Leaderboard

Experience the grandeur and majesty of Liwa desert in the Empty Quarter (Rub-al-khali)! Liwa is located in the south-eastern part of the country, 250km from Abu Dhabi and 350km from Dubai, very close to the Saudi Arabian border. This is the world's largest continuous sea of dunes spread across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen. Though an unforgiving terrain, LIWA still welcomes offroaders who are sensible and respectful to drive through such an enormous sea of sand dunes. The sheer size of dunes, ridges, and slopes will leave an everlasting memory ! After weeks of planning and preparing, the whole Carnity team is proud to present you a day of exploring the LIWA desert, tailored to your drive level, and with the support of our whole senior team to make this adventure a trip you will never forget ! Taking on this part of the desert will require your utmost focus, perseverance, patience, and the assurance that your 4x4 vehicle is technically in 100% fit condition. Next to your vehicle, your off-road tools should be in good condition as well, with fully charged radio with backup battery (or backup radio) a necessity for the long day. The trip lead will schedule sufficient breaks to enjoy the magnificent scenery, take some rest, grab a bite or a drink. Make sure to carry plenty of water. COVID19 TEST REQUIREMENTS: For non-Abu-Dhabi residents, the COVID testing will be required at the border in Ghantoot. Please find the guidelines posted in below post: This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Drive Details Level: Fewbie and Above When: 2 Dec 2020, Wednesday Meeting time: 8:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point Convoy 1:https://maps.app.goo.gl/RNbxJpXeC7tUtNsz8 LEAD BY ASIF Meeting Point Convoy 2:https://maps.app.goo.gl/sbJd7AKqXixPh5dm8 LEAD BY FRED Type of Vehicle: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. Every 4x4 should have LO gearing Spare tyre should be in perfect usable condition. AWD Vehicles will not be allowed. What to bring along: 5L of water per person. Snacks for breakfast and lunch. Fully charged radio with spare battery , shovel, offroad flag, pressure gauge and deflator. Your own compressor for tyre inflation. Jerrycan with 20L of extra Petrol (VERY IMPORTANT). Gas tank should be full upon arrival. Nearest petrol station is ADNOC LIWA: https://goo.gl/maps/5hCvZ33FPD9twsQF9 Approximate finish time: 4PM with sufficient breaks inbetween, End Point: LIWA MOREEB https://goo.gl/maps/82FAUbAhgKcXCyui8 GROUP CAMPING, BBQ IS NOT PERMITTED AFTER THE DRIVE. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 20 cars only. RSVP will close on Tuesday 1st of December 09AM 2 Lead Marshals + 4 Senior Members + 20 Members. (DOUBLE CONVOY) If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Experience the grandeur and majesty of Liwa desert in Empty Quarter (Rub-al-khali). The largest continuous sea of dunes spread across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen. What you will find here: Tallest sand dunes (300 meters) Steepest incline and drops Longest side sloping Broad ridge riding Fast heartbeat Its every offroader's dream to visit Liwa desert and dunes at least once to witness the maximum scale of sand dunes existence. Though an unforgiving terrain, LIWA still welcomes offroaders who are sensible and respectful to drive through such an enormous sea of sand dunes. After immense planning and preparation, the whole Carnity team is proud to present you a full day of exploring the LIWA desert, tailored to your drive level, and with the support of our whole senior team to make this adventure a trip you will never forget! Driving through Liwa Dunes require your utmost focus, perseverance, patience, and the assurance that your 4x4 vehicle is in top notch condition. Next to your vehicle, your off-road gears should be in good condition too, with fully charged radio with backup battery (or backup radio) a necessity for the long day drive. The trip lead will schedule sufficient breaks to enjoy the magnificent scenery, take some rest, grab a bite or a drink. Make sure to carry plenty of water, food and snacks. For Dubai and Sharjah