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The E4x4 Highway I for one am glad that Carnity starts drives before the crack of dawn, having experienced the level of congestion we did around Big Red and Pink Rock one the rush hour started. Thank you everyone for arriving so punctuality that we could get moving early enough to experience just a little bit of driving dark. Dawn was breaking as we arrived at Big Red which allowed us enough light for a little playtime all to ourselves. As we all found out later, these dunes get quite crowded later in the morning. I remember my first Fewbie drives, realising that the pace is often quicker than before, as well as the complexity and we did enjoy a good range of challenges today. Soft sand pockets combined with multiple tracks are not the easiest of obstacles, but we are not always going to find pristine dunes, so it is important to learn how to navigate you way through. @Anish S did a great job in 2nd lead, not putting a wheel wrong showing his slightly greater Fewbie experience. Behind him noone really struggled, but just about everyone had their moments. @Yousef Alimadadi, either get the chips remapped or use a bit more gas. Your car is anything but underpowered. I see the improvements every week in your driving, so keep it up. @Islam Soliman that Yukon is a heavy old beast, with a big power plant. So please be careful with the weight of your right foot if you get into trouble. I can guarantee that if you have to dig yourself out with your own shovel you'll quickly start either taking note of the wheels digging in, or need a much bigger shovel. @Mukundan Nair @h1fny @Neale Faulkner as first time Fewbies ... Well done. You've started to see the difference in expectations from a Fewbie drive and really handled everything well save for a few little moments. No doubt the FJ crew at the back had a lot of churned up sand to deal with @David Ortells and @Christian Andras , but more than @Jun Zamora whose driving today is truly miles away (better) than the last time we drove together. A general pointer. Think a little more about where you stop when waiting. @Chaitanya D and @Brette would have been a lot less busy had this been done. Back to that traffic. The madness of the convoy that drove round and through our group not once, but twice, getting stuck multiple times was disappointing. Thanks to you all for the patience of waiting so we could exit safely. I have never seen quite so much traffic on the dunes as this morning. Having said that, we made it through lots of side sloping and dune crossing to reach Pink Rock just in time to see @Gaurav at play with his convoy. Just keep in mind, that was all of us, newbies, just a short time ago. See you soon in the sand.

DRIVE REPORT Some days I wonder why I would wake up at 03:00AM to go and goof around in the desert. Luckily that feeling only lasts a few minutes until I had my first coffee and the rumble of my little Pajero tells me it's going to be another lovely day in the sand with fellow adventurers. By the time we were deflated, the sun was slowly starting to rise, and the first 15 mins in Mahafiz are done on a desert track without too much challenges. My plan was to cover some play areas and makes some loops in those areas and just enjoy the beautiful scenery. Once we started crossing the dunes we had our first challenging recovery of the day. When I heard someone had a stuck further back in the convoy, my instincts kicked in and I quickly rushed from my lead position back towards the back of the convoy, but either forgot / or the broadcast did not arrive, our mighty FJ Cruiser @topgear decided to follow as he was assuming this was part of the drive. (my mistake as I should have waited for his OK:COPY THAT) before setting off. Anyways it was a bit of a challenging recovery that took some time and 3 different approach angles after the sand got too churned up every time. No harm done and @topgear kept a cool head and we set off again. On the play areas, I am delighted to see the progress you all have made in just a few drives: @Sinol you are still a gentle cautious driver, but every drive i see you gaining confidence ! Well done ! @SureshVNair it was very nice meeting you for the first time, and you drove very well in your convoy position. Excellent work ! @Sajit Modiyil your Xterra has plenty power, but you'll need to find that momentum and use it. You have good control on the sideslopes. Well done ! @Ashy your confidence grows drive after drive, and I see you gaining more control every time of the vehicle which is good ! @Lisa Pemberton drives with a very steady control, always coolheaded, and brings the black Pajero around every dune effortlessly. Very impressed ! @Nivin was my trusty helper today. A big THANK YOU for that. I really like your approach to our newbies, helping them out and being the calm gently helper when they need it the most, and that's a wonderful quality ! @Nabil Bishara moves through the terrain effortlessly. I am very impressed with your progress so far and look forward to see you growing in our club. @Kailas really found his way in the beautiful red Wrangler. Your steering control, momentum, and your co-pilot sitting next to you are all part of the great progress you've made ! @Onlyjunaid I love that yellow Wrangler, and you didn't break a sweat throughout the drive. The same for @Ahmed Azmy and @muzamil hussain you guys were all at the back of the convoy but your driving skills were noticeable and very commendable. Please keep joining us, as your cars all bring different colours and flavors The ever so calm and mature @marks was at the back and had a eagle-eye view on the entire convoy. I love your attitude and will-to-help and look forward to many more drives together ! See you guys soon back in the sand !

Thank you @Frederic https://www.relive.cc/view/vOw IMG_6382.MP4

Hi @Tbone yes I managed to reach home with the bent guard plate holding on to two Nuts 😀. Thanks a lot to you, @Kalahari @Najeeb Mohammed @Jeandre Bezuidenhout @Shiju Manuel for the great support when in need. Hi @Ale Vallecchi it was a great start and your technical briefing and making us try sample ridge crossing was getting really exciting but unfortunately my car knocked me down in the middle. But I must say that the drive from that bowl to the exit point was really thrilling cause of the condition for survival that “no refusals and no room for reverse for me 😁”. Hope to join your convoy soon to learn more and practice.

Guys, what an awesome morning drive again ! Thanks for the company. It was so nice to see sun rise behind the mountain and desert. @Gaurav, good work again ! Thank you for your advices regarding hill climbing. Photos added also to gallery.

Great drive guys ! Good support from @Tero Vallas and second lead @Mohamed Seidam. Apart from few refusals @Ashok chaturvedi @Ammar Naji @Ilya Golubinsky @Sreejith Sreenivasan handled their self recoveries well. @Andrei had a bit of issue with clutch on his manual jeep but nothing that cant be sorted. You ll definitely grow and love your manual car on more drives Impressed with how @Islam Hassan@Hatim Patharia and @Newton Rozario handled their vehicles . Was wondering if there would be a time I might have to tug the mighty Ram Gave me good memories of the thrill during the newbie drives back then and gotto stretch my rope finally ! Thanks for the recovery tips @Gaurav and the great lead ! Added some pics in gallery See you soon in the sand.

Thanks for leading a record drive today @Ale Vallecchi (I think?). Ultimately over 91 km over more than 6 hours!!! Very relaxing drive, with the usual patches of terribly soft powdery sand. One longish recovery when a baseplate bended down, and try as we might we could neither remove it, nor bend it back up again. These stucks happened to all of us before, and certainly no shame in that hellish soft bowl. I thought everybody did well, with shoutouts to fellow Intermediates @Tbone and @Najeeb Mohammed for their recovery efforts.

Hi all thanks for the great drive today. Indeed, I struggled a bit with the manual today but I knew what I was getting into when I chose manual. Thanks everybody for the patience and special thanks to @Gaurav & @J J for the support today (driving and mental 😀😀) Nice to see you again @Arun Mathew here are some photos from me as well

TRIP REPORT Qudra offers the perfect play ground for Absolute Newbies to start learning the basics of offroading. With a nice looking convoy signed up, I was eagerly looking forward to a wonderful drive. Such was the excitement that I had reached the meeting point at 4:30 am to only find @Vanessa8580 already waiting since 4:20 am. As we started deflating our own tires the entire convoy of Absolute Newbies started trickling in well before the meeting time. With a quick introduction @Vanessa8580 started helping deflate few of the new offroaders who needed assistance. Upon checking the tow points, we came across @izzumonv who unfortunately didnt have tow points at the back of his car. Tow points is the most important requirement to start offroading and its mandatory to have them at the front as well as back. Hope you get them fixed by next weekend and we look forward to having you onboard. With @Pancho as my second lead, @Rahimdad as center forward and @Vanessa8580 in sweep we lined up the entire convoy. After a quick absolute newbie briefing we started moving on some nice easy tracks. Within a km of entering the desert while helping recover @Juan Carlos Elizalde Reyes we found that one of his tyre's sidewall was peeling off. As it was unsafe to drive the car in such a condition in the desert, Rahimdad and Vanessa escorted him back to the road. Juan, your car had some serious lack of power, and probably it is the Oxygen sensor. @AKR had a similar issue and maybe he can share some light on what he did to get it sorted. With the convoy settling down and the increase in confidence, I started increasing the pace in some of the medium range dunes at the back side of Qudra. With plenty of opportunity for side slopping the convoy responded extremely well with a minimal of fuss. Well done. @[email protected] impressed me both with his nicely lifted Pajero as with the drive skills that he displayed. Nicely done. @Hardik Mody was our adventure man for the day with a couple of jumps and going off the track. Luckily nothing happened. However, for me the highlight was how you self recovered yourself out of the pocket. @Tamas Hoffmann was the quietest guy in the convoy and he didnt break a sweat to manage his Pajero throughout the drive. @Gaurav Tomar joined in his JGC. Though it has a lot of power, its a beast that needs some practice to tame. But you managed it well. @Sara EL FANIDI did pretty well in her Wrangler. Couple of moments while doing the side slopping, but overall good driving. @Javier Lucero really enjoyed himself at the back of the convoy despite the cross tracks as he was riding a but higher than the other cars and testing the power of the Wrangler. @Probir Mukherjee joined with the mighty V8 LC and he sailed through most of the dunes with the utmost of ease. Thank you to @Pancho for supporting the drive in second lead position. Big thanks to @Rahimdad and @Vanessa8580 for managing all the refusals and stucks quickly and to ensure that the convoy keeps moving at a good pace. Well done everyone. For the next drives at Newbie level, please bring along a deflator, pressure gauge, flag and radio as a minimum. Also like I mentioned during the debriefing, join the Carnity Whatsapp Drive Notification to get the latest updates on the drives and so that you can RSVP on time for the next weekend's drive. Till then drive safe.

Hot summer , soft sand and superchurn by lot of cars made our morning drive quite an experience. Fantastic lead by @Wrangeld and sweep by @Brette. I could crawl out myself from that superchurned bowl, thanks to all those who waited patiently untill I wriggled out. Some stats below and pictures in gallery. Have a nice weekend Mapped video link https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOnMMLYG5v

Thanks @Wrangeld for taking us to another level in our driving experience. What I thought was impossible for me a few months ago, you help me prove possible by taking us through those technical dunes and making it through safely. It was also my first experience to climb at the big red. Those side slopings in the soft sands were really a challenge. Thanks @Brette , @Chaitanya D, @Anish S for sharing your experience in giving clear instructions whenever there are refusals in the convoy. I’m sure everyone enjoyed this morning’s drive. See you all on our next adventure!

Well driven everyone, thanks to@Gaurav and @Ale Vallecchi. It did not feel like a newbie drive ! https://www.relive.cc/view/vr63ddE5Zdq Some pictures uploaded in gallery.

This is a good photo of the situation. My son was like how long do you intend to keep me in this lopsided position 😅 This is the view from the car.

@Frederic thanks for a great drive. Loved every minute of it and really keen to get back to a play area now I've figured out tiptronic on the Pajero. You were right, it upshifts from 2nd once at an appropriate speed. I really appreciate the feedback you offer during drives and come away from each one having learned something new!I got a nice shot of you taking the FJ Cuiser for a walk below 😜. Hope I answered all your questions about the MeanMother air compressor@topgear. I was struggling in the heat when you caught me so I'm not sure how coherent I was being 😅 . Thanks @Ahmed Azmy for the awesome aerial shot of Fossil Rock in the gallery 👏 👏 and @Nivin for basically starring my Pajero in your home movie 🤩😎. Looking forward to next weekend already!

@Frederic thank you for a great morning drive . Finally made it with you after a mistimed first attempt.. It was great.. and love the feedback both on and off the drive.. @Nivin thank you also for the little tips.. Made the whole ride a good experience..

@Gaurav thanks much for the awesome morning drive !! Looking for more drives in coming months as well when the weather gets better .. @Andrei it’s was a real pleasure as well to see you again 👏👏

What a lovely drive today , thoroughly enjoyed thanks to Sri Hari , Rafiqand Vanessa for the guidance,excellent radio commuications and convoy discipline and much appreciationto fellow Newbie drivers, we all did quite well. Look forward to more drives . Thanks .. got the radios ( s) WT Car is a Land cruiser Rear hook Front hook Tyre deflator / inflator available Radios to be bought- dragon market

Here is the final convoy list Gaurav Khanna Silver Pajero David Ortells Fj Cruiser Tamas Hoffman Wael Mounier Jeep Grand Cherokee Dagdag Sofiane Pajero VipinShetty Jeep Grand Cherokee Chaitanya D Black Xterra luwaimn White Prado Ahmed Farghaly Xterra Vineeth John Joseph White Xterra siddharth maheshwari White Wrangler

Dear Carnity desert lovers. In preparation for Saturday's drive, here's the convoy order: @Febin Frederic will be in Second Lead @Najeeb Mohammed will follow as #3 @Rinelle Sanaani will center the convoy at #4 @Chaitanya D will occupy position #5 @Wrangeld will close at sweep Please be ready to tune in your radio to Carnity Channel 1 (466.006 It would be great if we managed to depart as close to 4:00PM as possible, so we can take full advantage of the daylight, and cover as much ground as safely possible. The length of the convoy is also ideal for playing, and we'll do our best to thoroughly explore this fun area. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

Just wanted to share with all the xterra owners here .Easy way to secure cargo with bungee cords and spring nuts. These can be found at Golden Screws Ras Al Khor. Pictures are self explanatory whole spring nut and ring bolt set with washer (3AED per set) Steps Final after tightening These can be used in any car which has these kind of rails in the cargo trunk. You can use as many as you want to make it more secure and modular.

