COVID19 Compliant - ABSOLUTE NEWBIE Morning Desert Drive - Al Qudra- Dubai - 21 Aug 2020

[Athula Dharmadada]

8 hours ago, Frederic said:

@Athula Dharmadada Welcome to Carnity Offroad Club.

Please introduce yourself with the following information:

- Which 4x4 are you driving ? Nissan Pathfinder 2015 ?

- Any prior offroad experience ?

- Are the front and rear towpoints in perfect condition ?

I have noticed you have entered in your profile data that you have a Nissan Pathfinder 2015. Is this correct ?

Please note that the Nissan Pathfinder does not possess the minimum ground clearance as specified in our  drive topic:

Ground clearance is only 7inch while it should be 8 inch minimum. This is to avoid breaking your vehicle as we cross dunes in our drives.

Unfortunately we cannot allow this vehicle for the offroad drive on Friday.

Hi Frederic,

My car already lifted and required ground clearence is available now. Please let me know if you not allowed a modified cars.

[Athula Dharmadada]

8 hours ago, Frederic said:

@Athula Dharmadada Welcome to Carnity Offroad Club.

Please introduce yourself with the following information:

- Which 4x4 are you driving ? Nissan Pathfinder 2015 ?

- Any prior offroad experience ?

- Are the front and rear towpoints in perfect condition ?

I have noticed you have entered in your profile data that you have a Nissan Pathfinder 2015. Is this correct ?

Please note that the Nissan Pathfinder does not possess the minimum ground clearance as specified in our  drive topic:

Ground clearance is only 7inch while it should be 8 inch minimum. This is to avoid breaking your vehicle as we cross dunes in our drives.

Unfortunately we cannot allow this vehicle for the offroad drive on Friday.

Hi Frederic,

My car already lifted and required ground clearence available.

 

[Frederic]

1 hour ago, Athula Dharmadada said:

Hi Frederic,

My car already lifted and required ground clearence is available now. Please let me know if you not allowed a modified cars.

Hi @Athula Dharmadada thanks for informing. The lifting is a good solution for your vehicle, in that case we will allow you on the drive. I will add your name to the RSVP list.

[Ameen Ahmed]

Hi. I have joined the club today.

I have not got the welcome e mail. But would be joining for the drive tomorrow.

 

Have a Land rover discovery sport.

[Frederic]

1 hour ago, Ameen Ahmed said:

Hi. I have joined the club today.

I have not got the welcome e mail. But would be joining for the drive tomorrow.

 

Have a Land rover discovery sport.

Hi @Ameen Ahmed Welcome to Carnity Offroad Club ! 

I will be posting the convoy numbering in a few minutes. Please go through the Absolute Newbie Briefing Video with undivided attention so you arrive prepared.

- Please bring a tyre deflator and pressure gauge to deflate your tyres. If you don't have these tools we can give you a hand. 

See you tomorrow !

[Frederic]

RSVP IS NOW CLOSED

 

@Bhaskar @Athula Dharmadada @Ameen Ahmed @izzumonv @Derek Fernandes @Shaaz Sha @Dineth Kalukapuge @Rizwan Waheed

Please find your convoy numbering in above list. 

Some pointers:

1) Please be on time, and if you have no experience with deflation please arrive 15-20 mins earlier so we can assist you with that.

2) Please watch the Absolute Newbie briefing video with undivided attention to be prepared.

 

3) Be aware of the COVID-19 precautions clearly outlined in the video. Those who fail to abide will be banned from joining future drives.

4) Try to bring as a minimum a tyre deflator and pressure gauge so you can deflate your tyres. We will assist you if you have never done this before. We will be deflating to 15psi which is perfect for beginner level drives.

 

Looking forward to meeting you guys tomorrow ! 

 

[Athula Dharmadada]

I'm  Athula Dharmadasa and I am from Sri Lanka. I live in Al Nahda 2,  Dubai and I work for Infrastructure Consultant  Company.

