2fcknfst

I use this to go off way off road ... although it has most certainly had its issues, it has never left me stranded and has always gotten me home; probably a little more practical off road than a 911...

s65e90

Same thing as a spacer for a pickup on the front.

pfbz

1986 Paris Dakar:550 starters, 80 finishers, Porsche took first, second, and sixth.

"This is one of the most grueling motorsports events in the world. Experts said the race could only be done by an off-road vehicle...."

Sometimes it is the doing of what others said couldn't be done that is the sweetest victory.


(skip to 21:00)

Now no doubt that any motorsports, but particularly off-road motorsports, can be very hard on a vehicle. Do this to a 911 and you are definitely saying it is a tool for hard use rather than a trophy for admiration...

To me, it was the 959 (and it's success in motorsports) that really was the genesis of the modern water-cooled turbo, more so than the 930.

Carlo_Carrera

What is your proof that most of these build are driven mostly on the street?

The few people I know who have them use them off-road or in rough urban environments which are practically off-road. How many Safari owners do you know?

You are incorrect, a Safari 911 with destroy most SUVs in a timed rally. Porsche 911s have a long and successful history in off-road rallying. Google it.

Carlo_Carrera

Correct. Many of the kits sold for air cooled cars come with longer stroke dampers/shocks but they are not necessary needed in all applications.

pancing

Just like every truck/jeep is lifted and tractor sized tire fitted pavement queens are. Most vehicles that are driven mostly offroad are beat to **** because thats what happens. Yeah i agree with nost safari 911s would be driven on the street because the cost of maintaining them would be astronomical.

If you have a 996 that is put together well with all the underbody protection, compression allowance, suspension and safety the only cars that will give you a run for your money would be purpose built rally cars.

Any sort of offroading is a huge expense, even if its slow and climbing up rocks or wading through mud.

Luckily junkyards and scrapyards have lots of axles!

k9turbo

so funny. i always wanted to set up a 911 turbo for dakkar rallye. but i'm getting a jeep with a 4" lift kit instead.

Dock

docwyte

How many Safari 911's do you see running real off road events? Baja 500/1000, King of the Hammers, etc? Lemme see em, I'll wait....

Carlo_Carrera

King of the Hammers? Those are not the type of events 911 safari folks compete in. They do timed speed rallying, semi-pro/amateur/pro level WRC/Dakar type stuff. No need to wait just Google it.

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/04/24/...-rs-rally-car/

Carlo_Carrera

911 Safari in the Mexican 1000

2fcknfst

It is impressive to see how many of these 911 are doing timed runs off road. The timed WRC/Rally type of events seem better suited to the 911 in 'safari' guise, versus the serious all out runs through unknown terrain. I suspect the reason Porsche took 1,2 and 6th in the Dakar was in no small part due to the budget and subsequently the support the cars had in the desert. When you break something in the middle of nowhere, you need to have enough knowledge (and parts...) in order to get to the next pit-stop, or you shall be rightly buggered. My last break in the boonies was a relatively simple fix on paper (reattaching a charge hose) but in application, it really sucked because the intake was oily and I could not get enough purchase on the band clamp to hold it together. Nursing it, with trailer, up a mountain pass for 40kms really sucked, and this was on a highway. Much respect for these guys who thunder off into ether not knowing what is coming...

pfbz, those are great vintage videos! I remember watching those as a kid and thinking 'I wanna do that!'

With that being said, it is an intriguing idea to build one of these 'safari' type turbos. I don't think I would want to do this with an NA version of a 996 unless the engine was rock solid and fixed of gremlins. In some ways, if you could get a solid 996 NA power-plant, it may in fact be a touch easier to fix, should you get stuck out in the wilderness - short of driving a rod through the block, of course...

2fcknfst

They use my choice of All Terrain tyre! Pretty ballsy when you break a main shaft that shift by matching revs until the gearbox disconnects from the engine...

Impressive, thanks for sharing this.

2fcknfst

That 74 SC Safari is clearly set up for off road; the suspension does not work as well with the sticky tyres on the road course. Wheelies!

pfbz

For Dakar, rules have changed fundamentally since the 959 dominated. A car-class Dakar competitor these days is a 100% purpose built, tube chassis race machine with a body shell that looks a bit like the car it represents... Probably less than a dozen parts (mostly cosmetic) that came from the actual production car. As you can see in the photo above, the 959's while I'm sure heavily tweaked by a race department, are pretty much the actual vehicle.

For Baja, I'm sure if SCORE had a class for stock 911s like they do for VWs, they would be pretty competitive. But as you say, values are too high, owners often think driving them in the rain is a sin let alone beating the crap out of them off road racing...