residents, the COVID testing will be required at the border in Ghantoot. Please find the guidelines posted in below post: This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Drive Details Level: Intermediate and Above When: 2 Dec 2020, Wednesday Meeting time: 8:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/bXFijFSAASzfPMfM7 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. Spare tyre should be in perfect usable condition. What to bring along: 5L of water per person. Snacks for breakfast and lunch. Fully charged radio with spare battery, shovel, offroad flag, pressure gauge and deflator. Your own compressor for tyre inflation. Jerrycan with 20L of extra Petrol (VERY IMPORTANT). Gas tank should be full upon arrival. Nearest petrol station is ADNOC LIWA: https://goo.gl/maps/5hCvZ33FPD9twsQF9 Approximate finish time: 4PM with sufficient breaks inbetween, End Point: LIWA MOREEB https://goo.gl/maps/82FAUbAhgKcXCyui8 GROUP CAMPING, BBQ IS NOT PERMITTED AFTER THE DRIVE. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Tuesday 1st of December 09AM 1 Lead Marshal + 1 or 2 Senior Members + 10 Members. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Hi Bhaskar, As with every brand, we need to look at the relative positioning to understand the brand strenghts. I am assuming that your queston relates specicifally to the 4x4 community - the wider questions of the brand as a whole impact on that, however, I would argue that the 4x4 perspective is a little different to the consumer of a Corolla, Sunny or Lancer. Globally, and regionally. Toyota built its reputation on reliability and build quaility and took that equity into the Hi Ace & Land Cruiser sub brand. From open pick ups and indestructable vehicles transporting gun toting radicals (maybe not perfect for brand image), Toyota displaced LandRover as THE offroad champion. The Nissan dynasty was created by their successful program of supplying the UN with vehicles - the Patrol's reputation was established as we saw thousands of white Patrols coming to the rescue worldwide: Quite a feat for a company that was not really known for well constructed sturdy cars - Datsun as it was was a copycat that took over the market place of those who helped create it and who pursued equity through supercharged sports cars (That's why the Nismo that would make no sense anywhere else makes sense here!). Nissan has been very intelligent in creating a range of affordable 'not Patrol' models that allow the aspirant buyer access to the brand in a way that many of the other manufacturers missed: Pathfinder, X Terra ... all give the driver the chance to feel the afterglow of the Patrol in a way that the other brands miss. Honda - it's a motorbike company. What are they doing making cars? Even though some of the most incredible vehicles come out of the Honda stable like the Accord, S2000, the Civic ... they make motorbikes don't they. My perspective possibly as I ride bikes and owned a number fo Hondas. But as an offroader? They have little equity, and little range in the competent 4x4 world. Shopping trolleys - yes, but nothing that supports an equity for the committed offroader. Mitsubishi - is like the almost man. The Pajero (yes, we know unfortunate name in some communities) cold so well have become the undisputed chanpion. It had everything. Great manners on and off road, good engines, great reliability ... but it got pulled down by the sad fact that the rest of the assortment became a plain vanilla brand: a real real shame because at the time that the Evo was really putting them on the map and creating a great story for the brand, the Pajero hit middle age and like all of us got wider, heavier and wanted more comfort. Here in UAE it's the car you buy because it is easy to maintain, parts are cheap, second hand values are low ... excited by that? Of course not, but we buy the car because at the end of the day, it's disposable motoring. I guess, my perspective as a marketing consultant is more nuanced than some ... and I am happy to continue to the discussion into any of the areas that you asked, but I think anyone not a marketer might find it tedious. It's my passion, so you lit a fuse ...

