Porsche circles, the new 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar isn’t cheap.

In fact, at $491,400 plus on-road costs, it sits as the fourth-most expensive model in the expansive full-time Porsche 911 line-up in Australia – sitting beneath the 911 Turbo S Cabriolet (from $559,400), hard-core 911 GT3 RS (from $539,100) and the 911 Turbo S Coupe (from $538,700).

Unlike those models, the 911 Dakar is extremely limited in allocation. Of the 2500 vehicles manufactured for all global markets, just a handful are said to be coming to Australia.

If limited-run specials like the Porsche 911 R are any guide, it means the Dakar’s small production output will almost certainly make it an investment of sorts, especially among collectors.

The 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar essentially shares its basic equipment with most other 911 models – things including dual-zone climate control, keyless entry/start, heated seats, heated steering wheel, electric seat adjustment, LED headlights and daytime running lights plus a full-width LED rear strip.

It then goes crazy with off-road specialty parts to turn a perfectly good sports car into a manic, desert-ready off-roader.

It also deletes the rear seats from the factory…

Visually, the 911 Dakar is easily distinguished by its fixed carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) rear spoiler, GT3-style vented bonnet, red tow points, extended wheel-arches and a variety of stainless-steel protective elements.

Then there’s a host of underbody equipment which goes a long way in justifying the lofty purchase price. More on that shortly.

Buyers can go a step further in tailoring their ride with a Rallye Design Package that shoots the asking price up another $54,730 to $546,130 plus ORCs.

This design pack pays homage to Porsche’s winning car of the 1984 Paris-Dakar rally – a Rothmans-liveried 953 – and adds two-tone white and blue paintwork and wrapping (a first for Porsche on a standard model), a personalised race number adorning the doors (between 1 and 999), decorative red and gold stripes and a new trademarked ‘Roughroads’ door logo (a la Rothmans).

An optional $7000 Rallye Sport Package is also available, which adds a roll cage, six-point harnesses and fire extinguisher, while buyers with less hard-core rallying intent can steer towards the optional roof rack (with 42kg capacity) and roof tent for their off-road adventures.

Like other Porsche 911s, the 911 Dakar is covered by a so-so three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty in Australia. Servicing intervals, meanwhile, are spaced every 12 months/15,000km. Porsche doesn’t offer capped-price servicing.

Although not tested by independent safety authorities such as ANCAP (as is the norm with low-volume sports cars), the 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar comes complete with six airbags, quick-thinking driver electronics and safety assist tech such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB).

Other items including adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist are found in the optional extras catalogue.

Structurally, the 911 Dakar is bolstered by thousands of hours of development in competition – both on- and off-road.

It’s all good news where the 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar’s infotainment is concerned, as everything is shared with the 992-generation 911 line-up.

That means twin 7.0-inch displays for the instrumentation and a central 10.9-inch infotainment system that works with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

The entire system is operated by the standard Porsche Communication Management (PCM) system that comes pre-loaded with better traffic information capability and natural voice instructions.

For example, the system asks if you’d like to save the nose-lift, or raise the body, when you reach a steep driveway or rocky path.

In the centre console there’s two USB-C ports and a 12-volt socket in the passenger foot well.

Porsche has also hidden a separate 12-volt outlet atop the roof for accessory charging. Clever.

The 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar is based heavily on the Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS (from $373,000), with shared components including the 353kW/570Nm 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged flat six-cylinder engine.

The flat-six drives all four wheels through an eight-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic and can reach 100km/h from rest in 3.4sec.

That’s 0.1sec behind the equivalent GTS, despite the modifications on the Dakar which are extensive, but have kept the weight to just 1605kg – just 10kg more than the C4 GTS with PDK.

Weight has been saved with the use of lightweight glass, a lightweight battery and carbon-fibre bucket seats, plus the removal of the rear seats. There is also no spare wheel on the Australian-spec Dakar (only tyre sealant and compressor), due to its “high global standard equipment load”.

The Dakar rides 50mm higher than a standard 911 Carrera with sports suspension and has a lift system fitted standard that can raise the car at the front and rear end a further 30mm.

The suspension has unique tuning to suit the Dakar’s off-road orientation and is complemented by bespoke Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus tyres (245/45ZR19 at the front and 295/40ZR20 at the rear). Porsche says the chunky tread pattern is 9mm deep and that the reinforced sidewalls and the threads consist of two carcass plies.

The Dakar also features rear-axle steering and engine mounts pinched from the GT3 and the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control active roll stabilisation system.

The chassis overhaul is matched by specialist ‘Rallye’ and ‘Off-road’ drive modes.

