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Absolute Newbie Desert Drive - Al Qudra - Dubai - 19 Nov 2021


Vanessa8580

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Join us to explore Al Qudra Desert to find what's beyond Qudra lakes

And learn the art of offroading in a versatile playground for your first off-road adventure.

You will learn to self-drive your vehicle from experts having decades of off-roading experience in the UAE. This area offers a good mix of playable long set of dunes and broad ridges to practice your off-road skills slowly but surely.

AN drive 19 Nov 2021_sm.jpg

Drive is open for all 4x4/4WD/SUV/AWD vehicles having

  • 8-10 inches of ground clearance and (MANDATORY)
  • Front and rear tow hooks (MANDATORY)


This is an off-road drive for beginners where you'll drive and learn at your own pace:

  • This is not a training session.
  • This is not a 1:1 teaching class.
  • This is not a Desert Driving Course.


If you are interested in comprehensive 1:1 training sessions, please check Desert Driving Courses.

First time with Carnity Off-road Club:

  • Please share your vehicle details - Make, Model, Year.
  • Do you have any prior off-road experience?
  • Confirm your vehicle has front and rear tow hooks / eyelets.

 

Learn More About: Carnity Off-road Club

 

Join button.jpg

 

STRICTLY: For ABSOLUTE NEWBIE who are driving for the first time with Carnity.

 

MUST WATCH: NEWBIE VIDEO BRIEFING

 
 
Important links to read:
 

Drive Details

Level:  Only for "ABSOLUTE NEWBIES" or first timer with Carnity Off-Road Club

When:  19 Nov  2021, Friday.

Meeting time: 7:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions)

Meeting  Point: https://maps.google.com/?q=24.818832,55.255631

Type of Car: Any 4x4/4WD/SUV/AWD with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance.

What to bring along: Tire deflator, pressure gauge and compressor, Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn.

Approximate finish time: 11:00 AM
 

LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE:

  • Limited to 12 new members only. RSVP will close on Thursday - 5PM.
    • If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list
  • Latecomers or members who are not on the RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS.
  • Please cancel you RSVP if you cannot make it, so your spot can be taken by others.

 

Please RSVP on below Calendar 

 

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Good morning 

@Simon Dawood @Asem Rashwan @Eduardo sos @ahmed salama @Sergio Negri @Nancy Ntasiakli @ZULFIKHAR NAIYAR @Motorian Racing

 

Welcome to Carnity Offroad Club !

As this will be your first drive with us, i would like to ask you the following things:

1) Please introduce yourselves a bit: which 4x4 are you bringing, do you have any prior experience, and please confirm that your car has front and rear towpoints that are in good condition as well.

2) Please bring at the minimum a pressure gauge with tyre deflator, and air compressor to the drive this Friday, so you can deflate the tyres when you arrive, and re-inflate them again after the drive.  If you have an offroad flag, programmed radio, and other equipment already then of course you are welcome to bring them along. 

3) Please watch the Absolute Newbie Briefing video with your full attention. This one covers most of the basics and will definitely help you in being more comfortable for your first offroad drive.

MUST WATCH: NEWBIE VIDEO BRIEFING

Some more useful tutorials:
 

If you have any questions prior to the drive, you can use this drive topic to post them. We will do our best to help you out.

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Hello Vanessa,

I do not have any previous off-road experience. I'll be joining in a Kia Sorento. It's an AWD. As per the instructions I checked the height of front and back bumpers, it seems to be over 8 inches as required. And the tow points are circular hooks as shown here. 

Please advise if this is good enough? 

Thanks.

Screenshot_20211115-132117_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211115-132124_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211115-132130_Gallery.jpg

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Hi Vanessa,

I am driving a 2011 Pajer 3.8L with difflock.

Personally i have some basic offroad experience.

Looking forward to meet you all.

Thanks,

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4 hours ago, ZULFIKHAR NAIYAR said:

Hello Vanessa,

I do not have any previous off-road experience. I'll be joining in a Kia Sorento. It's an AWD. As per the instructions I checked the height of front and back bumpers, it seems to be over 8 inches as required. And the tow points are circular hooks as shown here. 

