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Marvel Studios has become the master of extracting as much value from a concept as any corporation in the world - except one.
Each year we’re bombarded with at least a couple of superhero movies and even more television shows, so much so now that the term ‘superhero fatigue’ has entered our social consciousness. We no longer care if Thor or Spider-Man save the day because we’ve seen so many world-ending disasters being stopped at the last minute we can no longer feel excited.
Porsche, though, is able to create one spin-off after the other and still have true motoring enthusiasts getting sweaty palms and elevated heart rates. The current 992-generation 911 range included a frankly mind-boggling 23 variants, from standard Carrera all the way up to the race-car-in-disguise GT3 RS and the full-speed, full-lux Turbo S.
And yet, somehow the German maker found room for a 24th variant. How? By going off the beaten track. Literally.
The Porsche 911 Dakar is unlike anything the brand has done before, taking the iconic sports car and giving it an off-road twist.
So, what is it exactly? Well, for those unfamiliar, the Dakar Rally is an off-road race that typically lasts two weeks and sees competitors take on the roughest and toughest conditions the desert can throw at them. It’s a gruelling and sometimes fatal challenge, but it’s the toughest test of human and machine.
It’s also typically contested by large, SUV-based vehicles. In recent years it was Toyota HiLuxes and Volkswagen Touaregs doing the winning, while in the early days it was Range Rover.
Porsche won the Dakar Rally in 1984, using a specially modified version of its 911 to beat its conventional off-roader competition.
To celebrate that victory, and add one more variant to the 911 range, Porsche created this jacked-up, beefed-up version of its sports car.
But is it all looks and no substance? We went bush to find out…
Audi's A5 Coupe and Sportback have always been good looking cars. Yes, yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but seriously, just look at one and tell me it's not handsome.
Happily, the just-updated RS5 doesn't just build on the looks of its more sedate sibling, but on the performance, too, adding near-supercar speed to those supermodel looks.
Sounds like a pretty good match, right? Let's find out, shall we?
Personally (and I’m expecting some hate from the fans in the comments), I hope Marvel slows down on the superhero movies and shows, but Porsche can keep doing its thing if cars like the 911 Dakar are the result.
It’s certainly a very niche offering, and one that will almost certainly go to collectors in this instance. But even that didn’t stop Porsche from investing in proper off-road upgrades to ensure the 911 Dakar is just as capable in its element as the 911 GT3 is in its and every other member of the range.
There’s been no official word from Porsche, but my hope is the 911 Dakar follows the same scenario we saw the the previous-generation 911 R. That was another strictly limited special edition, basically a GT3 without the big wing, and it was so popular it spawned the 911 GT3 with Touring Package for this latest generation.
It may be unusual and unlikely, but the 911 Dakar is also unquestionably a great addition to the already extensive 911 range.
Good looking, good to drive, and good to simply sit in, the Audi RS5 range ticks plenty of premium boxes. Whether you can live with the practicality pitfalls of the Coupe is up to you, but if you can't, might I suggest taking a wander over to our RS4 Avant review?
As you can see in these images, our test car was fitted with the optional 'Rallye Design Package'. It adds another $54,730 to the cost but brings with it this head-turning paint scheme inspired by the racing livery from the 1984 winner. It’s actually a two-tone paint job with a wrap, the first time Porsche has produced such a finish on any of its production cars.
The ‘Roughroads’ is a substitute for the original cigarette brand that sponsored the car, while the white and blue scheme, with red and gold highlights is almost identical to the ‘84 car. Owners could pick any racing number between one and 999, our test car had #176 because that’s the number carried by the winning car.
The Rallye Design Package isn’t just a fresh look, too, it also adds the white wheels, a half roll cage, six-point racing-style harnesses and a fire extinguisher, so you can enter motorsport competitions and really push your Dakar to its limits.
I defy anyone to describe the RS5, and especially the Coupe, as anything but stunning. Seriously, the near perfect proportions and swept-back styling make it look fast even when it's parked.
