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Oooh...what an interesting conversation, wonder how I missed it the first time round. Lemme put in my own two cents into this. As most of you know, I worked for a decade as a Safari Tour Guide, learned to drive on road and then off road on a manual, more specifically a Land Cruiser Pickup, used for hauling really heavy stuff deep into the dunes. As work required I was pretty much working 7 days a week during season time and 3-4 times a wee during the 3-4 months summer off peaks months. I was also from the camp, that manual is the best and only girls and whips do autos, and TBH actually scared and not very confident to take an auto off road into the dunes, so for many many years I avoided autos likes the plague. But later caved in after thinking rationally that I spent more time stuck in city traffic than in the dunes so got an automatic, which was considered a pretty big no no in my field that time and all my colleagues went, what have you done, you will regret it, but I went ahead anyways and the rest is history. And to this day I can say I don't regret a single second of that choice, there was never a single moment where I though. I wish I had a manual right about now. But there were countless moments where I did find myself saying, than god I've got an auto and not a manual. To me people who complain about Autos performance in the dune, to me simply just don't know how to drive with an auto properly and like Gaurav. 99.9% of the time my selector was or is in D hi range. Learn your car and its transmission and you wont have any problems Now not blowing my own horn, I actually got pretty nifty with gear shifts in a manual, a lot clients even commented on this after the drive, they were impressed. One of my tricks was not lift my foot of the clutch, but just slide it to the side and pedal comes up with its own force combine that with quick shifts of the lever, so gearshift times were not my gripes about manuals. To conclude let me just say not all manuals and auto are created equally, all have different rations and shift point and even different purposes. And to me auto or manual really does not add or take away any pleasure or performance of driving off road, unless its something really stupid which is usually because some manufacturer thought XYZ would be a good idea. Like for example we were given the new facelifted 2005 Patrol for testing in Liwa and the model we got was an auto with triptronic gears, was a big deal back then, So in this huge bowl. I put in 2nd, went down got some good speed on the downhill then started to climb half way up, it started to lose speed and power, so dropped or tried atleast to drop in 1st and the cars computer wouldn't let me because at the speed I would be over revving in 1st gear. So I needless to say right close to the top car stopped. :/ Earlier in life I prefered manuals and was told by everyone autos are the devils spawn but once I tried them now my personal choice is auto for all situations. And would avoid manuals if I had the choice. Like Barry says hes only ever owned one car with an auto, so naturally his bias is towards Manuals, Because I myself was like that as Ive explained earlier So as the saying goes don't knock it unless you've tried it.

I went there yesterday in order to install a led lights bar on my XTerra front bumper. Perfect job. The result is just amazing, it looks like if Nissan had placed this part at the production !

If you have to modify an auto box, then surely the manual is the better option,

Some good points made @desertdude Maybe I have an aversion to automatics because the majority of my experience is with manuals. I grew up with it. I feel what the car is doing. It is second nature to me. But I can see the point where autos make sense for some people around the city. For me, it really doesn't bother me. I'm so used to manuals that shifting gears and clutching is second nature to me. I've driven 40 foot articulated trucks through Belfast and Dublin. I picked up a customers car a while back, auto SLK and had to take it across Dubai to a workshop and honestly, it scared the crap out of me. 2 pedals, go and stop. I just didn't feel in control. I don't like driving along and pressing the throttle then the engine revs up itself. Then when you're accelerating, you don't know if it's going to change gear or keep revving until it blows up. I'm sorry, but autos just aren't for me. I've only owned one but I've driven plenty in my time but I prefer manual and that's just the way it is. I haven't got a lot of desert experience. I've only driven a few times but the times I have, it has been in a manual. I was able to apply my experience from home in the snow, rocking the clutch and getting myself out of holes. I also have clutchless shifts down to a tee. If I'm going up a hill and the engine is dying, I can rev match and drop a gear in one action or if I'm cruising, I can go up the gears without the clutch.

In all honesty, it was not a fair comparison of Auto vs Manual in last Friday hill climb. Sertac Cherokee auto box is having 1&2 together in gearstick that leaves no option for him to shift to 1st gear on the extreme long hill climb. Secondly, his car suspension really need good work, and I was losing a lot of good momentum as soon as I hit the cross track and if you remember how much struggle I have gone through the back face of Iftar bowl. Thirdly although I did climb Iftar bowl from the front, but it was in LO gear and not in High - most preferred gear for the long hill climb. Auto is best for Sand, only if the auto box offer manual shifting to 1st gear and able to hold that first gear even till 7K rpm.

I have been using BFG KO2 for the past 2 years and am very happy with them. They perform exceptionally off-road and I do not find the sound too much. Not sure whether you guys are aware....the top of the range (no 1 spec) 3.8L Pajeros sold in Oman are with heavy sound dampening compared to other models sold here. I had enquired with the Dubai dealership too earlier and understood that they do not order any models with this extra sound dampening from Mitsubishi Motors.

Near the old fish market in Deira on Friday evenings.

Like everything this place coming with pros and cons. Pros; -I feel like shop is mine and i can do whatever i want. I can get the tools and work on my car, when i need i can ask help from them. -Prices are good. When you compare with the garages in Dubai prices are good. I dont know many garage there was one Turkish mechanic in Al Qouz when i compare with him this place is good. -Everything coming with options you can get your part and ask them to fix it or you can ask from them to get the part for you. Parts can be original, dublicate or second hand as you wish and as you can effort. -Quick work. Generally they are solving my problems in few hours. -Jaleel(i dont know how to type his name corretly) This guy is awesome. If something need to be done he will do it. He wont wait you to say make this tight or clean this. He will find himself and do it. Cons; -AC work. For my car as i remember 5 times i went there and 3-4 time i left my car there for days. After spending around 5000AED my AC still not good. I need to use it full power to get some chill. When it is hot even with full power it is not giving any comfort. After all time there is one box or something need to be change because it is not seal enough and right now it is not available in scrap. In this time first we changed my compressor with second hand one and it start leaking after one month and it ended up for me to get new compressor. Then there was one part inside the dashboard. We change that part with brand new dublicate and after one month it leaked again and recently we changed again. But they are not take labour fee anymore to fix it. So am i recommend them you need to find a good time. If the shop empty and your car is the only work then you are lucky. If shop is crowded if you can wait, wait for a better time. Generally they are good enough.