Safari-themed Porsche 911 Gets an Electric Power Boost
Kelly-Moss Road and Race collaborates with Vonnen to produce a 911 that can attack the trails as well as the streets.
With a top speed nudging 200 MPH and the ability to sprint to 60 MPH in only 2.6 seconds the 991 series 911 Turbo S is one of the top performance cars you can buy today. With an advanced all-wheel drive system, the Turbo S doesn’t need perfectly smooth, dry roads to exploit its prodigious performance. So, how do you improve upon what is already an extremely capable sports car? For starters, you can never go wrong with adding more power. If you want to go the safari route though, you need some extra ground clearance to go with the power. A custom suspension with a lift should do the trick.
Introducing “Dannata” the Kelly-Moss Road and Race (KMR) rally inspired build based on a 2014 Porsche 911 Turbo S. Porsche has a long history of creating rally cars and these vehicles are all the rage in the market right now. Porsche rally cars were cool when they were new and their popularity has only grown since. KMR is a well known Porsche racing and restoration shop in the Midwest. To make the new car rally ready KMR installs MCS (Motion Control Suspension) adjustable coil over shocks (lifted 2”), Baja Designs LED lights mounted on a custom KMR tubular skid, along with several other upgrades all draped under a custom designed vinyl wrap.
The power in the Dannata Turbo S is boosted by approximately 150 horsepower and 150 ft-lb of torque over stock, but not in the manner you might expect. The extra power doesn’t come solely from a turbo upgrade or a software tune. Vonnen, noted for their performance hybrid retrofit technology, provide the extra oomph in this car. They do it with their Shadow Drive performance hybrid system. What this system does is integrate an electric motor into the car’s drivetrain between the engine and transmission, supplementing the existing internal combustion engine. While the electric motor used offers a big bump in power it doesn’t come with a big weight or size penalty. The Shadow Drive unit will fit inside of your average pizza box, and the entire system weighs only 170 pounds.
This unique approach to boosting power offers the best of both worlds to the enthusiast who is looking for something a little different. Everyone loves the instant response that electric powered vehicles can provide, but going electric often means sacrificing the typical sports car sound and emotion. With the Vonnen solution, the hybrid system provides that instant and clean power yet retains the traditional modern Porsche 911 driving experience. Having all this performance is great, but having it in a safari-themed 911 is icing on the cake.
KMR, from their headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, will sell and install the Shadow Drive technology. If you want to get a closer look at the Dannata build, it will be on display during Amelia Concours Week, and at Caffeine and Octane in Atlanta.
This build shows that the electric revolution currently taking place does not signal the end of performance modifications. Electric motors offer us another option when seeking more power. It is possible to keep everything we love about ICE powered cars yet supplement them with more modern technology.
Photos: Vonnen
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