Next ones please!
With the Carrera T and the Dakar, Porsche brings 911 variants number 25 and 26. One for road trips, the other for off-road use.
Turn one into ten.
This is how the witches' math begins in Goethe's Faust.
Make 26 out of 1. This is Porsche's formula for success.
And that's not magic: there have never been so many different 911 models as there are today.
May we introduce the new ones: With the number 25, the Porsche 911 Carrera T is arriving, the purist version of the classic.
And the new number 26 is called: Dakar.
Just like the toughest road rally in the world.
A 911 for off-road use.
But one - one goes into the ancestral gallery of the 992 series. Because the 911 will celebrate its 60th birthday next year - and of course there is a special model.
Not too much is revealed about the number 27 yet.
At least officially.
But we have one or the other idea.
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The 911 Carrera T, which has lost 35 kilograms and still has more technology on board, promises pure Porsche pleasure.
© THOMAS STROGALSKI / Porsche
Less weight - Porsche sacrifices the rear seats
But first to the Carerra T, the 911 for purists.
T stands for touring.
Porsche launched a model like this for the original 911 back in 1968.
With 110 hp instead of 130, it was the weakest in the series.
In 2017, the T was revived in Zuffenhausen - and then rolled out one after the other on the Cayman, Boxster and Macan.
The concept behind the T is simple.
Less is more.
Less equipment means less weight and less weight means more sportiness.
Paradoxically, the little costs more.
The Carrera T is around 10,000 euros more expensive than the basic model.
The rear seats are thrown out, the discs are lightweight, just like the battery.
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Is it already Christmas?
And this photo was not taken in Bavaria either, but right behind Los Angeles on the Angeles Crest Highway.
© Boegel
35 kilos lighter than a normal Carrera
But of course, Porsche also offers more technology for the five-digit surcharge.
The series includes, for example, the sports suspension lowered by 10 millimeters, the sports chrono package, larger tires (20 inches at the front, 21 at the rear), the sports exhaust system and the mechanical limited-slip differential.
Adding everything together results in a total weight saving of 35 kilograms (kg).
The new T thus weighs 1,470 kg.
For comparison: the forefather from 1968 weighed just 1080 kilograms.
There is no difference in the engine.
Like the normal Carrera, the station wagon has 385 hp and 450 Nm of torque.
That means from 0 to 100 in 4.5 seconds.
Short, crisp and precise: this is how switching is fun
We were able to try out the fact that it still feels different when driving during the first tests on the Angeles Crest Highway through the San Gabriel Mountains.
But what does highway mean here, only two lanes, the asphalt road partly covered with frost winds its way upwards, where there are even ski lifts.
First of all, let's say: Good roared lion.
Due to the thinner panes, a whopping portion more exhaust sound comes into the interior cabin.
The grip on the streets is good, the 911 screws itself exactly and precisely through the tightest corners at full speed.
Direct steering, hard chassis, full focus.
But the nicest thing is the manual transmission, with which the T variant is always supplied.
There is also PDK – but then the sports car becomes heavier again.
And honestly, then the gag is gone.
Because the circuit is really fun.
The lever is shorter, the shift travel is crisp and precise.
That's the pure Porsche feeling that you only get in the Carrera T.
In stores from February for 123,845 euros.
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The new one and its predecessor from 1984. Dakar is the name of the off-road special model, of which there will only be 2,500 copies.
©Porsche
The Dakar: road car with off-road hearts
The Dakar will be even more radical than the 911 Carrera T.
The 911 for the rough.
The one that Porsche sends into the desert to dune surf.
"Radical" is what Porsche boss Oliver Blume (who is also VW boss and is currently turning the group's electric strategy upside down) calls the latest offspring of the 911 family.
Blume will personally present the model, which is limited to 2,500 units.
"We measure up against the best, we push the limits with this 911," he says.
"The Dakar is a road car with an off-road heart." And that describes the off-road 911 pretty well.
The name is reminiscent of Porsche's first rally victory in 1984. Back then, by the way, with the first all-wheel drive 911.
Anyone who appreciates nostalgia can also purchase the original paintwork (white, blue, red, gold) for a small additional charge.
From the outside, the Dakar looks like it's been jacked up, a racing car with stilts.
