Porsche 911 Dakar Will Be An All-Action Hero

You've got to hand it to Porsche. The carmaker certainly knows how to get a read on what its customers want. Safari-style 911s have surged in popularity over the last several years,and Porsche knows it. The way we see it, why let someone else build off-road 911s when you can sell them to customers yourself and cut out the middleman? We're all for a factory-built off-roader with a warranty and an engine in the back, and these new photos are perhaps our best look at the new 911 yet.

Our spies captured the 911 Dakarrunning some laps on the famous Nurburgring in Germany today. Clearly, Porsche is making sure the 911's on-road performance isn't hampered by its new off-road credentials and modifications. Obvious off-road bits aside, this new 911 doesn't even look all that different from the current run of Porsche 911 sports cars.

For starters, the lights, mirrors, and doors are all standardPorsche 911fare, but the differences soon make themselves apparent. Porsche has added some vents to the existing 911 hood, as well as some changes to the bumper and rear end. The existing Carrera's strakes have been removed, perhaps for better cooling, and the rear bumper now features some venting for the wheel wells, as well as a different exhaust layout. That new layout appears to move the exhaust up and away from the ground, appropriate for an off-road 911. There's also a new rear wing we haven't seen on current production models.

We also noticed that the wheels are not center-lock like the wheels of faster 911s. Perhaps Porsche ditched the center locks to ensure owners could change their wheels on their own out in the bush. Of course, the 911 Dakar's trademark raised ride height is still present as well. Call us crazy, but it looks like Porsche was testing the car with a set of winter or all-terrain tires on the Nordschleife. The tread pattern certainly doesn't look like your typical summer tire.