How Porsche Put A 911 On Top Of A Volcano

Porsche is no stranger to setting records of the lap-time variety, but Porsche’s most recent record-breaking adventure was achieved with what is almost certainly the slowest factory-built 911 in the last half-century. Speed (on pavement, at least) was not its mission, and given the off-road action depicted above, you may be surprised to learn the 911 in question is not related to the 911 Dakar, despite being very clearly optimized for off-road driving.

Porsche built the car with a specific record in mind, one that has nothing to do with lap times or besting other drivers. All the engineering that went into the car, named Edith, by the way) was in service of driving higher than any other earthbound vehicle in history, a goal Porsche achieved late last year (you can read our story here). Now, a documentary about the amazing journey is set to debut this Friday.

Porsche wasn’t exactly secretive about the project when it was ramping up for the effort. It was deep into testing with Edith back in late 2022, and promoted the project with a video:

Where does one go to drive higher than any other vehicle before? Chile’s Ojos del Salado, the world’s tallest active volcano, was just the place. With its summit at 22,615 feet (6,893m), the top of Ojos Del Salado is well over a mile above the highest point in Colorado (which is Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet, just in case you were wondering), and even Mount Everest’s base camp elevation (17,598 feet) is lower than the altitude Porsche was shooting for.

Of course, (Boromir voice) one does not simply drive to the summit of Ojos del Salado, not on a road at least, though you can get pretty high indeed by road elsewhere in the world, as Lamborghini will gladly tell you. In 2021, the brand took an Urus to the highest drivable road in the world, the Umling La Pass in Ladakh, India. Driving the Urus via road to 19,024 feet (5,798m) was enough for Lamborghini to get all hot and bothered and release an entire story about how achieved an “unimaginable task.”

For Porsche to go some 3,000 feet higher, without a road, in a 911 of all things, is actually sort of unimaginable and objectively far more impressive – especially when you consider the record Porsche had to beat was set by a pair of Mercedes Unimogs in 2020, and the dedicated off-roaders climbed to 21,961 feet.

Nevertheless, that’s exactly what Porsche did with Edith, and now it’s set to reveal its documentary about the achievement. A collaboration between TangentVector and Porsche of North America, the film will showcase the four-year project from start to finish. It’s called Edith: Volcano Ascent.

Driven by Romain Dumas, the team achieved the feat on December 2, which is the ideal time of year to do it. According to MeteoBlue, December is at the start of the warmest part of the year while precipitation is at one of its lowest points.

At the same time, that doesn’t mean that it was exactly pleasant. Temperatures at the peak often dip well below freezing and the air is thin enough that using supplemental oxygen is a normal practice.

How exactly it managed to give the flat-six in the back of the Porsche the oxygen it needed to keep going is surely something we’ll find out in the film. We know a few bits and pieces about Edith including that she runs on e-fuel and was originally a stock 992 Carrera 4S. According to Motortrend, the team at Porsche actually did altitude testing on the engine by using it in a light aircraft. Hopefully, that testing will be in the documentary. Porsche also used a second 911, named Doris, with similar though less extreme mods, as a support vehicle.

Interested parties can grab general admission tickets to see the show here. In fact, they’re kinda cheap ($31.84 including fees) considering that this is an official Porsche event. You could end up hob-knobbing with some serious executives. Maybe Lamborghini execs will be in the building and learn something! The show starts at 6:00 p.m. on August 16. Snag a few seats and let us know what you think!