Porsche 911 sets new world record for mountain climb

Less than a week after a giant blow-up Porsche 911 entered the record books with the world’s largest inflatable vehicle, the German marque’s iconic sports car has claimed a new world altitude record.

Climbing higher than any car has gone before, a pair of heavily modified Porsche 911 Carrera 4S coupes have reached the west ridge peak of the Ojos del Salado volcano in Chile – 6734 metres above sea level.

Rather than use the new Porsche 911 Dakar for the climb, the two modified 911 Carrera 4S sports cars, nicknamed Doris and Edith, were chosen.

Both were far from standard as climbing up the side of a volcano over rugged rocky terrain in sub-20 degrees Celsius temperatures – where air is half as dense as it is at sea level – needed considerable preparation by Porsche and French rally and off-road experts RD Limited.

That said, the twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre flat-six was standard, producing the same 326kW as the standard C4S, and is combined with a seven-speed manual transmission.

Among the biggest changes were raising the ground clearance to more than 350mm and adding portal front and rear axles that, handily, also reduce the gear ratios needed for climbing.

Other mods included a lightweight but tough underbody armour made of a composite called Aramid that is strong enough to withstand sliding over sharp rocks without causing damage to the mechanicals.

New tech on the lead car included a steer-by-wire system, dubbed Space Drive, which was developed by Schaeffler Group to offer precision and detailed feedback that mechanical systems couldn’t offer over the volcano’s challenging surface.

Inside, the two 911s were equipped with lightweight carbon-fibre seats and five-point harnesses.

As part of the record, both cars ran on synthetic e-fuel that was produced locally in Chile by HIF.

Before the climb, the expedition took two weeks to acclimatise to the high altitudes and gained height slowly. Team members’ heartrate, sleeping patterns and calorie burn were all monitored by smart watches and two doctors, whose job it was to ensure the drivers avoided altitude sickness.

After an exploratory mission back in 2022 that saw the team climb up to 6000 metres, this year’s drive encountered little snow but the 911s still had to find a way through boulder fields, cross deep gravel and deal with treacherous volcanic ash deposits.

Beginning on December 2 at 3:30am, it took until 3:58pm on the same day before three-times Le Mans 24 winner Roman Dumas reported that his car, ‘Edith’, had reached the 6734m summit.

After photography was complete, the two cars then made their careful descent back down the volcano for more than a thousand metres to the base camp.

Said to have received a few scars from brushes with rocks along the way, and covered with thick volcanic ash, the 911 Edith could have easily made another ascent, according to Porsche.

The new record climb to 6734m beats the previous record high of 6694m at the same Chilean volcano back in 2020, although that was set in a pair of modified Unimog trucks.

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