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It was a beautiful day out. Everyone was on time and after our introduction to off road driving we started off. It was a very nice drive with all participants doing very well till about the last part just before reaching Pink Rocks. As the convoy had split at start, we met up back on the base of Pink Rocks. We settled down to share some snacks, breakfast and some cold drinks. At this point part of the group headed back out, while the rest of us decided to continue. This part was slightly tougher than the first part but everybody was up to the task and with minor refusals we made it to the mosque in time for the Friday prayers. At this point it was time to test out @Emmanuel lead potential. He was heading in the right direction. Thoroughly enjoyed his lead and headed out with total satisfaction. Thanks to all participants. Until next time adios amigos.

Dear Carnity Off-road Club, Thank you SO MUCH for organizing this event. I don't know how else to state this- EVERY drive is such a huge learning experience. For a total newbie like me, it takes the company of experts like you all (and your unending, selfless patience) to help in my learning. And to top it all, its an absolute honor to have spent time in the company of all the kind, warm and hospitable participants. @Gaurav, @Rahimdad, @Srikumar, ALL DRIVE PARTICIPANTS, you guys absolutely ROCK! (PS: There is an vehicular performance query that I faced during the ride, I will share my experience on the same via a separate topic, for soliciting feedback. Cheers!)

Congratulations @Emmanuel for your first lead with Carnity Offroad Club. Leading an intermediate level drive from Pyramids to Iftar Bowl yesterday was totally amazing. At no point, we felt that it was your first lead and your choice of dunes, sideys, and climbs was brilliant. It was like a Velociraptor chase from Jurassic Park movie, where they first time experiences the run in the wild.

Congratulations @Brette for reaching the fewbie level with Carnity Offroad club. Within last few newbies offroad drives you have shown tremendous progress and well deserve this new offroad rank. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Fewbie: Number of drives 10 (16 regular drives) Level of drives Willingness to learn + Enthusiasm + Basic dune reading Off-road gear Flag, deflator, tire gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio, compressor (recommended) Drive teamwork Observe recovery from a safe distance and offer help when needed Drive posting/joining Join newbie and fewbie level of drives only Forum participation Active participation on forum. Share drive experience + feedback on forum and pictures in gallery Social media sharing & inviting friends & family to join an offroad club is highly recommended for faster upgrades at all levels.

Thanks for the drive yesterday! It was very fun, well organized and thanks to @Rahimdad,@Srikumar, @Emmanuel & @hossein for all the tips and help. Can't wait for next time, remove my ASC fuse and light the Christmas tree on my dashboard again !!

For me the worst one was in Al Wagan. I was the second lead and it was a crazy drive. I was following Gaurav. The dune he passed made me scared. It was sloppy and edgy. I was thinking if i pass it i will roll over. So i decide to turn right and come down. Next moment i found my self stuck between 2 dune. My front and back is covered with sand. It took 1.5 hour to take me out from there. And i was out we found one of my front tire was popped out. Rest of the day was also very challenging. My AC was not working(Jeep Life!!) and it was a hot day. Jeeps are working very hot. After all day driving i felt very bad and decide to stop and lay down to ground. Thanks to our group they gave me medicine and helped me to fell better. When we exit from the area i discovered my car was out of balance like crazy. There is no way to drive home like that. I called @shadow79 he came with Jalil immediately. Because of the pop out my tire filled with sand and it was creating balance problem. Jalil changed my tire and i was ready to go. In this point it was 1 am and in the morning i supposed to be at work. When i start heading to Dubai i faced with the thickest fog in my life. I wasnt seeing anything after my hood. Since i have work in the morning i needed to reach home and sleep for a while so i kept driving. That was the scariest drive i have ever had. I was driving on left line with 100km and thinking how i will see and stop if anything happens in front of me. Luckily nothing happened and i reach home safe. When i slept it was 3.30am i guess. In the morning i woke up with my project manager`s call. When i reach my work my project manager and construction manager saw my car and me they start laughing. They said we dont understand you are a young guy. You should go play tennis with ladies. Why you are going to desert with your male friends? I think @Emmanuel was having the pictures. If he have time he can add pictures of that stuck

Here is a list of all the capable and best 4x4 cars in UAE that you can get under 10,000 and 20,000 Dhs in UAE. I have been asked this question on every off-road drive, so let's build a list with collective experience and knowledge: Best 4x4 cars in 10,000 Dhs 1999 - 2004 - Nissan Pathfinder 3.3 L / 3.5 L 1997 - 2006 - Mitsubishi Pajero 3.0 L / 3.5 L / 3.8 L (SWB is better than LWB) 1991 - 2001 - Jeep Cherokee 4.0 L (Finding clean one is extremely rare) 1999 - 2004 - Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 L / 4.7 L 1989 - 1998 - Land Rover Discovery Series I 3.9 L / 4.0L (1995 - 1998 year is better) 1998 - 2004 - Land Rover Discovery Series II 4.0 L (Average offroader) 1995 - 2002 - Land Rover Range Rover P38 4.0 L / 4.6 L Best 4x4 cars in 20,000 Dhs 1996 - 2006 - Jeep Wrangler TJ - 4.0 L 2006 - 2010 - Mitsubishi Pajero 3.5 L / 3.8 L (SWB is better than LWB) 2002 - 2009 - Chevrolet Trailblazer 4.2 L / 6.0 L 2005 - 2010 - Jeep Commander 4.7 L / 5.7 L 2005 - 2010 - Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 L / 5.7 L 2008 - 2009 - Nissan Xterra - 4.0 L 2006 - 2010 - Chevrolet Tahoe - 4.8 L / 5.3 L / 6.0 L 2006 - 2010 - Hummer H3 - 3.7 L 1996 - 2003 - Toyota Prado VX - 3.4 L (SWB is better than LWB) 1998 - 2004 - Land Rover Discovery Series II 4.6 L 2004 - 2009 - Land Rover Discovery 3 / LR3 4.0 L / 4.4 L 2002 - 2006 - Land Rover Range Rover L322 4.4 L 1997 - 2005 - Nissan Patrol Y61 4.5 L / 4.8 L (Finding clean one is extremely rare) 1998 - 2003 - Toyota Landcruiser 4.5 L (Might be just little over 20K range) 2006 - 2010 - Nissan Armada 5.6 L (Offroad version - Ranchos shocks, skid plate, tow hook, trimmed bumper) Please, guys, keep on suggesting more options based on your offroading experience, I will keep on updating this list DISCLAIMER: I don't intend to put the price of your ride or contest the "ballpark" value that I suggested. The used car market is subject to huge fluctuation due to demand and supply based on season and offroad 4x4 cars in UAE will always sell for a higher premium in winter (Oct-Mar). P.S. Having said that, if you have any constructive suggestion to edit the list - I will accept that. This awesome scrapper pulls the average price daily and update in single excel

Yes ! Best stuck ever @sertac !

My worst off road stuck started off started off as an on road adventure. I lost the back of the car and went through a hedge backwards at around 80mph. I ended up in the middle of probably the swampiest field I’ve ever seen. The farmer wasn’t happy about me waking him up at 2 am to borrow a tractor to pull the car out. I was even less happy when he bent my subframe with the tractor but I wasn’t in a position to argue. We pulled the car out and it wouldn’t even move because everything was so out of shape so we left it on the side of the road. I came back the next day with parts and tools loaded up on the back of my bicycle and fixed it at the side of the road and did the drive of shame home.

Here's our new Velociraptor in action on his first lead. Well done @Emmanuel and Jawaher (Xterra) Emmanuel First Lead.mp4

Big thanks for this event to everyone! Perfect lead by @Rahimdad with nice terrain routes and supported sweep by @Srikumar and @Gaurav. Other members well done!

WOW.. Thanks @Gaurav, @Rahimdad, @Emmanuel for all the support and encouragement at the drives and the endless amount of effort you'll put into every drive. Still remember my first drive with Carnity, it did not feel like I was meeting all of you for the first time and by the end of the drive I said to myself, this is not a offroad community or club it's an offroad family and that has kept me coming back for the drives. Looking forward to the fewbie drives now. Thanks again.

Thank you so much @Gaurav, @Rahimdad and @Srikumar for giving me this opportunity ! It was a thrilling experience for me and I am truly happy if you enjoyed this small drive as I did. But be careful : I might get used to this and never let anyone lead 😜 (Well, no chance, actually I would miss too much to follow you guys !) Thanks @Frederic and @hossein

How about the generation of Pajero that you and Frederic are driving. The SWB is really good.

Fantastic @Emmanuel ! Looking forward to one of your lead drives soon !

Congratulations @Brette

Congrats @Brette.

Congrats @Brette !!

Congrats gaurav

I too had a stuck the same way as sertac in my toyota prado in Maleha when I was learning in my initial days of the desert. i was scared to climb up a dune and ended up steering to the right where I could not reverse or even go forward. It took lots of time to recover but finally was out with many pulls from this FJ cruiser.