I am driving a Pathfinder 2015 lifted and I don't have any prior offroading experience. 

[Athula Dharmadada]

After checking into a garage,  the front bumper was reassembled with ease using a handful of clips. The steering lock and the drop in RPM was caused by the accidental activation of the traction control button. Sorry about the inconvenience caused by this today.

Some pictures from today's session.

[Frederic]

19 minutes ago, Athula Dharmadada said:

After checking into a garage,  the front bumper was reassembled with ease using a handful of clips. The steering lock and the drop in RPM was caused by the accidental activation of the traction control button. Sorry about the inconvenience caused by this today.

Some pictures from today's session.

Hi @Athula Dharmadada glad to see your bumper back on 😉.

I remember checking if the traction aid was really off when driving your car. So I am not really sure if this was the culprit. 
 

Nice photos ! You can also post them in the drive gallery (choose gallery in the main screen). Every drive has its own photo gallery.

[Frederic]

DRIVE REPORT

Some days go better than other days, and today was a day where the going got a bit tough...

I was glad to see everyone meeting on time, and most brought deflation tools and pressure gauge and were self-reliant in the deflating process. 

@Derek Fernandes I am sorry to hear you ended up at the wrong deflation point (for evening drive). In the future I will leave my mobile number on the pre-drive briefing drive topic so you can call in case there are any issues. Please always double check which drive topic you open as we have many drives every weekend, and maybe this caused the confusion.

@Bhaskar as a proud new owner of this Montero Sport was my second lead today, and did really well. My apologies for the long waiting times. I hope you got to enjoy the scenery at least a bit

@Athula Dharmadada your Pathfinder was a bit stubborn today, but you kept a smile and shovel handy, and your son took amazing photos. Near the end we had to dismantle the bumper but I am glad to see the shop was able to put it back on. Please do some trials with the traction control settings, as I am sure they were switched off, yet the car refused to rev beyond 1500 rpm which eventually led to pulling you back up to the dirt track. 

@Ameen Ahmed your Landrover Discovery Sport is a fantastic vehicle and you really drove well today. As we spoke about please bear in mind that these vehicles are very expensive to fix in case you'd ever lose a bumper or more. We have seen other members joining with same car, and most of them left the car home eventually and bought a cheaper dedicated offroad-toy for ease of mind.

@izzumonv Your Jeep Liberty was not feeling it today, after first having smoke from underneath the hood because of the expansion bottle cap that fell off / flew off, and then refused to go in Reverse, and I felt sometimes the 4low gear was also disengaging without any reason. I would highly advise you to bring it to a competent mechanic and get these things sorted before coming back on your next offroad drive. As you have seen a 4x4 is being stressed to the limits during summer in the sand. Hope you can get things sorted and the recovery truck brought you back home safely.

@Shaaz Sha congrats with being the first member with an Omani License plate   You handled the terrain really well today and never heard or seen you struggle. Super done !

@Dineth Kalukapuge your Xterra is a very powerful car, and I am sure in a couple of weeks you will get the trick on how to use the momentum and steering a little bit better. But overall well done !

@Rizwan Waheed with the Pajero never broke a sweat and handled the terrain like he has done it before. Very impressive for a first drive !

@Vanessa8580 was my trusty sweep and we both burned quite a few calories. Having your life partner on your drive to help out is truly a blessing as we understand each other without words.

 

As I have mentioned during the de-briefing this is really a team-sport and we never leave anyone behind in the desert. I am thankful for your patience and this drive was an example on how unforgiving the desert can be sometimes. But at the same time we keep learning week after week and I hope your next drive will be more "smooth sailing"

For your next drives at Newbie level, please have a look at below topic which describes the tools needed for every level:

 

You can also join the Carnity Whatsapp Drive Notification to get the latest updates on the drives and so that you can RSVP on time for the next weekend's drive. 

See you guys soon in the sand !