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Morning Fewbie Plus Desert Drive - Bowling in Sweihan - Chapter II - Abu Dhabi - 18 Sep 2021


Lorenzo Candelpergher

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This is really amazing, as many, I’ve never been to Sweihan, I realize now that Dubai and Sharjah bowls are just a soup plates comparing to ADH bowls. Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergherand @M.Seidam for the brief and the videos, at least giving us an idea of what’s happening in the other planet. Hope nothing major @Lorenzo Candelpergher in your car, and all software issues. 

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On 9/18/2021 at 1:38 PM, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

DRIVE REPORT 

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

Today's drive in Sweihan was for sure one of those I will remember for long time, as it was one of the most problematic drives I've ever had. 

It all started in a perfect way: a nice, fresh breeze welcomed us in the twilight before sunrise, at the meeting point. We acted a bit later than planned, anyway by 6am we were on the move. 

The start was nice and easy, a warm up in preparation of the big bowls to come. We made our way through the bushy dunes and, as we headed west, we found our way through the multiple fences partially buried in the area. 

When we reached the first bowl, the theme of the day was clear and exciting for all drivers. Certainly the first bowl wasn't the easiest one, but it was the perfect heads up for everyone to realize the beauty and the dangers of these mighty bowls, which deserve to be taken absolutely seriously, with full focus and without any compromise for safety at all times. 

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If @JeromeFJ was not fully awake before this bowl, he was certainly afterwards, as his first attempt was as spectacular as scary for us watching his fishtailing on the way down.. A good lesson for the rest of the drivers and for Jerome himself, who then drove brilliantly for the whole drive. 

The first 2.5h of our "bowling expedition" went very well as we steadily proceeded west, making our way from one big bowl to the next one. 

@Xavier Treasurer was having some issues at the back with the poor traction of his H/T tires, which caused him several refusals, especially in the super soft and churned up sand that the guys at the back had of face. After moving to 3rd position in the convoy, Xavier did much better. 

The plan for the day was to hit 8 bowls heading west and, depending on the pace and the time, to hit some of them again on the way back. A great plan, in theory, which turned out in quite a different drive in practice.. 

Here's the overview (the green waipoints are the bowls I was targeting):

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In the end we hit 7 out of 8 bowls, which isn't too bad, considering the total mayhem we had to go through due to my car's annoying troubles.

It all started with an innocent ABS malfunction error on my dashboard... Then came a TCS error, then an ESC error. Nothing to worry about, in theory, as all this stuff in the desert is useless and for sure it was some sand bothering some sensors.. But then, towards the end of the drive, it felt like I had forgotten how to drive the car.. Every climb was a struggle.. What the hell was going on?

It was then that @Mus_hus78, a brilliant 2nd lead today, noticed that while climbing my rear wheels were spinning but not the front ones.. Apparently my 4H was occasionally disengaging and leaving me with an endlessly fishtailing 2H drive! 

After some attempts turning off and on again the ignition, it was decided to disconnect the battery to see whether we could force a reset of the electronics of the car, but nothing changed, so we decided to continue a little more and see if things would get better or else to exit earlier. 

Despite the challenge of driving more often in 2H than 4H, our "Bowling plan" continued and in the end we certainly enjoyed a couple of really nice rounds:

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Everyone did extremely well around these big bowls:

@Mus_hus78 proudly led his Pajero in and out every bowl in style, once again squeezing everything the car could give. 

@Farouq Owdeh looked like he was driving in his backyard as he new every bowl in details. Every bowl came nice and easy for him. 

@Ruan van den Heever and his passenger certainly had a good chance to enjoy the "naked" version of the JL, but I feel it may have been still a bit too hot towards the end. 

@Xavier Treasurer found his balance in 3rd position, with an excellent 2nd part of the drive.

@JeromeFJ was the fastest guy in the group today. Once he got acquainted with the size of the dunes, a novelty for him, he was always one of the highest reaching guys. 

@M.Seidam at the back was cool as a cucumber, enjoying the ride and always with a vigilant eye on the (few) refusals at the back. 

@Rizwanm2 was experimenting these giant bowls for the 1st time as well, I believe. I'm sure it was great fun. He tried to steal the stage with a stuck at the last bowl requiring a tug by @M.Seidam, but today the stage at the end of the drive was all mine.. 😭😭😭

Due to my intermittent 4H/2H traction (or plainly because of my own mistakes) in the last 20 mins I got stuck once (thanks @Mus_hus78 for tugging me out), had 3 or 4 refusals and eventually had a pop-out, which we struggled fixing at the bottom of the last bowl, after we had already decided to exit earlier due to my car and my son's conditions.

