It’s hard to look back at Porsche’s past 30 years and not be impressed. The company has grown from organizational turmoil and financial bankruptcy to a rapidly growing company. His four generations of the 911 (996, 997, 991 and the current 992) ushered in the water-cooled era, not only securing the future of the iconic sports car, but diversifying the entire portfolio with the Cayman. /Boxster, Cayenne, Macan, Panamera, Electric Taycan. It’s no exaggeration to say that Porsche is in a good time.
As Porsche prepared to say goodbye in 2023, the year it celebrated its 75th anniversary and the 911’s 60th birthday, we expected Porsche to have one more trick up its perfectly pressed sleeve. There were hardly any people. we should have known better.
Record-breaking 911
The news we woke up to in the morning was difficult to quantify. It’s still hard to quantify, but I’ve driven the car in question. It concerned an altitude of 22,093 feet above sea level. Until Porsche came along, there were no vehicles that drove there.
On December 2, 2023, the team of Porsche engineer, local guide, mountaineer, and three-time Le Mans winner Romain Dumas pilots a heavily modified Porsche 911 to the top of the western ridge of Chile’s Ojos del Salado volcano. succeeded. Operates on e-fuel.
The origin of this feat was a “Saturday Club” project carried out in the evenings and weekends by a group of dedicated Porsche engineers. They bet on whether the 911 could beat his existing altitude world record of 21,961 feet, set by two Mercedes cars. -2020 Benz His Unimog. But the Unimog is built to tackle tough terrain. That is, you go in and come out again. What purpose did Porsche send out the 911 to win the crown?
doris and edith
The car that officially broke the record (nicknamed Edith) and the development car that served as support (Doris) began life as a genuine 992 Carrera 4S. The first phase of Doris’ development took just three months, from ideation to first testing in Chile. The car’s standard body was cut to accommodate off-road wheels and tires and custom suspension, giving it 13.7 inches of ground clearance. The engineer took inspiration for the suspension from remote-controlled off-road toy cars, but since this is a Porsche, Lift didn’t think he’d be happy with his kit and leave it alone. In addition to custom machined aluminum suspension components, Porsche employed a radical practice in its suspension geometry called “Warp Connector,” a technology originally developed for the 918 hybrid supercar.
When thinking about power, the big hurdle is always altitude. At 22,000 feet, the air is about half as dense as it is at sea level, so the engine would have to work twice as hard to achieve the same power output. The most common solution is to use turbocharging to force more air into the engine. Porsche chose a different path by keeping the engine stock.
Preliminary altitude testing of a genuine Carrera 4S 443 horsepower 3.0 liter flat-six (done by shoehorning the engine into a light aircraft and flying over the German countryside, no big deal) Afterwards, engineers concluded that the engine could be used without modification. . impressive. Additionally, in discussions with his HIF, one of the company’s e-fuel production partners, Ojos del Salado has announced that its vehicles will be powered by fully synthetic and fully sustainable e-fuels produced in Chile. It was decided to climb.
how do they drive?
I had no idea what to expect from these two scary-looking flat-six Frankensteins. The driving event was held in the hills of Malibu, California, on the off-road course where the 2024 Toyota Tacoma was last driven when it was released. The Tacoma handled the course with ease, but how would the two lifted 911s cope?
At the pre-driving briefing, we were convinced that the development car, Doris, was “almost a road car.” That is, the body panels are unchanged except for the wheel arches, which have been cut out and rebuilt. A 7-speed manual transmission sends power through the rear end with a 4:1 ratio, significantly shortening the gears for precise driving at low speeds. Inside, the shift knob is still covered in leather, and the dashboard, instrument cluster, and even the infotainment screen are completely stock as well, but things change quickly once you take your eyes off the driver’s seat. In addition to the carbon fiber racing seat, five-point harness and full cage, the gear linkage is fully exposed, as is the warp connector suspension and a nice long bar that runs the length of the car to the right. The sides of the transmission tunnel twist or bend while driving.
As unnerving as it looks and sounds, the moment you let the clutch out, this is still a 911, and even a development car is as taut, composed and organized as any Porsche would be. It reminds me of what I can feel.
That said, it can feel a little jerky when crawling up and down in first and second gear. Once you find the third, the car becomes amazingly fast. The brakes are wire-operated, but they are rarely needed as endless engine braking is available through the 4:1 transfer.
But the car’s real success story lies in its suspension. The combination of extra travel, portal axle fitment, and its impressive warp connector system creates a truly baffling amount of go-anywhere off-road capability. Sitting in a low sports car on a 25% dirt slope, looking only at the sky, heading towards the sky without a care in the world is an incredible job that Porsche has done with these cars. It tells the story.
Edith: record breaker
Doris is great, but Edith was the main event. She is the more focused of her two vehicles, with carbon body panels (including doors taken directly from the 992 GT3 racing program) and Kevlar underbody panels replacing Doris’s aluminum panels, giving her an approx. 880 pounds of weight saved. While Doris retains the rear floor panel of her 911 and the panel between the cockpit and engine, Edith places the engine and eardrum in a single space covered in carbon. A thin carbon bulkhead tries to provide some separation between the driver and powerplant, but it’s mostly futile.
Amazingly, the car that set the record books by taking Romain Dumas to the top of a volcano made it through Malibu’s hilly off-road course without a wheel slipping. I’m a barely competent off-roader, but Edith made me look (and feel) like a Dakar-winning legend. That didn’t take away any credit from Dumas and Porsche.
Now, on to the main topic: The elephant in the room with Rothmann livery is the 911 Dakar. Are there similarities between the Altitude car project (which started in 2019 and would probably have been successful in the same year had it not been for the global pandemic) and the 992 Dakar (which was in development around the same time)? When asked about the desire to take the 911 off-road, the answer was a firm but fair “no.” Of course, a Dakar needs to be more than an off-roader, but Doris and Edith were built with a specific purpose, and they easily achieved that.
Indeed, apart from a puncture on the first of three visits to the volcano, the team has overcome many miles, hills, cold, rain, and snow without any problems with either car. did. , their own comfort level in pursuit of rocks, altitude, and glory. It was a great win and a great way to end a very special year. This year has been a happy birthday year for Porsche, with many happy 911 revivals.