No wonder, because this Porsche was not lowered, but raised.
The body hovers up to 80 millimeters above the road.
This means that the parameters for ground clearance and ramp angle that are so important for off-road driving are also at the level of a classic SUV.
The Dakar is generally 50 millimeters higher than a Carrera with sports suspension, plus another 30 millimeters, which the lift system adds if necessary.
Incidentally, the 911 Dakar maintains this high level up to a speed of 170. "For ambitious off-road journeys",
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Original Porsche folding spade and red recovery eyelets
The tires are one of the most important things when riding off-road.
This is where the Zuffenhausen-based company developed the Scorpion All Terrain Plus together with Pirelli.
Size 245/45 ZR 19 at the front, 295/40 ZR 20 at the rear. The coarse profile is nine millimeters deep, and the side walls are reinforced.
The tires should have good off-road properties, but also shine on asphalt with typical sports car properties.
Sounds like squaring the circle - the test on the example will show whether this has been successful.
If you really want to go off-road, you need a few little helpers just in case.
Gasoline and water canisters, specially developed ramps and a real Porsche folding spade are stowed on the roof basket.
There is also a small fin here, behind which the 12-volt current stretcher is hidden.
And for those
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The 911 Dakar is a real dune surfer.
Whether sand or snow desert - with this radical sports car you can get through anywhere.
©Porsche
GTS engine, GT3 front hood and lightweight construction
So much for the off-road heart of the Dakar – the radical 911 will still mostly be on normal roads.
And here it must also convince as a real sports car.
The core is the six-cylinder biturbo engine from the GTS with its 480 hp and 570 Nm of torque.
It goes from 0 to 100 in 3.4 seconds. However, the top speed is 240 km/h – because of the off-road tires.
The technical basis of the Dakar comes from the Carrera 4, the front hood with the prominent air inlets at the top from the GT3.
And so it goes happily on.
The engine mounts also come from the GT range, plus there is roll stabilization PDDC, rear-axle steering and lightweight elements for discs and the battery.
Just like in the Carrera T. In terms of weight, the rally 911 is on the same level as a 4 GTS with dual clutch transmission and weighs just over 1.6 tons.
Porsche 911 Dakar
Engine/drive six-cylinder boxer engine / all-wheel drive
Power / torque 353 kW (480 hp) / 570 Nm
V max / 0 - 100 km/h 240 km/h / 3.4 s
Length / width / height 4.53 / 1.86 / 1.34 m
Luggage space / curb weight 132 l (front) / 1,605 kg
Consumption / CO2 11.3 l / 256 g/km
Price: from 222,020 euros
Porsche 911 Carrera T
Engine/drive Six-cylinder boxer engine / rear
Power / torque 283 kW (385 hp) / 450 Nm
V max / 0 - 100 km/h 291 km/h / 4.5 s
Length / width / height 4.53 / 1.85 / 1.29 m
Luggage space / curb weight 132 l (front) + 264 l (rear seats) / 1,470 kg
Consumption / CO2 10.3 l / 234 g/km
Price: from 123,845 euros
Special model for the 60th - Porsche wants to build the essence
Two anniversaries next year will ensure that the Dakar will not be the last derivative in the current 911 series.
On the one hand, the 911 will be 60 years old and 75 years ago the first Porsche sports car, the 356 "No.1" Roadster, was registered.
Such round numbers are usually acknowledged with a special model.
For the 50th there was a rather unspectacular Carrera S with the thick buttocks of the all-wheel drive vehicle and a few smaller, fine cosmetic interventions and quotations from the past, for example the checked pattern on the seats.
Hardly any difference in engine and chassis.
For the 60th, one hears that one wants more.
The essence of the 911 should be put on the road.
Speculations that it will be a Super Carrera are not commented on.
Based on history, an SC would be conceivable.
The last 356 was called the SC – the last Porsche sports car before the then new 911.
But back to the basics.
What is the essence of the 911?
Boxer engine, vacuum cleaner, manual switch, rear-wheel drive - and above all lightweight construction.
All these ingredients can only result in a Super Carrera.
Even if that's not his name.
In any case, we are looking forward to variant 27 of the current 911.
Rudolph Boegel
List of rubrics: © Porsche
