Absolute Newbie Desert Drive - Al Qudra - Dubai - 17 Dec 2021

[Andrew McCarthy]

Hi @Wrangeld,

I have (yes🙂) a Pajero. 2017. 3.5L. White. No modifications but I will try to remove that plastic thing at the back that acts as a sand scoop.

I have limited off-road experience, particularly on sand, but I did the Desert Driving Master Class with Asif last weekend and it was great and I want to do more.

I would like to have fun driving with a group, maybe challenging myself a bit in the company of those who know what they are doing, and meet a diverse bunch of people.

I am looking forward to it.

Andrew

[Wrangeld]

11 hours ago, Andrew McCarthy said:

Hi @Wrangeld,

I have (yes🙂) a Pajero. 2017. 3.5L. White. No modifications but I will try to remove that plastic thing at the back that acts as a sand scoop.

I have limited off-road experience, particularly on sand, but I did the Desert Driving Master Class with Asif last weekend and it was great and I want to do more.

I would like to have fun driving with a group, maybe challenging myself a bit in the company of those who know what they are doing, and meet a diverse bunch of people.

I am looking forward to it.

Andrew

Hi Andrew, 

Great to have you on board. You'll see the solution I installed for the rear scoop bumper tomorrow. Removal is challenging because it leaves a lot of exposed metal that the testers don't like. 

Anyhow, looking forward to seeing you ... we may just about let the F150s and Prado spoil the fun!

See you soon in the sand. 

[Wrangeld]

@Zeeshan Patel time to share ....

What's your vehicle (and any modifications)?

Offroad experience?

Why are you joining this drive? 

PLEASE, please go through the tutorials and the videos - it's going to help you a lot on the drive. Also front & rear towpoints - there's nothing worse than having to send someone home who got up early in the morning because their car did not have these. 

@Jessica Lambert @Dr Tanveer Ahmed thanks for sharing already. 

See you soon in the sand. 

12 hours ago, Dr Tanveer Ahmed said:

Hi! I would like to join too! I have an Lexus LX-570  - mostly stock. I have compressors, deflators, tire gauge and a shovel that I am not looking forward to use. Have done a few solo not too extreme drives in the desert and a few drives in the rocky Wadis as well  . Looking forward to joining you guys, make some friends, share some knowledge and increase my off-roading skills.

@Dr Tanveer Ahmed hoping that we see you this time. I know you've planned the drive a few times already

18 hours ago, Jessica Lambert said:

Hello! I have a Toyota Prado 2016.  I have minimal off-road experience- flood water and mud driving in Australia, and some very basic short drives into the desert here for grills with friends. 

@Jessica Lambert Great to know what you already covered. Pretty much the same sort of stuff most of us tried before coming to the sand. 

[Zeeshan Patel]

Hi @Wrangeld

thanks for your message

im driving a 2021 nissan patrol V8. Just bought it Alhamdulillah

I have the off-road kit that came with the car. 

Not much experience driving in the desert. will watch the videos to get started.

See you tom inshallah 

[Siddharth gupta]

Hi, This is Siddharth this side. I am 

I am driving Ford F150 2014 model. and I don't have any prior off road experience. 

 

I want to develop skills for off road, so that I can use my skills to go in desert for adventures. I am driving this car from past 4 months.

my car have front and rear hooks. 

 

[Wrangeld]

1 hour ago, Siddharth gupta said:

Hi, This is Siddharth this side. I am 

I am driving Ford F150 2014 model. and I don't have any prior off road experience. 

 

I want to develop skills for off road, so that I can use my skills to go in desert for adventures. I am driving this car from past 4 months.

my car have front and rear hooks. 

 

Thanks @Siddharth gupta we look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning.

We are now closing this drive. Here is the proposed convoy numbering for the drive. 

Looking forward to seeing everyone at 7am tomorrow. 

Sleep well....

 

[Jessica Lambert]

I’m sorry I couldn’t make it this morning, could you please let me know who I should contact about joining the next one?

[Wrangeld]

Post Drive Report: Absolutely Fantastic

That was a great drive by everyone. For your first time out in the desert, literally for some of you what you did cannot be under-estimated. 

@haridas kt you'll get used to the different feeling of being in sand and start to really control the car, instead of it controlling you (like it did a few times today)

@Andrew McCarthy having done a masterclass helps a lot before venturing into a convoy drive and we saw today that what you learned first time round was put well into practice. You need to sort out the bumper - it's not sensible to remove it each time. Thanks for acting as second lead. Great job. 

@Asad only a few moments when the courage to use the accelerator let you down today. Some nice self recoveries. 

@Ashhad Siddiqui I am glad you felt you learned something today. We all learn, every time we go out into the desert. I think a few more convoy drives at newbie will be worthwhile for you for the future. Thanks for taking on the additional role in the middle of the convoy. 

@Zeeshan Patel the Patrol has a lot of power that needs to be tamed. Once you get the feel confident with your car, the rest becomes a lot easier. For a first time out, fantastic. 

@Dr Tanveer Ahmed so, you flummoxed me with how to get into your battery terminals, but apart from that, a great day out as far as I see. You controlled the car beautifully.

@Siddharth gupta It's a beast and you handled it very well. As expected, you got crested, but after that you started to understand how your car works on the sand and did amazingly well. 

@Alex Raptor thanks for the incredible support on this drive from start to finish. Normally we have an experienced CF and sweep in a drive like this - you managed both roles perfectly.  

See you soon in the sand. 

 

2 hours ago, Jessica Lambert said:

I’m sorry I couldn’t make it this morning, could you please let me know who I should contact about joining the next one?

Hi Jessica, 

There is an Absolute Newbie drive every Friday. I've removed your RSVP from this one so that you can join which wvr you want in the future. 

Have a great day. 

[Andrew McCarthy]

Many thanks @Wrangeld and to @Alex Raptor and indeed everyone else for a morning of great fun. Yes, the masterclass helped me enormously - I can’t recommend it enough to get a quick confident start to doing this (he says with all of 2 drives’ experience). Agreed on the ‘sand scoop’ - at the end of an enjoyable newbie drive today it took a while to get it back on because the exposed metal had been bent a bit. Thanks to another member I now have the number of a mechanic in Abu Dhabi and will try to sort it in the New Year.

[Zeeshan Patel]

Thanks @Alex Raptor and @Wrangeldfor the fantastic drive. 4x4 infants are now toddlers

looking forward to be part of the next drive with both of you inshallah