Up front, there's a new-look black-mesh grille that's been given a 3D effect, like it juts out over the road in front it, while the thing headlights have been carved back into the body work like they're been windswept under hard acceleration.
The 20-inch darkened alloys fill the arches, too, with a sharp body crease that runs from the front headlight all the way back to the bulging shoulder lines above the rear tyres accentuating the curves.
Inside, the RS5 is a sea of black Nappa leather and sporty touches, and we particularly like the chunky, flat-bottomed steering wheel, which both looks - and feels - great.
The interior is probably the most ‘normal’ 911 element of the Dakar. Yes, it’s strictly a two-seater (even without the optional roll cage), but it doesn’t feel much different to a GT3, especially as the brand’s 'Race-Tex' synthetic suede is the standard trim material. The only exception is the unique ‘911 Dakar’ badge on the passenger side of the dashboard, which tells you exactly which one of the 2500 examples yours is.
While Race-Tex is the primary trim, there’s plenty of leather elements and contrasting stitching to give a premium look and feel. The standard seats in the Dakar are the lightweight full bucket sports seats, made from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic and also trimmed in Race-Tex. This adds to that sporty, GT3-like feeling. They’re comfortable when you’re in them, but as they’re quite deep they make getting in and out a bit trickier than the standard Porsche chairs.
The rest of the technology is standard Porsche. The multimedia system is as simple and intuitive as ever, one of the better examples on the market today, which is something you typically think of with Porsche but it shows the company’s attention to all the details.
The Dakar comes equipped with a Bose surround sound system and full smartphone integration, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
However, it’s worth noting if you add the Rallye Design Package and get the roll cage it will cut down on the amount of usable storage space. Without it, you can use the now-carpeted space where the rear seats would go for extra storage, but with the cage you can only squeeze a few soft items in. The rest has to go under the bonnet in the relatively deep but narrow front storage space, which measures 132 litres.
So, if you do want to take an extended road trip in your 911 Dakar, springing for the roof storage system would be a helpful idea.
We only tested the Coupe, and I can tell you that the practicality perks on offer largely depend on where you're sitting.
Up front, you're spoiled for room in the two-door Coupe, with the two spacious seats separated by a sizeable centre console that's also home to two cupholders and a variety of cubbies, with extra bottle storage in each of the front doors.
The back seat, though, is a little, or a lot, tighter, with come acrobatics required to even climb into it, given the Coupe only has two doors. The Sportback offers two more doors, which will surely make the process a little easier.
The Coupe measures 4723mm in length, 1866mm in width and 1372mm in height, and will deliver a decent 410 litres in luggage space in the boot. The Sportback measures in at 4783mm, 1866mm and 1399mm, and boosts your luggage space to 465 litres.
Either vehicle has your tech needs sorted, with an abundance of USB and power outlets serving both front and backseat riders.
At first glance you might just think the 911 Dakar is just a sticker pack and a new set of wheels and tyres, but you’d be very wrong.
Yes, there is a sticker pack (more on that later) but Porsche has made some pretty significant engineering changes for the Dakar. Enough that the company claims it now has similar ground clearance and approach angles of a “conventional SUV.”
These changes include up to 50mm more ground clearance than a standard 911 Carrera, plus an extra 30mm of lift when needed from the hydraulic suspension. This higher height isn’t speed restricted, so you can stay lifted and put your foot down, which is perfect for high-speed off-road driving.
There are unique five spoke, forged alloy wheels (19-inch front, 20-inch rear) fitted with specifically designed Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus tyres. To fit this new package there are wider wheel arches with stainless steel for extra protection.
Other unique additions include red aluminium towing points front and rear, a new front bumper with underbody protection and a new, fixed rear spoiler. The bonnet is also very similar to the one found on the 911 GT3, made from carbon-fibre reinforced plastic to save weight.
Porsche has added rear-wheel steering as standard on the Dakar, as is its 'Dynamic Chassis Control' anti-roll stabilisation system, with both intended to help its off-road prowess.
