Quite a few people saw the Porsche 911 Dakar and said ‘cool thing, but 314,900 euros for a 911 GTS with wellies?’. Those same people then point to home-and-garden off-road conversions of older 911s that appear ready for a zombie apocalypse. So how do you like this idea: take the cheapest, used Porsche 911 – the water-cooled 996 – and let professionals turn it into an off-roader.
That’s exactly what this Kalmar Automotive RS-6 is. Yes, that name is causing steam from the ears of Audi lawyers, we think. What we have here is an old Porsche 911 996 – if the 996 was designed by Bear Grylls (that guy who drops himself on a desert island and shows how to survive with minimal resources. And a cameraman). Kalmar tested the 911 on the frozen lakes of Lapland in temperatures below -35 degrees Celsius.
The adjustments to the Porsche 911 996
The company ripped out all the sound deadening and much of the interior and installed a roll cage. 8 millimeter thick protection has been stuck to the belly of the 996 and it stands 80 millimeters higher on its legs than the original. The drive shafts, shock absorbers, top mounts and bushings have been strengthened or exchanged for better components.
Kalmar optionally installs a hydraulic system to lower the Porsche by 50 millimeters on normal asphalt. But that’s not our favorite part about this 911. No, the best part is the fact that the RS-6 treatment can be unleashed on any 996-generation 911 with a fixed roof. So take a Carrera, a Carrera 4 or, if you want to do it right, a Turbo. They will even tickle it to more than 500 hp for you. An off-road GT3 would really be awesome.
How much does it cost to convert your Porsche 911 996 into an off-roader?
If you have returned a basic car, all you have to do is choose your own color scheme and transfer 45,000 euros (excluding taxes) to Kalmar. This amount does not include the donor car. You can pick up a second-hand 996 Carrera in the Netherlands for less than 30,000 euros, so you can have your own Porsche 911 996 Dakar for well less than a grand. A third of what you pay for the real one.
