Come Here Often?

Now and then, when there was a rally to win, Porsche would send 4x4 911s into the deserts of Africa. Join us there now, in the new 911 Dakar

- Ben Miller

ONCE IS HAPPENSTANCE. TWICE is coincidence. Third time is a pattern. Porsche’s habit of making the début of new technologies first in a skunkworks prototype, out of sight, before developing them in the white heat of competition and then confidently firing them out to the world on its production cars is, like the arcing twin ruts that dance through the dunes ahead of us, undoubtedly a pattern.

And an effective one. Before the twin-clutch gearbox and before Porsche’s 800-volt electrical architecture forged into a state of blinding effectiveness during its mega-bucks stint in the World Endurance Championship with the 919 Hybrid before it found a happy home in the Taycan) there was four-wheel drive.

Synonymous with Porsche now—we have been buying all-wheel-drive g11s since the 964, not to mention Cayenne and Macan SUVs since 2003—it was not always the case. The idea took hold in the early 1980s, helped Porsche win their first Dakar in 1984, with the 953 911, and spawned the mighty spin-off 959 before its début on the street in the 1988 911 Carrera 4.

Skkkrrrrrrrrsh, clonk, skrrrrsssshh. Braaaaaaap-brap, skrrrrsh, clonk!

Right now, I could not be more grateful that it did. The new g11 Dakar, the 173,000 Rs 1.73 crore) limited-edition 2,500 units globally and then that is it—the end) collision of 992-generation 911 Carrera 4 GTS and everything Porsche know about readying their cars for this planet’s great wildernesses, gains two bespoke drive modes, Rallye and Offroad. They modify the four-wheel-drive system’s nominal front/rear torque split in reality the ratio varies constantly on the move, tweaked by the ECU as it sees fit) to best suit the terrain. Rear-biased Rallye we will get to. Right now, a long way from a sealed road, more 50/50 Offroad is pulling off minor miracles every 100 yards or so.