Please advise if this is good enough? 

Thanks.

Screenshot_20211115-132117_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211115-132124_Gallery.jpg

Screenshot_20211115-132130_Gallery.jpg

Dear @ZULFIKHAR NAIYAR

The 8" inch as a minimum requirement we use in the club is measured in the same way as car manufacturers measure and put on their brochures or datasheet. That is being done by measuring the height from the floor up to the lower end of your vehicle's body (see in below image as well).

image.png.bcc40968924ae1a991b8939735051a29.png

For the Kia Sorrento 2015 model, this is unfortunately only 7,3 inch and this value is even taken without passenger or deflating the tires.  This is below our absolute minimum requirement of 8inches and would also mean you would be facing more risk of damaging the underbody, bumpers, and even getting more stuck easily as soon as the tires sink into the sand a tiny bit. 

The approach angle is also important to look at, and the Sorrento with its 16.8 degrees is really too low, and that would most-probably mean you would be ending up with a damaged front bumper, even on your first offroad drive.

image.png.978391adcd24318b5048a73cf52efbd6.png

I hope you understand our statement. We are open to many 4x4 and AWD vehicles, as long as these minimum requirements are being met. After all, it would not be a pleasant first drive for you if you would be ending up with a damaged vehicle on your very first drive.

 

Let me include a previous post from 2020 we made on this topic:

 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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Dear @Frederic,

Thank you so much for your clarification. This was actually my main concern. I'd checked the spec sheet and found the 7.3 inch clearance. And initially checked the FAQ and it suggested "We highly recommend and encourage everyone to drive their stock vehicle first to assess its capabilities." which encouraged me to go on with this.

Probably that was the reason no Sorento mentioned in the list of vehicles. Although I saw SantaFe and CX9 both of similar specs and thought why not.

Can you please advise what is best for me to do next? Is modifying my ride a good option or best to patiently wait and invest on a more capable vehicle?

So I suppose joining this weekend's ride wouldn't be possible in that case. Will better withdraw so others could join in.

Thanks.

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2 minutes ago, ZULFIKHAR NAIYAR said:

Dear @Frederic,

Thank you so much for your clarification. This was actually my main concern. I'd checked the spec sheet and found the 7.3 inch clearance. And initially checked the FAQ and it suggested "We highly recommend and encourage everyone to drive their stock vehicle first to assess its capabilities." which encouraged me to go on with this.

Probably that was the reason no Sorento mentioned in the list of vehicles. Although I saw SantaFe and CX9 both of similar specs and thought why not.

Can you please advise what is best for me to do next? Is modifying my ride a good option or best to patiently wait and invest on a more capable vehicle?

So I suppose joining this weekend's ride wouldn't be possible in that case. Will better withdraw so others could join in.

Thanks.

Hi @ZULFIKHAR NAIYAR thanks for your response. With over 1000 members in the club, we haven’t had any CX9 or Santa Fe in the club drives yet, same for the Sorrento.  These vehicles can take some gentle off-roading on sandy terrain for camping or leisure purposes, but dune driving abilities will be severely limited due to the very limited approach angle and ground clearance. 
 

We indeed encourage to start with a stock 4x4 vehicle in the club, and many amongst us even marshals are driving stock off-road vehicles, but the Sorrento is to be seen as a SUV and due to its limitations in stock version they are not acceptable for dune driving in a club environment. 
 

You are probably still in the phase of not being sure if off-roading would become your new passion and hence investing or changing your vehicle is a difficult step. 
That is totally understandable. 
 

I would not suggest modifying your Sorrento as soon you might realize that you had better used the money to buy a more suitable off-road vehicle. 
 

If you are really keen on trying out the Sorrento we can perhaps recommend a 1:1 Masterclass training in which the marshal will be able to tailor his planned track towards the limitations of your vehicle. That session mignt help you to determine if this could become your new passion or not. Let me know if that would be something you would be interested in.

 

 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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