More than 30 years ago, Porsche engineers installed an all-wheel-drive system into the 911 for the first time and released it at the Paris-Dakar rally – which it won in 1985. But Porsche’s historic victory in the Dakar pales in comparison to what it was. which engineers recently accomplished during an excursion to one of the toughest trails in South America.
Porsche took two heavily modified 911s and drove them to an active volcano. Not just any volcano, but Ojos del Salado in Chile, the highest volcano in the world. Led by legendary racer Romain Dumas, the duo reached a height of 19,708 feet (6,007 meters) while dodging boulders and facing temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 30 Celsius).
A new portal axle helps increase ground clearance to 13.8 inches (350 millimeters) while revised front and rear clips give the Porsche a pair of better off-road angles. A set of 12.2-inch wide off-road tires give both cars tons of grip, while inside, a roll cage, carbon fiber seats and seat belts help protect Dumas and his team on their journey.
The engineers also added what the company calls the “Porsche Warp-Connecter.” Originally designed for track use, this creates a mechanical linkage between all four wheels and creates a constant wheel load – even when the chassis is under extreme articulation.
Although both 911s were heavily modified for off-road duty, they retained some of the factory components, most notably the powertrain. Porsche took an unmodified version of the turbocharged 3.0-liter flat-six from the 4S, good for 443 horsepower (330 kilowatts), and paired it to a standard seven-speed manual transmission.
Of course, a car wouldn’t be complete without a proper racing livery. One car sported the same scheme found on the current 963 LMDh racer, while the other sported a 911-themed livery designed by the Porsche team at Weissach.
Hopefully this extreme off-road test is a preview of things to come.