@Frederic thanks for your help and guidance today. My mistake/lesson learnt, esp as second lead, is to stop in a safe place and wait, the moment someone in the convoy is stuck to avoid a similar situation. The sand in that area was so soft and it made recovery very challenging. Massive apologies to the rest of the convoy for holding up the progress. Thankfully the rest of the drive was smooth... @Nivin this time, when I got to the top of Fossil Rock, I made sure I stopped on the harder sand and pointing down. thanks for the tip. @Lisa Pembertonthanks for the explanation today on the MM compressor. I have passed on the information to my friend. He will probably go for the MM instead of Bushranger due the price point and 5 years warranty.

Frederick, you are an amazing leader and person, it was an honor to follow you this morning. the whole group was awesome, i have to admit carnity is the best club i joined. looking forward to meet all of you again ✌️😃 Guys. anyone has the videos for our sand side dunning ??

I did the same , got for zone auto care in al quoz , they did a descent job for 250aed . Interior n exterior polishing along with head light restoration

Bought myself a groupon ticket for interior detailing. Let's see if it is something.

I would say start with a basic tuneup of spark plugs, air filter, ignition coil and some good tyres where you can go lower on the PSI(I am not aware of your current brand of tyres) . Pajero 3.5 is a reasonably powerful vehicle without any modifications.

Thank you Wrangled, this trip was full of joy, new experiences and challenges 😊😊😊

@J J, thanks for the quick tug on the crest. You did very well today 👏 See you soon in the sand ✌️

@Tbone, no issue, hold on to it until we see each other again. 👍

@Chaitanya D if these bungee cords fail, which will happen in few drives. Go with spider net from ACE and use your same hooks to secure it.

Dear @Emmanuel, there is a hard plastic cover on the rails (as in pic below)which needs to be removed to get access. I am not sure why your X doesn't have these as mine is basic version and has it . Frankly I was going bonkers with moving stuff in the trunk. After fixing the hooks look tight and secure enough to hold items in place with 2 to 3 strong ropes /bungee. Will update how sturdy it is in desert after few drives for sure. PC @Shamil with thanks

DRIVE RSVP IS CLOSED NOW Here is the final convoy list Gaurav Khanna Silver Pajero Tero Vallas White Prado Wael Mounier Jeep Grand Cherokee Dagdag Sofiane Pajero Nizam Deen White Prado VipinShetty Jeep Grand Cherokee Chaitanya D Black Xterra luwaimn White Prado Ahmed Farghaly Xterra Vineeth John Joseph White Xterra David Ortells Fj Cruiser siddharth maheshwari White Wrangler @Tero Vallas @Wael Mounier @Nizam Deen @VipinShetty @Chaitanya D @luwaimn @Ahmed Farghaly @Vineeth John Joseph @David Ortells @siddharth maheshwari @Dagdag Sofiane Please be on time, sharp at 5 PM, little early is always better. Please tune to Carnity Channel 1 - 446.006'25 freq. Deflate your tires to 15 PSI as soon as you reach to the meeting point. Be inside your car - AT ALL TIMES - after the deflation. FOR YOUR AND YOUR VEHICLE SAFETY PLEASE WATCH BELOW MANDATORY VIDEO WITHOUT ANY DISTRACTIONS.

DRIVE RSVP IS CLOSED NOW Here is the final convoy list Gaurav Khanna Silver Pajero Mohamed Seidam White 2012 Xterra Ammar Naji Ford Expedition Islam Hassan Black Dodge Ram Ashok chaturvedi Pajero Hatim Patharia Jeep wrangler J J Red Jeep Wrangler Arun Mathew Green Jeep Wrangler SWB Newton Rozario Fj Cruiser Andrei Jeep Wrangler Ilya Golubinsky White Wrangler Unlimited Sreejith Sreenivasan Green LR2 Tero Vallas White Prado @Mohamed Seidam @Ammar Naji @Islam Hassan @Ashok chaturvedi @Hatim Patharia @J J @Arun Mathew @Newton Rozario @Andrei @Ilya Golubinsky @Sreejith Sreenivasan @Tero Vallas Please be on time, sharp at 5 AM, little early is always better. Please tune to Carnity Channel 1 - 446.006'25 freq. Deflate your tires to 15 PSI as soon as you reach to the meeting point. Be inside your car - AT ALL TIMES - after the deflation. FOR YOUR AND YOUR VEHICLE SAFETY PLEASE WATCH BELOW MANDATORY VIDEO WITHOUT ANY DISTRACTIONS.

@Neale Faulkner ☝🏼