https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...11-dakar-test/

LOL! John Phillips is the best with a scathing sense of humor. 911 Dakar AKA 'how to milk, with a good dose of nostalgic appeal, the same old cow'.
Aren''t you happy that the 718 platform, largely ignored by Porsche of late, doesn't offer this BS variant? I sure am.

 

I would drive the heck out of a lifted 718 in the Wisconsin winter!

 

"Porsche 911s carry two burdens only: handling and acceleration. To expect this one to penetrate granitic hummocks and Miocene tar pits—just in case Starbucks' next franchise is halfway up Trapper Peak—is like asking a Cuisinart to tie your shoelaces. One possible rationalization: "I want to drive my 911 all winter." Okay, but why should one car serve all functions? That's how America became constipated by SUVs styled like Mosler vaults. Let's be honest: The Dakar is less functional off-road than a $38K Subaru Forester, which we'd driven on these same two-tracks a week prior. When you're off-road yet suppressing 473 horses under your right Reebok, all you can wonder is, "How close are we to pavement?"

John Phillips hasn't lost his touch. The best C&D writer IMO.

One of his many memorable columns was this piece published in 1993 about (mostly) Billy the Kid but set in the backdrop of the review of one of a kind SHO wagon which, was never offered to the public by Ford. I did own a 1990 SHO manual with that Yamaha engine which was the only good thing about that car.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...y-the-numbers/