The former is intended for use on faster and smoother terrain, with a more rear-biased setting for the all-wheel drive system, while the latter is tailored for rougher terrain and elevates the suspension to its maximum height by default.

One of the lesser-cited benefits of Porsche’s smaller-capacity turbo engines is fuel efficiency. Officially, the 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar carries a combined-cycle fuel consumption rating of 10.5L/100km.

In regular conveyance, we were able to go close to that mark. In headier driving, you can expect much higher fuel use.

Put simply, the 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar resets the parameters of what a traditional sports car can (and can’t) do.

It won’t carve through corners with the same knife-edge precision as a road-going 911 – cushier suspension and thick-walled tyres put paid to that – but at the same time it’s incredible what this jacked-up sports car can do off-road. More on that shortly.

In regular conveyance, the 911 Dakar drive experience is heralded by an industrial cabin environment led by raucous road noise and engine noise. Some may take exception to the rawness of it all, but in our opinion it is perfectly fitting and makes for a real sense of occasion.

The softer suspension and all-terrain tyres combine to deliver a compliant and controlled ride over common road imperfections, while the steering feels light at low speed and loads up organically and adequately with input applied.

Elsewhere, the turbo-six engine is sublime in regular conveyance. It feels smooth from take-off, with none of the hesitation or lurching that tends to afflict some rivals upon setting away, and feels almost imperceptible with its gear changes, such is the timing and smoothness.

The fast steering rack means the 911 Dakar has no qualms navigating turns, but its softer suspension and tall rubber does mean it walks around on its tyres relative to a Carrera GTS, for instance.

In some respects, the pay-off is a more energetic driving experience – because more things are happening in your hands and around the cabin. In other respects, it does blunt the sheer precision and dynamic nirvana the 911 is known for.

Even so, the rawness of the 911 Dakar’s dynamics is fully realised when the engine is singing at full noise.

In scenes reminiscent of the Stuttgart car-maker’s naturally-aspirated 4.0-litre flat-six, the forced-induction six spins almost manically to its rev cutout (just over 7500rpm) and telegraphs what’s happening almost telepathically to the driver.

Without even looking at the tachometer, you have a fair estimation of where the engine is spinning.

Similarly, feedback through the seats and through the floor is rich and engaging.

Even so, without doubt the Dakar’s best work is done away from the bitumen.

The 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar is in its happy place off-road.

Officially, ground clearance is rated at 191mm, complemented by a 19-degree breakover angle, 16.1-degree approach angle and 18.2-degree departure angle.

And for what it’s worth, those figures come close to matching the Porsche Cayenne.

Hyperbole aside, the 911 Dakar instils driver confidence with its front-rear balance, the tuning of its controls and the tangibility of the driveline.

It’s almost as if you can feel the firing order of both cylinder banks, such is the level of feeling, feedback and theatre.

It means mere mortals like your correspondent can happily sashay through fast dirt corners without so much as a consideration of insurance premiums. The 911 Dakar is that easy to gauge and control.

Granted, we wouldn’t go so far as to turn all the electronic ‘help’ off; but driving with the half-loose ESC Sport mode means you can have fun without stowing it into the weeds.

In slower settings, the Dakar’s ride height and bespoke driving modes mean it will cover a surprisingly amount of hilly ground without breaking a sweat – as evidenced by the car’s global launch program in Morocco.

The 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar puts its own spin on the 911 blueprint inside the cabin, with a decidedly racy interior theme and, above all else, a minimalist layout.

The deletion of the 911’s rear seats – complemented by the installation of a roll cage on our test car – combined with the inclusion of six-point harnesses, hip-hugging front bucket seats and lashings of Alcantara conspire to create a race-car environment almost unlike anything else on the road.

Especially when the rear Perspex window and fire extinguisher are in full view.

If your sole ambition in life is to own a 911 – and if you only get to choose one – then the 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar probably isn’t for you.

It’s expensive, even in Porsche circles, is limited in numbers and hugely specialist.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s super-impressive, but for the garden-variety Porsche enthusiast, it’s also quite over-the-top – especially when the donor GTS costs 25 per cent less.

If you have an existing stable of Stuttgart’s finest, and money isn’t an issue, then the 911 Dakar is a consummate off-roader and belies its sports car status away from the tarmac.

But even with that said, if you’re only just pondering purchase by now, you’re too late. The handful of vehicles bound for Australia are well and truly spoken for.

2024 Porsche 911 Dakar at a glance:
Price: $491,400 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Sold out
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbo petrol
Output: 353kW/570Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed PDK dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 10.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 239g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested