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This Portal-Axle Porsche 911 Is Basically a Moon Buggy

When you need to traverse a Chilean volcano in a Porsche 911, you'll need a few modifications.

Andrew Krok
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
Andrew Krok
Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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Porsche has converted a pair of its 911 Carrera 4S coupes into volcano-traversing adventure machines -- in part to test its hallowed sports car in some of the most extreme conditions known to man.     

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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And these conditions are definitely extreme.    

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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When climbing Chile's Ojos del Salado, temperatures can drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius, and there's only about half the oxygen in the air as there is at ground level.     

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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Of course, sending unmodified 911s up there probably wouldn't end very well, so Porsche's engineers worked with Romain Dumas Motorsports to prepare the two cars for the rigors of the adventure.     

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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Their interiors were fitted with roll cages, carbon fiber seats and harnesses.    

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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Under the bodies, Porsche installed portal axles, a type of off-road suspension that tucks the axles as high up in the body as possible, well above the wheel's centerline.    

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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It also boosted ground clearance to nearly 14 inches.     

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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The cars feature lower gear ratios for better low-speed control, in addition to underbody panels made from aromatic polyamide (Aramid) fibers, which are also found in body armor fabric and marine hulls.     

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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The bodies were also massaged to make room for the portal axles and the chunky off-road tires that wrap around the cars' wheels.     

Modified Porsche 911 climbing a volcano
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Keep scrolling to check out more pictures of these wild one-off 911s.

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