DUNE BASHER

Dune Basher

A Porsche Cayman redesigned for the deserts of the UAE.

Look to the deserts of the UAE and you can expect to see a sea of Land Cruisers and F150 Raptors in various states of tune. On the right day you’ll even find a pack of Porsche Cayennes in the vast expanse - which have likely come through the doors of Zeus Offroad, where Samir Samy and his team have converted them from canyon-carvers into dune-bashing brutes.

But there are only so many Cayennes you can build, test, break, improve and repeat before wanting to try your hand at something new; something altogether smaller. Enter this, the Zeus Offroad Cayman S.

“We wanted to build something completely different from the usual off-road Porsche platforms, and the 987.1 has one of the most balanced chassis Porsche has ever produced.” Samy recalls.

Agile, lightweight, and most importantly rear-wheel drive, Samy’s Cayman is about as close as you’ll get to a Porsche desert buggy. In this case one with air-con, a Carrera red interior and a six-speed manual gearbox.

There’s more than a hint of Mad Max-ness to it in this testing stage, but beneath the overfenders lie a slew of much more subtle changes to survive the desert abuse. The most remarkable modification is up front, and no I’m not referring to the in-house fabricated front bumper and skid-plate combo. The biggest clue lies in the vents on the frunk lid…

“The factory side radiators become liabilities off-road, they collect sand, rocks, and restrict approach angle - so we designed a completely new system.”

To gain an approach angle sufficient for the enormous orange dunes in Liwa, Samy has ditched the Cayman’s frunk and OEM coolers, replacing them with a tubular frame now housing a single, slant-mounted radiator behind the bash bar.

Modified suspension is a given, evident in the Cayman’s jacked-up ride height. A low-slung sports car isn’t at home off-road, and in this case the car has been fitted with custom developed long travel springs and shocks.

“The suspension geometry involved a lot of R&D,” says Samy. “You can’t just lift a Cayman and expect it to behave. Every component has to work together under off-road loads.”

While I’ve experienced Samy’s driving before, as part of a Cayenne convoy tackling dunes the size of apartment blocks, there’s a distinct difference in the way the Cayman makes progress in through the desert.

“It has coped much better than expected; surprisingly composed in the dunes and very predictable. The chassis reacts cleanly, the steering stays sharp and it loves momentum driving."

Considering the speed with which Samy hit the dunes while I was shooting, bucking wheels in the air and cresting orange peaks with the confidence that only an experienced driver could have, it’s understandable why the Cayman has had to undergo such intensive reworking.

Yet while I’ve experienced Samy’s driving before, as part of a Cayenne convoy tackling dunes the size of apartment blocks, there’s a distinct difference in the way the Cayman makes progress in through the desert.

Where a Cayenne bullies its way through the dunes, breaking through the peaks and powering out of troughs, Samy’s Cayenne skips and scrambles over the sand instead. It’s an oryx instead of a camel, fleet-footed and graceful.

While its mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout give the small Porsche unmatched agility compared to a 4x4 or an SUV, it also requires a much more consistent approach to tackling the desert.

In Samy’s own words, “It has coped much better than expected; surprisingly composed in the dunes and very predictable. The chassis reacts cleanly, the steering stays sharp and it loves momentum driving. Heat management was our biggest concern, but the upgraded cooling system has handled everything we’ve thrown at it.”

Keep your speed up, keep an eye on your angles and keep clear of the softest sand and the little Porsche becomes an off-road rocket ship; howls of its flat-six engine echoing through the dunes - especially with the tubular exhaust system that Samy’s team has fabricated for it.

“Compared to a Cayenne, it feels like a desert buggy - lighter, more agile, and much more communicative. The mid-engine layout gives great traction and stability on climbs and transitions. The main drawback is that you don’t have the brute force or 4WD safety net of a big SUV, so line choice matters more, but the car rewards precise driving, which is part of the fun.”