COVID 19 Compliant - Evening Newbie Desert Drive -Al Qudra - Dubai - 5 June 2020

[Ale Vallecchi]

1 hour ago, Wrangeld said:

It's no understatement to say we braved the heat yesterday afternoon in Al Qudra. Even the vehicles sitting under the shade of the few trees could not be protected from the oppressive heat at 4pm. 

As we all started to deflate and flag up, however, the prospects of a good long drive awaited so everyone was in great spirits. 

I think I will call this report, "The One with the Touareg". @amro elshafey arrived as newbie to try out the Touareg in the desert and after a very detailed check and careful additonal briefing from @Gaurav we lined up in convoy order to move. It's a particular bugbear of mine that if you're coming in a drive you get there on time. It's simply not fair on the people who do get themselves there when we have to wait to get moving - particularly when the ambient temperature is 40+C and you drive a Jeep (yes, there is always the worry of overheating). 

Despite @Gaurav stretching the briefing to see if the final convoy member would arrive, after 25 minutes we had to get moving. And move we did. @Matti Brockman did a fantastic job in second lead, paying attention to distance and all of the instructions on where to rereoute and what to do, and to be honest it was a surprise to find that the first refusals were not from the Touareg, but other supposedly more capable vehicles. These were none to serious and nothing a quick tug or moment of thought could not sort out. 

@syed salman raza @Yousef Alimadadi and @Mehmet Volga represented the Pajero club on this drive with our lead, as pretty much everyone else was in a jeep and it's always interesting to watch the different way these makes of vehicles perform in the sand. 

With @Ale Vallecchi as Centre forward, the stucks that there were, and we did have a few people bogged in soft sand or cresting their cars, we managed so that the drive was fast paced and we could take advantage of the sweeping dunes in Al Qudra and keep the vehicles moving. 

After an hour or so, and as agreed before we set off our @amro elshafey exited onto the road, quite honestly having impressed the heck out of the rest of us by handling the challenge so well. We have no idea what the next plan is, but we really apprecaited your company and hope to see you back. 

On from here we went to the first play are of the day, back through some technical dunes and had the chance to do some side sloping and testing of nerve and vehicle. 

Wrangler drivers @siddharth maheshwari @E.C. TAN and @bunty_and_pops all showed how they are developing as drivers and controlling their vehicles. From the previliged position as sweep, myself and @Jeepie can see how you have started to take your own lines through the dunes if it looks like a challenge and how you get through the more difficult areas normally with ease. 

Nothwithstanding the wonderful sweeping dunes we did hit a problem area with two symultaneous stucks. @Yousef Alimadadi was sorted by @Ale Vallecchi while myself and @Jeepie eventually decided that it was too hot to dig and pulled @siddharth maheshwari off the crest where he had landed himself. 

It was all good fun and we continued to sweep our way through the dunes in search of a new play area. 

Having decided it was time to play, @Gaurav went for a trial run for a sidey. It was abruptly stopped when the sidey ran out of side and we were able to watch a master at work as Gaurav self recovered and we continued along the way. (Pictures in previous posts after Gaurav got free!)

As evening fell, the plan had been to take a few minutes for a night drive so we made our way to the technical dunes where we were planing for this to happen, but as so often is the case in the desert, other events intervene and @Gaurav had to leave us to support a recovery from another drive. 

We were not far from the road so I rerouted and led the convoy back to the last exit to reinflate and make our way home. 

It was a great drive. Full of omvement, good lessons learned, good discipline from everyone and a great attitude. One small request, echoing what @E.C. TAN said. Communication on drives is key. If you are dropping out, please, please tell us. We don't know if it's because you have a problem, you want a bio break or you just want to go home. Unless you announce it. As you saw by Gaurav leaving to help out another crew, the Carnity approach is never leave anyone behind. So if you go missing, we will be worried aobut you and go looking. 

See you soon in the sand. 

Thanks @Wrangeld for the report. You always find a way to render a perfect description of the drives, while at the same time giving useful tips and reminders to be considered for future drives. I was happy to see that your Jeep did very well in the heat. See you very soon, out there.

[Yousef Alimadadi]

Good morning everyone,

first of all thank you so much @Gaurav for organizing such a fantastic off road event yesterday and special thanks to @Ale Vallecchi, @Wrangeld and @Gaurav To help me when I stocked in the sand.

Thank you @Wrangeld to bringing up this important topic here.

as you mentioned the communication is the important element in team work but I thought the event was finished when everyone said thanks and I saw Ale was standing Beside the convoy and i got confused.

I do really apologize form everyone.

over all it was not my day yesterday...

 

[bunty_and_pops]

@Wrangeld  - Many thanks 

@E.C. TAN - Thanks for pics - attaching yours but there was sun behind it

  @Gaurav and the team thank you for another fun drive PLUS your recovery when stuck was v instructive.

[amro elshafey]

Thank you @Wrangeld for this fantastic report, I appreciated your company too and would love to join again and again. I am already spending a good time exploring the internet looking for the available lift kit options for the Touareg 🧐

[Gaurav]

4 hours ago, amro elshafey said:

Thank you @Wrangeld for this fantastic report, I appreciated your company too and would love to join again and again. I am already spending a good time exploring the internet looking for the available lift kit options for the Touareg 🧐

Here comes the sand bug. Welcome buddy.

You are on a right track @amro elshafey same I wanted to advise you, that if you like this hobby and you wish to pursue to test it more then look into "TEMPORARILY" lifting the Touareg with 2 inch spacers so you can drive at newbie level more peacefully.

And spacers are totally reversible mod, so whenever you are done with this hobby or with Touareg to go for dedicated offroader.

Remember, not to spend big money as Touareg may not be a good all time offroder and you might or might not face issues with VW in the sand.

[amro elshafey]

25 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

Here comes the sand bug. Welcome buddy.

You are in a right track @amro elshafey same I wanted to advise you, that if you like this hobby and you wish to pursue to test it more then look into "TEMPORARILY" lifting touareg with 2 inch spacers so you can drive at newbie level more peacefully.

And spacers are totally reversible mod, so whenever you are done with this hobby or with Touareg to go for dedicated offroader.

Remember, not to spend big money as Touareg may not be a good all time offroder and you might or might not face issues with VW in sand.

@Gaurav  you mean something like this, right? https://www.forgemotorsportoverland.com/products/vw-touareg-porsche-cayenne-lift-kit?fbclid=IwAR20YAmNle1gsvHV2WJRo2FAfabwmLw3-48Omz9gLH8GteUT9MHldLJIbgE

I like the idea but not sure where to find in Dubai and a trusted place to install them.

Thanks for the advice

[Gaurav]

2 hours ago, amro elshafey said:

@Gaurav  you mean something like this, right? https://www.forgemotorsportoverland.com/products/vw-touareg-porsche-cayenne-lift-kit?fbclid=IwAR20YAmNle1gsvHV2WJRo2FAfabwmLw3-48Omz9gLH8GteUT9MHldLJIbgE

I like the idea but not sure where to find in Dubai and a trusted place to install them.

Thanks for the advice

Yes it's same, but I'm sure you can get it cheaper.

Post your question here (new post) and see if anyone have sourced these before?

And don't worry about installation, it's pretty straight fwd job for any half way decent mechanic.