With a manual in off-road is different than driving it on-road. @Srikumar and @Frederic can confirm this. But once you learn driving off-road with a manual you'll hardly go back to driving an auto. There are many advantages and disadvantages driving off-road with either. It's just what you're comfortable with. With manual you have more control, however with most good automatics nowadays it's easier to self recover. Manual takes marginally lesser fuel than an automatic, but in slippery and inclines situationsvits easier to start moving with an automatic. I see the way @Srikumar and @Frederic drive their manuals and I have the highest respect for them.

Experience the grandeur and majesty of Liwa desert in Empty Quarter (Rub-al-khali). The largest continuous sea of dunes spread across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen. What you will find here: Tallest sand dunes (300 meters) Steepest incline and drops Longest side sloping Broad ridge riding Fast heartbeat Its every offroader's dream to visit Liwa desert and dunes at least once to witness the maximum scale of sand dunes existence. Though an unforgiving terrain, LIWA still welcomes offroaders who are sensible and respectful to drive through such an enormous sea of sand dunes. After immense planning and preparation, the whole Carnity team is proud to present you a full day of exploring the LIWA desert, tailored to your drive level, and with the support of our whole senior team to make this adventure a trip you will never forget! Driving through Liwa Dunes require your utmost focus, perseverance, patience, and the assurance that your 4x4 vehicle is in top notch condition. Next to your vehicle, your off-road gears should be in good condition too, with fully charged radio with backup battery (or backup radio) a necessity for the long day drive. The trip lead will schedule sufficient breaks to enjoy the magnificent scenery, take some rest, grab a bite or a drink. Make sure to carry plenty of water, food and snacks. For Dubai and Sharjah residents, the COVID testing will be required at the border in Ghantoot. Please find the guidelines posted in below post: This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Drive Details Level: Newbie (Min. 3 drives with Carnity Offroad Club by 27th Nov) and Above When: 2 Dec 2020, Wednesday Meeting time: 8:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: - https://goo.gl/maps/eiJzPk7cwyjzWs8D7 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. Every 4x4 should have LO gearing AWD Vehicles are NOT allowed Spare tyre should be in perfect usable condition. Also, ensure that the wrench / key to change the tyre is available in your car. Drive Preparation: As it's a long full day drive, so catchup with enough sleep in advance. 5 liter of water per person. Snacks for breakfast and lunch (No sharing allowed). Fully charged radio with spare battery , shovel, offroad flag, pressure gauge and deflator and compressor Jerrycan with 20L of extra Petrol (VERY IMPORTANT). Gas tank should be full upon arrival. Nearest petrol station is ADNOC LIWA: https://goo.gl/maps/5hCvZ33FPD9twsQF9 Approximate finish time: 3 PM with sufficient breaks in between, End Point: LIWA MOREEB https://goo.gl/maps/82FAUbAhgKcXCyui8 GROUP CAMPING, BBQ IS NOT PERMITTED AFTER THE DRIVE. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 24 cars only. RSVP will close on Tuesday 1st of December 9:00 AM 2 Lead Marshals + 4 Senior Members + 24 Members. (TWO CONVOY) If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Late comers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Hey Team, My name is Aus Alzubaidi. A father to a 3 years old Adam. I've been driving Mustangs & BMWs my entire life. Finally decided to switch to a big boy's toy and got this Jeep a few weeks ago, mainly to entertain my son (that is the lie I use to convince my wife to spend money on the Jeep). It's my only car, I use it daily to commute about 100KMs. I'm an absolute newbie, and I usually manage to get the car stuck in the dirt road on the side of the street. I'm looking forward to joining you this Friday and will hopefully try to learn my way around Al Qudra. I've moved to Nshama Town Square recently which is very convenient. See you soon

After several drives spent in the desert and after witnessing many refusals and stuck including mine , revising the tapes and listening to the instructions on radio and reading and watching different audio visual materials on the net I wondered 🤔 : why things still happening ?) what , still , I don’t see?! I would like to share with you guys what I found and think that might be the real cause of some faults that may occur ?! Scenario 1 : A driver climbing straight up hill of a dune ( encountering loss of momentum and eventually stand still ( front pointing up and rear down ) , now reversing straight down .... on the way down the observer now see what the driver is not realizing that his vehicle is almost sideways stuck or flip is imminent. What The driver didn’t see or realize , despite listening to the proper instructions in radio ? Scenario 2 : Performing a side slope with a decent incline and proper momentum and would assume the track is free of bumps ( trying to be ideal with no apparent cause of fishtailing related to terrine or car power ) .. at the middle of half moon now the driver realizes his vehicle is fishtailing and hearing from the radio the demand to steer down . What the driver didn’t see ?! ( clue : the more the incline the more this is happening ) Scenario 3: A driver descending down hill regardless how steep ( the more steep the more it’s probable to happen in a given situation ) ... again finding self fishtailing and imminent flip may occur . What the driver couldn’t see ? In all scenarios it’s obvious it’s control issue , now how can this be an issue ? ( assuming full concentration and car and terrain is perfect , which off course in reality it’s not but only for the sake of explanation ) Explanation : The driver has exerted an input to steering wheel without realizing it as it looked very minimal , however this may lead to unwanted results . In scenario 1 : The driver has the habit to lean and look backward using only one hand on the steering instead of using the rear mirror to maintain body /arm/ hand position steady and relaxed during decent. In scenario 2 : The natural tendency to lean the neck away from the incline side while the your body is restricted by the seatbelt without you realize you use the hands to maintain that neck leaning leading to un noticeable input to the steering in the direction where your neck lean ( small counter steering ) this leads off course to disturbance fishtail or slowing by releasing foot off accelerator resulting in refusal or stuck or in worse case roll over . In scenario 3 : As it’s advised to “drive “down hill and not to “roll “ it down as you gain speed slightly naturally you will have the urge to break , and if this is slightly harder your hand will push against the steering wheel which is mostly unintentional and unequal. this will put input to the steering wheel disturbing the directional stability .. fishtailing , braking , more fishtailing ... and so on Solution: Awareness and knowledge about the details. Practice makes perfect always Plan your intended next move and be vigilant , draw your imaginary line correctly and stick to follow it. Avoid bad habits of being distracted . Relax you hands with both thumbs up always on steering wheel and while on incline have a leap of faith and train your mind to go with the incline not against it . Offroad drive needs time and patience to master , respect the gravity don’t fight it and it will bring sure to the top. Note : this is my experience so far , I wanted to share . Please advice me always as learning is endless and I apologize if it was long . Cheers 🙏🏻🚙🌷

Which is better in terms of different points vehicle/ driver related ? maybe slightly lengthy but worth watching it what you think desert wanders ? P.S : personally I learned driving on manual and all my drivers licenses too . however as of off-roading I never tried the manual , it seems more fun but requires extra skills

Looks like the signup went pretty fast ! A few topics that I wanted to highlight to all of you: 1) You need to make sure that your car is 100% in technical fit condition: recovering a broken vehicle in Liwa is an absolute enormous task which will take hours and in some cases we might have to just leave it behind. Please be aware of the long journey and the extreme stress your vehicle will undergo in this terrain. Get your vehicle FULLY inspected before joining this adventure. Make sure fluids, battery, spare wheel, and brakes are in optimal condition. If your vehicle already shows signs of slight overheating from regular Fewbie drives please do not join this drive. 2) We will be driving in dunes which are more than 200m high and this also involves coming down steep slopes. If you are currently Fewbie and struggle with fear of heights in Pink Rock or Fossil Rock, I would advise to think this through. Safety is our main focus but nevertheless we need people to stay calm and listen calmly to instructions as there is only little margin for human errors. 3) More than anything, you need to be realistic in what your vehicle can do and choose the number of passengers wisely. If we see an underpowered vehicle with 4 adult persons inside and stuffed with camping gear, we will not allow you to join. This terrain will require a lot from your vehicle, and traveling light with minimum passengers will make sure your underpowered vehicle can survive this.

Calendar will be live at 7 PM. Please be online at that time. Also please ensure that you have completed min. 3 drives with Carnity by Nov 27th to be eligible for the drive.

One big advantage of manual transmission is that there is no Hot Gear Oil Indicator (atleast not in my XJ) . Plus the manual gear oil is much more thicker and hence can absorb more heat than the relatively less viscous automatic ATF gear oil. I have pushed my XJ extensively on first gear for the past 3 years and keep checking the quality of oil. Hardly any burnt smell or discoloration.

Driving a manual comes with a steeper learning curve. As a beginner you will be very tempted to use the clutch to rev up a bit when you are taking off in a soft patch. While playing with the clutch is acceptable on-road up to a certain extent, offroad it kills the clutch very soon. We all had to learn that lesson the hard way. But once you have passed the initial stage, and become in "sync" with your vehicle and the exact right time to switch gears, the driving experience is more engaging and it gives you a better sense of control. If i get behind the wheel of an automatic car now, i quickly get annoyed by the fact the car is upshifting and downshifting by itself, resulting in me kicking it into tiptronic and taking over control. That also depends on the type of car of course and how "smart" the car reacts in D (which is something the ECU is adapting and learning from your drive style every week).

Why Japanese cars are more reliable in the UAE as compared to other makes is because the Japanese worked hard at it. They would send teams to the middle east from the very beginning along with their cars to be tested to see how they would fair in this region. In the hot summers here they realized the need a better engine cooling system besides the materials to be used inside the car, the paint and everything else in between. Thus when you're looking for a car here you prefer middle east specs rather than Japanese or US specs. Other makers did not bother and continued to sell one size fits all mindset and soon started to realize all the issues faced in the Middle East. This drove the resale value of their vehicles lower as people saw them as faulty, over heating, inside materials (plastics) melting or breaking, becoming brittle over a couple of winter and summer heat and cold. So where you'd normally see a Japanese vehicle depreciate 50% in 3 years, an American vehicle would depreciate 50% the moment you registered and put a number plate on it. This however has changed over time and we see a lot of vehicle manufacturers sending their latest vehicles in wraps to be tested over time here in Middle East before releasing it here. At one point in UAE you could see brand loyalty in terms of 40% vehicles on road were Toyotas, maybe 20% Nissan, 8% Honda, 2% Mazda, few Suzukis, Chevrolet and Ford held a certain place in the hearts and minds of UAE nationals as having studied abroad these were brands that resonated with them. But they were huge V8 gas guzzlers, broke down often and costed a pretty penny to repair. Besides these we more attractive second hand rather than from the showroom floor. You could buy a Toyota Corolla brand new or you could save some money buying a 3 year old Cadillac, look good and it was not driven much. People who bought these second hand did not realize why they had not been driven much, the reason, it spent just as much time in a workshop as on the road. People who cared about value would always go for a Japanese. One more thing to see here is 80% of the population here has always been expats. The expats have no chance of staying here for life or calling UAE their home. So it's all about escaping some developing or 3rd world countries and earning a living with the hope of saving some for future. This is where the value comes in. Japanese brands were a good value as they hardly broke down, were cheaper to repair and thus sold at close to the value it was bought at. Which meant savings and an investment that was never going to go that far south as any other. Among these Toyota as @Wrangeld said built its reputation against reliability which hold true to date. Although there are some exceptions and after the millennium was crossed they realized their main income is in spare parts and not selling a car which is good to drive for 20 years with the bare minimum maintenance, where I would agree with @Gaurav bhai about making parts with and expiry date. Best example of this is AC Delco batteries which give a one year warranty and would run out on the second or 3rd day of the warranty expiring. With all these factors considered you'll not find Toyota ruling the UAE roads any more. You find more competition, more brands, more options with similar reliability. People today would at least list 4 options and try them out and find out a bit more on the costs to be incurred during their possession and resale values to make a learned decision. The social media and other such outlet allows you to learn a lot more and people today are more informed than say about 25 years ago. My first choice would be a Toyota, but I've only bought 1 in my 26 years of driving and used it for 7 years only. 19 years I have spent driving different vehicles to weigh the benefits. One reason is because Toyota has always been put of my budget and maintaing a Land Rover Discovery 1 was cheaper to maintain than my Toyota. To be fair The LR Disco would break down more often and you could never own one without a leak in 6 months. But it was way more comfortable and cost less to maintain. I now own a Nissan Pathfinder 2001 model for 4 years. Even after 19 years it drives great, doesn't cost as much to maintain, was within my budget and does exactly what I expect it to do, serve as a desert toy for Fridays and sometimes beyond. With the amount of brands and choices I don't think the world will come to an end. Surely if the brand is big enough it will be missed, but people will find options and learn to live with the alternatives.

@Frederic i should have remember it was your thread! thank you for all the support you and the senior members provide to us newbies.... cannot express how easy you make this process for folks who are doing these things for the first time - all while you have a day job, family, a drive to enjoy yourself etc!

For years and years, I was an "I will never drive an automatic". Then I realised, life is simply easier in an automatic day to day. I still remember how frustrating is was sitting in early morning traffic on the way into central London driving a manual. Off road, I went for Auto first simply because I knew there would be a lot to think about apart from changing gear. For sure, at some stage, I will have a manual for the desert. As long as it's not my daily driver. Auto is simply that, automatic, so easier.