Type of jack depends on the surface you’re jacking on. Scissor jacks aren’t called suicide jacks for nothing. They’re a last resort for changing a wheel at the side of the road. Trolley jacks are king, but only if they’re used on a flat surface. The wheels can roll and adjust. I love bottle jacks. I don’t know why people are scared of them. If you put it on a plank, it’s the same as spreading the load on a trolley jack. @treks can tell you that air jacks are cool but they can damage your engine. All forms of jacking have their pros and cons but the most important thing which hasn’t been mentioned yet, if you jack a vehicle up, make sure it’s supported. Axle stands are cheap. If you jack your car up, stick an axle stand under it with a plank under the stand. Jacking can and will go wrong. My friends father was crushed to death. He jacked the car up with a trolley jack, rolled under to change the oil filter. The jack failed and he was dead. My ex employer also died. A proper car lift failed and he was crushed to death. Things can go wrong and they do. Remember that. If you jack a car up, whatever type of jack you use, make sure there’s some sort of mechanical backup, even if it’s only 2 stacked up wheels.

Dear Carnity Team. Good day! Just thought I'd share a recent vehicular performance issue I faced. Please feel free to share your thoughts on this: Vehicle: Nissan Patrol Safari Year 2005. Not a Plus 1 car, this is my regular vehicle for all commutes. 1. My car has been in quite a good condition, During my first 2 Off road drives (Newbie) , I was able to punch through quite comfortably. I think the vehicle played a HUGE part in off-setting my inexperience- I am sure it helped me plow through a lot of dicey situations due to sheer power alone, using only the Automatic "D" gear. 2. Post my 2nd drive, returning to On-Road, I started noticing that the car felt a little different, it was as if she took a longer time to achieve prior speeds. I thought that Off-roading had caused some sort of On-road issue, and let it be. 3. During the latest drive (my 3rd) the car simply wasn't the same. I can't explain the feeling, it's as if she just was not up to it. . I wasn't able to charge up the Pink rock on both routes, I did all the FLOORING of the accelerator that I could but she simply wouldn't budge. 4.. Luckily, I just got my vehicle serviced today, and the mechanic was able to identify a certain tear in the intake pipe. His actual words were: "Raizing mein problem aata hain kya?" :😂. (Do you have any issues during full throttling?) As per him this could have contributed to the performance issue during the recent Off-road trip. PFA ref Image. 5. A new Intake Pipe costs AED 375 (Shops near Al Suwaidi Garages in Ras Al Khor), I've decided hunt for a used spare later, hence the pipe's torn section has been taped with insulation tape for the time being. Cheers!

Congrats @Brette ! Well deserved!

The list is made with practically available cars than looking for a rare find and wasting their time, still, I will add it now.

Congratulations dear @Emmanuel wish you all the best

I think you need to learn to drive the car in 1st gear in tricky climbs, soft patches, and cross tracks. When I have driven your car it seems it has enough power to do massive sideys let alone the newbie level climbs and cross track. Every offroader should drive in D in high gear about 75% of the time and the rest 25% of the time you need to manually select 1 or 2 gearing as per required terrain. For air filter torn neck, @Srikumar doubt is quite right to check all the mounts as apart from that there is no other reason you can tear that neck in spite of having so much play in 6 creases on the neck.

Check your engine mounts as well. If they have failed your engine would be moving like crazy within the engine bay when you are hitting the gas. That would also cause the tear in the engine intake. Also, I suggest that you get it replaced at the earliest without much delay as you don't want dust entering your engine. But not sure if the air intake pipe tear would causes the loss in power as then it would be a free flow air intake which should infact result in more power

@Barry the bottle jacks are very easily tumbled in offroad due to the uneven surface and while fixing the pop out we shake and clean the wheel and tire. I totally agree on jack support to be used always as all jack can fail sometime or other, that's why while doing the popout repair we only reach the tire from outside and not underneath. And in some extensive work, if we have to carry, we use two jack or spare wheel under the car to save the day.

Please update the situation on February 17th ,2020. 😬😬😬

At least you guys all got your vehicles back. One time I got so badly stuck in Central Africa that I was forced to abandon the vehicle because I could not wait three weeks for the mud to dry out enough so I could dig it out. For all I know, my Land Cruiser is still stuck in Central Africa.

All the very best @Sajith Kumar Do post some pics once you done with your project is complete 🍻

This sounds like an episode of Stranger Things: “In search for mysterious circles our friends suddenly experience mechanical issues as if the car was taken over by a evil force. The man with the hammer disappeared and reappeared without reason, and the Sweihan area became the backdrop for governmental experiments in alien technology”.... NOW on Netflix ! Love your write ups too buddy 😉

Very good question @derik, actually difficult to answer since we don’t know your friends... In a good off-road club, you increase your chances to learn things your friends may not be able to teach you.

my opinion, there is no should, the main matter is never going alone to the desert if you are more than 2 cars and you have experience with full recovery equipments, enjoy the ride

I always tell people : avoid Xterras ! Especially white 🤣