Pirelli Scorpion specified as original equipment for all-new Porsche 911 Dakar

Milan, Italy – For the first time, Porsche will specify a Pirelli off-road tire as original equipment for the 911: the Scorpion All Terrain Plus, which has been designed for the most challenging conditions. The car is the new Porsche 911 Dakar, a reinterpretation of the classic coupé in all-terrain form, which has been designed to maximize its off-road capabilities. The new Porsche is offered exclusively with Pirelli tires as original equipment, including summer P Zero tires for use on asphalt and P Zero Winter for optimal grip in the colder months.

Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus is the tyre from the Scorpion range that has been specifically designed to offer resistance and support over the most demanding terrain, but it has been adapted to allow the Porsche 911 Dakar the versatility of an off-roader as well as the high performance that has always epitomised this sporting icon. A unique development programme was carried out to achieve these targets, which relied heavily on Pirelli’s experience of Ultra High Performance tyres for the world’s fastest cars.

Pirelli’s research and development department has given a new family of compounds their debut with this product, which are able to handle the performance of this car both on loose surfaces and asphalt. Furthermore, the structure of the tyre has been strengthened –especially at the back – and optimised to improve the contact patch. Compared to the traditional Scorpion All Terrain Plus, the new tyre for the Porsche 911 Dakar features a tread pattern that equally delivers competitive performance in the dry, making it as effective on a circuit as in the desert. All this is achieved without compromising the fundamental aspects that a tyre needs for everyday use, such as stability, safety and comfort. Throughout the outdoor testing schedule for this tyre, Pirelli drove the 911 Dakar on all the main proving grounds in Europe, as well as on variety of tracks representative of a wide range of conditions.

Pirelli and Porsche enjoy a long history of collaboration, with the Porsche 911 being the very first car to receive a marked Pirelli tyre (in this case, with the ‘N’ symbol) back in 1982. As a result, Pirelli’s ‘perfect fit’ strategy was born with Porsche: denoting tyres developed in parallel with the world’s most prestigious carmakers, which are specifically made to measure for cars with the highest levels of performance.