There are some notable - and unusual - optional extras for this version of the 911. These include roof racks able to incorporate a lightbar and/or an extra storage rack that can take on an additional 42kg of luggage. Shovels, traction boards, spare tyres and fuel or whatever else you need for an outback adventure. You can even add an optional tent if you want to go camping in your Porsche 911.
Despite an official asking price of $491,400 (plus on-road costs) it’s hard not to give this 911 a perfect score for price because this is one of the very few cars that will almost certainly appreciate in value, rather than shed it. Porsche is building just 2500 examples of the 911 Dakar globally, so these will become a collector’s item and should be priced accordingly.
It's available as a Coupe or a Sportback, but either way, the RS5 commands a $150,900 asking price. And that's not chump change, but Audi's performance model does come with a lot of bang for those bucks.
We'll get to the engine and safety stuff in a moment, but in terms of fruit, you'll find 20-inch alloys outside, as well sportier RS body styling, sport brakes, Matrix LED headlights, keyless entry and push-button start and heated mirrors, a sunroof and privacy glass. Inside, there's Nappa leather seats (heated in the front), illuminated door sills, stainless steel pedals and ambient interior lighting.
The tech stuff is handled by a new 10.1-inch central touchscreen that gets both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as Audi's Virtual Cockpit, which replaces the dials in the driver's binnacle with a digital screen. There's also wireless phone charging, and a killer 19-speaker Bang and Olufsen sound system.
While it has elements of the 911 GT3, the 911 Dakar is based on the Carrera 4 GTS Coupe, at least from a powertrain point of view. Both models share the same 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six engine tuned to make 353kW/570Nm, paired with Porsche’s eight-speed dual-clutch transmission as standard. Naturally, it’s also fitted with Porsche’s all-wheel drive system, but the Dakar gets some unique features.
For starters, it’s equipped with the same trick engine mounts as the 911 GT3, which are stiffer to cope with extra off-road driving.
The all-wheel drive system features two unique modes - 'Rallye' and 'Off-Road', designed for improved loose surface performance. The former sets the all-wheel drive with a rear-bias and primes the powertrain for sporty driving, while the latter actives the differential lock for better slippery surface traction, also setting the engine and transmission for maximum low-speed response.
One major difference between the Dakar and the Carrera 4 GTS (owing to the former's off-road changes) is a much lower top speed; 240km/h compared to 309km/h for the GTS. The 0-100km/h times are almost identical, though, with the Dakar taking just 3.4 seconds and the GTS 3.3 seconds.
Its a terrific engine, this - a twin-turbo 2.9-litre six-cylinder TFSI that will deliver 331kW at 5700rpm and 600Nm at 1900rpm, sending it thundering to all four wheels (because quattro) via an eight-speed tiptronic automatic.
That's enough, says Audi, to deliver a 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.9 seconds in the Coupe and the Sportback. Which is very, very quick.
Despite the knobby tyres and extra weight (which is only 10kg in standard form, but will obviously blow out if you get the roof basket and load it up) fuel economy for the 911 Dakar is only fractionally heavier than the GTS. Its official rating is 10.5L/100km and on test, which included spirited driving on- and off-road, plus a mixture of motorway and urban running, we returned 12.6L/100km, which is solid for a sports car.
Coupled with the 67-litre tank, you’ll have a theoretical range of 638km on a full tank, which won’t get you across the outback but is respectable for this type of car. It isn’t a Toyota LandCruiser so obviously it won’t get you quite as far on a single fill.
The RS5 Coupe will sip a claimed 9.4L/100km on the combined cycle, and emit a claimed 208g/km of Co2. It's fitted with a 58-litre fuel tank.
The RS5 Coupe will the same 9.4L/100km, but emit 209g/km of Co2.
Porsche isn’t known for doing things in half-measures, so it should come as no surprise that the 911 Dakar has some serious off-road potential. Thanks to the extra ride height, underbody protection and the new tyres the Dakar has some strong off-road credentials.
It has 161mm of ground clearance, which is only 26mm less than a Macan. Porsche also claims an approach angle of 14.2 degrees, a breakover angle of 16.2 degrees and a departure angle of 16.4 degrees.
