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Highlights of Our Trip .. Newbie Drive - Tawi Nazwa/Pink Rock - 1 November

Thank you @Srikumar. This was a special drive for me indeed whereby i was really able to challenge myself whilst having heaps of fun. As very rightly pointed, I was a bit on the edge, at the beginning since I dont do fast paced drives regularly but about half way into the drive, after @Srikumar and @Javier M very rightly pointed out that i could do with a a reduction in tire pressure, i was then able to really push and drive better. All in all, this drive was unforgettable for me as i feel i have taken away some new skills. A big shout out to @Srikumar for the fantastic lead and to @Javier M who guided me at some sticky spots.

thank you all for the wonderful experience. @Emmanuel thank you for making this event informative and enjoyable in every possible way. @Rahimdad cant wait to hear more off-roading tales from you. if not for the ride, i'd definitely be coming back for the aloo paratha ! @Mikhail Lukichev really cool video. well done! looking forward to more drives soon!!

Wow @Srikumar nice trip report. Great going @Javier M looks like you've taken up the sweep position as your own. Heard good things about your lead too. @Shamil really happy to hear positive things about your improvement and control. Glad you're learning well and putting it into practice.

WOW! Man thats a broad sweeping statement. And mostly untrue. Available at Al Futtaim right now for 141k. LWB version avialable through Dynatrade or Burami Also available at the Nissan showroom in LWB or SWB form new with the 4.9 VTC monster engine Wont post the Land Cruiser 200 series as some people are allergic to it! LOL

Thank you @Rahimdad I appreciate your support and cooperation in dealing with team members.. You have always been humble and great inspiration for others.. Thank you @Emmanuel make this event possible in such a simple way.. I enjoyed myself despite facing a few obstacles a couple of times for underestimating small dunes… Thank you very much and thank you everyone for being a part of it

Again somebody woke up at wrong side of the bed. Damn it. Xterra and FJC are only two best, capable, reliable, dependable, competent, purpose built Japanese 4x4 in stock state. @Jamy B. go with Xterra from private deal and you can get within 2012 (30k) - 2015 (50k) benchmark pricing.

Looks great.

Well bright spark if you would have looked it up you would have known the donkey cart sprung Xterra is actually a 100kgs heavier than a 4dr V6 prado. All the weight of those big squeaky donkey cart leaf springs does add up! Oh and the SWB is lighter by around half a ton As for the FJ cruiser I use to love it until I actually drove it. Horrible 360 visibility, its like driving while wearing a niqab. With that tiny slit in the front. Off road is even worse, You go up a tiny dune and all you see is the sky, go down a tiny drop and all you see is the ground. Side peripheral which I sometimes use to aid in these kind of situations is also horrible. I think the new ones are coming with a dual tank set up but the early ones came with a gas tank the size of a small masafi bottle and had to be refueled every 500 mtrs. The rear door and seats are there just for namesake but practicality wise useless. The only people who are real fan of the FJ are the serious modding fan club. With big lift kits and huge tyres, baja style bumpers and what not. Hard to even tell there is an FJ under all that. But then I've seen those FJs tackle some serious terrain too.

Horse power is “as low as” 260, so don’t worry for that... Suspensions are not the greatest you can find on the market, I agree on that, but if you want to go for very extreme off-road, you can always upgrade them (or just listen to@desertdude and buy a LandCruiser or any 4 tons Toyota 😂 ) As pointed by @Gaurav I think you can find a cheaper deal for a low mileage used Xterra. FJ is also a good option to consider.

Highly overpriced. Look for private deal than from dealers which will be always 20-30% overpriced.

The Xterra performs brilliant. Even the basic version will take you anywhere. @Emmanuel and @Shamil are perfect examples.

Thanks @Rahimdad, @Mikhail Lukichev, @Atif, @Brettefor your support, and thanks everyone for this sweet little drive. Sorry that we had to shorten it because of my radiator issue. Don’t forget gentlemen that you can also post your photos in the gallery: https://carnity.com/gallery/category/156-newbie-drive-tawi-nazwapink-rock-1-nov-2019

Yeah well the Xterra and FJC aren't feather weights either! Both weigh what an average full size 4x4 should weigh

I agree ruba is an awesome and ultimate offroader and my dream offroader too, but sadly primitive and truck style zero comfort wont appeal 90% weekend warrior, that's why I didnt mentioned it. "STOCK" LWB lc and patrol with boat weight doesn't stand a chance in front of Xterra and FJC.

With 70.000aed you should be able to get a clean Off Road Package.

Why would you want to pay 70k for something which literally has suspension from the donkey cart era

@Emmanuel @Rahimdad and everyone who participated in the drive, thanks a lot!

Trip report - thank you @Mikhail Lukichev after that epic video with an awesome sound track and the exceptional drone footage I don't think I can say anything to top it up, but I'm still going to try. Waking up early in the morning and preparing for the drive and breakfast all pays off when you see so many smiling faces in the morning. As we started our brief I could see the anticipation of the drive from everyone. But my appreciation to all for showing patience, although I really loved the way @Emmanuel handled the brief, he kept everyone engaged and as a force of habit I'd take over once in a while. Or maybe I took over one to many times. But we can't emphasize enough on safety and following some ground rules to understand this sport better. As we deflated, got our convoy numbering and headed in, @Emmanuel. Did not take any chances and took a very scenic but easy route. But as soon as I commented that this was a boring drive he managed to get us a couple of stucks to keep us all involved. At this point we were on the base of Pink Rocks and @Emmanuel found that the straightest path up was the easiest one. But once all were up @Brette and I decided to do it a bit differently. Unfortunately @Emmanuel coolant hose had come off and caused the coolant to splash all over. Once the pipe was fitted back snug in its place we filled it with the only thing we had, water. After playing on the Pink Rocks for sometime we headed out to the 2nd December Cafe to have breakfast. However finding it occupied Emmanuel decided to find some trees for shade from the sun. We drove in the opposite direction for some time to find a wonderful shaded spot with loads of trees. We settled in and started chatting about off roading with some refreshing breakfast and tea. After we were done we packed up and headed back to 2nd December to inflate and head back home. It was a wonderful drive which saw @Mikhail Lukichev in second lead and @Atif bhai in sweep position. Both of them did well and I was overwhelmed by @Atif bhai energy in the sweep position. In the end I would like to thank all and until next time adios Amigos and Amigas.

Trip Report - With the mornings getting more pleasant I was quite eager to reach the meeting point and start the drive in one of my favourite areas, Al Faqa. At 6:00 am I got a call from @AKR mentioning that he had just got up as he missed the alarm. Guess he didn't sacrifice his Thursday night routine after all. So we were down to 3 cars with Shamil in middle and Xavier in sweep duties. After a bit of warming up on some nice dunes we started encountering the famous long range dunes of Al Faqa. Now, when you are ridge riding on long range dunes it's important to know at what point to exit out. @Shamil realised that a bit late and we had our first stuck right down the middle on the top of a tall dune. After a lot of shovelling to clear up the underbelly of the car, @Javier M recovered him in the safest possible manner. Well done Javier. The advantage of a small convoy is the pace that can be maintained and with a good set of capable drivers I was very soon side slopping and ridge riding on every possible dune. Except for a couple of stucks the drive was extremely smooth and I must say that @Shamil did surprise me with his precise car control in some of the places. Also the increase in his confidence could be seen as we drove longer. We totally covered a distance of approx 50 kms in a drive time of about 2.5 hours. Special thanks to @Javier M for supporting the drive. Look forward to more such wonderful drives with you guys. Till then Adios Amigos.

What do you think of this model? Is the horsepower low? Is the price reasonable for what this car's specifications? Just to have an idea... the off-road ones are not that easy to find... https://dubai.dubizzle.com/motors/used-cars/nissan/xterra/2019/10/12/nissan-xterra-40l-v6-4wd-2015-gcc-dealer-w-2/?back=L21vdG9ycy91c2VkLWNhcnMvbmlzc2FuL3h0ZXJyYS8%2Fc2l0ZT0tLSZzPU1UJnJjPTE0MCZjMT0xNDk1JmMyPTE1MTImYzM9MzAwMyZwcmljZV9fZ3RlPSZwcmljZV9fbHRlPSZ5ZWFyX19ndGU9JnllYXJfX2x0ZT0ma2lsb21ldGVyc19fZ3RlPSZraWxvbWV0ZXJzX19sdGU9JnNlbGxlcl90eXBlPSZidXllcl9tYXJrZXQ9JmtleXdvcmRzPSZpc19iYXNpY19zZWFyY2hfd2lkZ2V0PTAmaXNfc2VhcmNoPTEmYWRkZWRfX2d0ZT0mbW90b3JzX3RyaW09MzAwMyZhdXRvX2FnZW50PQ%3D%3D&pos=0&highlighted_ads=1

Thanks for a wonderful drive! A few shots as promised

I was told by my mechanic that oil sold on petrol stations with their own brands is not good for the engine. He showed me some pictures of the engine full of some dirty old leftovers of the oil even though the owner was changing oil every 10000kms. The only thing that it was petrol station oil. I personally can recommend Shell Synthetic oil from one of the authorized sellers. It is known to be good and reasonably priced.

What is it the kids say now? Ooof! Screw extractors can get nasty fast. If you snap one you’re not drilling it out unless you have a milling machine and a 500 dhs titanium drill bit. If it works then everything is cushty. If it doesn’t you’re in a whole new world of shit. Be careful using them. @shadow79 if it gets really bad I have a helicoil kit here you can borrow. I think there are 2 big points to take away here. 1 - Spark plugs don’t need to be murder tight. You don’t need to swing off a 1/2” bar with a pipe on the end. Use a torque wrench. 30 Nm is plenty. It’s such a simple job anyone can do in a parking lot so you should do it yourself 2 - A little bit of copper grease is your friend. A little, not a lot. Back home my mechanic friends used to laugh at me for using copper grease on everything when you might not see the customer again. I always said think about the next guy who might be working on the car. When you get a car in the shop and you see parts with copper grease, it makes you smile. It’s good karma.

Normally going Ajman and change it better option for me. But for only oil change it is too much traffic. Today i got oil filter and asked 2 place for only oil and labour one said 400 other said 350 i was like give me 400 i will happily change your oil seems like eiter i will get the tools and change my self or will go to Ajman.