Right after the popout, however, I found out my car was not only in 2H, but also stuck in 2nd gear.. 😱😱😱. No shifting at all... Therefore not enough speed to build momentum around the bowl nor enough traction by downshifting to climb up straight and get out of it... 

In my attempts to climb up of the bowl without shifting gear I eventually collected the 2nd pop-out of the day. This was a nasty one, as the TPM sensor damaged the bead of the tire so much that it would leak air and the pop-out could not be fixed, which meant the spare wheel had to be put in place.. A great team effort made the fix much easier, while @Farouq Owdeh tried via OBD a software reset of the car's electronics, which gave me back at least the gear shifting, but not the 4H. It was enough anyway to circle around the bowl and find a reasonable criss-crossing point, allowing then a quick exit on the south side dirt track along the fence and then back to the tarmac on E16. 

A massive THANKS to everyone for the great help and the even greater patience during today's drive, in which we experimented all sorts of issues including, cherry on the pie, my son having the smart idea to have his breakfast in the midst of the drive, which his stomach didn't appreciate at all... 🤮🤮

Kudos to everyone for going through these mighty bowls safely, with great discipline and without any major problems. 

My special gratitude goes to @Rizwanm2 and @M.Seidam for their great support today, even though, I must say, everyone was helpful at all times, with the best @Carnity team spirit I could ever desire. 

Overall we drove 57.4km in 4h 16', of which 2h 23' moving time, at an average moving speed of 21.7km/h, for a total ascent of +1406/-1435m. See the details below:

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Next drive in these bowls will be hopefully smoother. Despite the difficulties I personally had fun, I hope it was the same for you. 

See you soon in the sand again! 

Dear @Lorenzo Candelpergheryour essay reports are as interesting as your drives , through out  your the drive my mind was playing the knight rider theme song were I could see David Hasselhoff (Italian version ) but this time in Jeep  not a Pontiac firebird trans Am ……when I First saw the drive list with my name as 2nd lead my jaw dropped 😱and couldn’t sleep 😴 constantly thinking of how to catch up an American jeep with a Italian expert behind the wheel especially with pajero 😰….. but thanks to your warm up drive  from the start that  gave me the boost in confidence to drive behind you! After a few wobbly drives through the bushes I got to see the hidden gems of dunes and  really enjoyed every turn in the dunes behind your jeep with that high pace….. special thanks to rest of the convoy who made this drive possible with thrills ……. With love PAJERO 3.8 V6 🥶

@Lorenzo Candelpergher hope you have fixed your car and your little copilot is well now …

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This is when you better get a refusal or stuck than to take over from above . Eventually we both reversed and continued safely 🙏

 

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2 minutes ago, PaoloMaraziti said:

What a drive it was, wasn't it ? 

I wouldn’t mind to get the dig in my nose (PCR) 🤣 every other week after I sow AD dunes . And now after this is ain’t needed any more I am thinking of camping 🏕 with kids the night before when weather becomes more better and wake up for a nice newbie /fewbie drive  

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17 hours ago, PaoloMaraziti said:

 

@JeromeFJ, as FJ Cruiser driver, what were your choice of gears? 

@PaoloMaraziti, don't tell anyone, I drive in D (4H) most of the time, downshifting manually in very very rare occasions (not more than twice during this drive). The FJ is such a capable vehicle :) 

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Just now, JeromeFJ said:

@PaoloMaraziti, don't tell anyone, I drive in D (4H) most of the time, downshifting manually in very very rare occasions (not more than twice during this drive). The FJ is such a capable vehicle :) 

I also very seldom need to use the tiptronic. Jeep runs in D most of the time 😁

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I think this also depends on the driver style and preference specific to his vehicle trim 

for my Xterra i always drive on D generally regardless of the level of drive 

keeping D2 For long ridge riding or some tight technical where control is prime along with steering 

D1 for high climbs be it ascend or descend for better engine boosting  or breaking 

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This will sound strange......however, when driving offroad I drive with both my feet. My right foot on the gas pedal and I brake with my left foot. I have learned how to control the gas pedal of the JK in such a way to keep my engine revolutions just on the right place to keep the gearbox from switching between 1st and 2nd when I need to do so. When I'm done climbing I simply release the gas or press it harder to force the gearbox to switch over. But this means that I have to listen to the sound of the engine also. It works well, and it also stops me from running into the ever irritating rev limiter which happens when the gearbox is forced into 1st on a uphill climb or long side slope. 

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