Even so, the idea of taking a Porsche 911 off-roading still feels unusual, especially when you get gravel under the tyres… and yet, the Dakar feels at home. With the drive mode set to Off-Road and maximum ride height engaged, the Dakar is more than capable of navigating some very rough terrain.
We headed down some rugged trails in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and after some heavy rain the previous weeks, the surface was extremely rutted, chopped up and littered with large gravel. While you wouldn’t put it in the same off-road capability class as a 70 Series LandCruiser, the Dakar had no trouble navigating roads that would normally break a sports car. Even when we came across a water crossing the Porsche just powered through it without any issue.
Back on sealed roads, and despite the knobby Pirellis, the 911 Dakar handles just as well as you’d expect a Porsche sports car to. It doesn’t feel significantly slower or dulled by its off-road elements and instead has the same smooth, effortless performance that has made this model a sports car icon. It's obviously not quite as precise and poised as a 911 GTS on road tyres would be, but it's not far off.
The everyday added bonus of the Dakar’s off-road upgrades is, unlike any other sports car (except maybe Lamborghini's Huracan Sterrato), you never need to worry about speed bumps or potholes, so it would actually make for a surprisingly liveable daily driver.
With our time behind the wheel limited to the RS5 Coupe, we can only really report on how the two-door feels on the road, but given the prodigious power on offer, it's unlikely the addition of two doors is going to make the Sportback any slower.
In short, the RS5 is thunderously fast, collecting speed with utter nonchalance thanks to this thick and endless-feeling supply of power unleashed whenever you plant your right foot.
It makes even the most ham-fisted attempts at cornering feel fast as lightning, with the power flow able to make up for every slow entry and exit by simply piling on pace between bends.
But that's what you expect from an RS model, right? So perhaps more impressive is the RS5's ability to transform back into a relatively sedate urban cruiser when the red mist subsides. The suspension is firm, especially over rough road surfaces, and you do need to be a little careful with the accelerator to avoid that lurching feeling at every green light, but driven calmly, it doubles as a everyday car quite nicely.
Like in the RS4, we did find the gearbox felt a little quick to change at pace, shifting up or down at strange moments on the way into or out of corners, but you can reclaim control via the paddle shifters.
Porsche equips the 911 Dakar with airbags for both occupants, covering the front, thorax and sides plus cruise control is standard. However, there’s no suite of active safety features, with only ‘Warn and Brake Assist’ standard and the Dakar missing out on the 'Lane Change Assist' that’s fitted to the 911 GTS.
Given ANCAP requires seven cars for each crash test it’s unlikely the organisation will spend the $1.9 million it would need to get its hands on enough 911s; and certainly not the limited edition Dakar.
But that’s in no way meant to insinuate the 911 is an unsafe car. Far from it. It feels solid and secure, and its responsive and direct handling certainly impacts its active safety, while it has the key passive safety features, with full airbag coverage.
The safety story begins with six (Coupe) or eight (Sportback), and the usual suite of braking and traction aids, but then climbs into the tech-savvy stuff from there.
You get a 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise with stop and go, active lane assist, front and rear parking sensors, AEB with pedestrian detection, rear cross-traffic alert, an exit warning system, blind-spot monitoring and turn assist, which monitors oncoming traffic when making a turn.
It's a lot of gear, and it all contributes to Audi's five-star ANCAP safety rating, awarded in 2017 to the A5 range.
While most car brands, even the premium ones, have moved to at least a five-year warranty, Porsche is sticking with three years (and unlimited kilometres). But you can extend the warranty, for a price, through your local dealer.
Porsche has also bucked the common trend for capped price servicing, with costs varying from model to model and across states and each dealership, so you’ll need to consult with your local showroom to get a clearer picture. Service intervals are every 12-months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.
Audi vehicles are covered by a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which is feeling more than a little underdone when compared to some competitors.
Services are due every 12 months or 15,000kms, and Audi allows you to pre-pay your service costs for the first five years, at a cost of $3,050.