@Srikumar I was born to drive a manual vehicle . It’s the king of fun be it on or off road agree . I really miss it but honestly I never tried the manual off road 😄

70 Litres would be less. It would be good to carry extra fuel (20 litres)

Congratulations @Malachy McGrogan! Well deserved 👏🏻

Congrats buddy !

@Craig Finlayson Congratulations!

Congrats @Malachy McGrogan!!

Great read @Mohamed Seidam. Appreciate you showing us the issue and trying to use logic to explain these things. Nowadays with newer cars the cars have lot of electronics and computers always learning your drive style and trying to assist you even if you don't realize it. The car automatically applying brakes to a wheel which does not have traction can be another cause for fish tailing. I'm really happy with all your logic, and I would like to reinforce what you just said. I'm driving on road for over 26 years but never take my eyes off the road, same way you need to feel the same responsibility off-road and be aware of your skills, your vehicle and your surroundings.

He raped the desert and the desert finally raped him.

You are opening a topic that has one clear winner : Manual all the way. The automatic guys will just jump in to justify themselves now.

Let me start with Mitsubishi: 1. What are the strengths of the brand? Reliability, simplicity, number of vehicles on the road in UAE. 2. What are the weaknesses & challenges for the brand? Many models have become a bit outdated, and the competition is fierce. There is only very limited market for a "real" capable 4x4, hence they become more soft-offroad SUV vehicles. 3. How's the brand experience in UAE - dealer, online, after sales service etc.? good independent workshops that cater to Mitsubishi. No experience with the dealership. 4. What differentiates the brand from the other brands? Could be anything from product features, technology to dealer experience or even something else. Mitsubishi has always been a bit of an underdog, but bang for the buck they remain fantastic value. 5. What if the brand ceases to exist for some unfortunate reason? Would you miss it? What would you replace the brand with? In UAE i would stay with Japanese brands for the reliability and good resale value. Looking forward to varied opinions and perspectives! Hope you all find this interesting! Thanks in advance!

Congratulations @Craig Finlayson for reaching the Intermediate Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. INTERMEDIATE Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 drives are required within last 6 months for Intermediate promotion. (Drives can be a mix of Newbie, Fewbie (50%) and Fewbie plus, depending on your adaptability, learning progress and Marshal’s feedback) What you'll learn Basic GPS and navigational skills Basic tow rope and winch recoveries Extreme side sloping and long hill climb Tall dunes ridge riding and criss crossing Precise control over technical dunes Fast pace desert driving Skills required Adventurous and thrill seeker but in a safe manner Level headed under stressful situations Responsible, dependable and accountable Car Worthiness Capable 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle High profile tires Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor, tool kit, rated recovery rope and 2 rated shackles, GPS. Drive teamwork Manage center forward position with Trip Lead’s permission Learn/assist recoveries under Trip Lead’s supervision Re-route convoy and coordination, when needed Learn to lead small portion of Intermediate drive under Marshal supervision Drive Joining Join Newbie, Fewbie, Intermediate and Exploration drives only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Congratulations @Luca Palanca Falsini for reaching the Intermediate Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. INTERMEDIATE Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 drives are required within last 6 months for Intermediate promotion. (Drives can be a mix of Newbie, Fewbie (50%) and Fewbie plus, depending on your adaptability, learning progress and Marshal’s feedback) What you'll learn Basic GPS and navigational skills Basic tow rope and winch recoveries Extreme side sloping and long hill climb Tall dunes ridge riding and criss crossing Precise control over technical dunes Fast pace desert driving Skills required Adventurous and thrill seeker but in a safe manner Level headed under stressful situations Responsible, dependable and accountable Car Worthiness Capable 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle High profile tires Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor, tool kit, rated recovery rope and 2 rated shackles, GPS. Drive teamwork Manage center forward position with Trip Lead’s permission Learn/assist recoveries under Trip Lead’s supervision Re-route convoy and coordination, when needed Learn to lead small portion of Intermediate drive under Marshal supervision Drive Joining Join Newbie, Fewbie, Intermediate and Exploration drives only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

Looks like I’ll be seeing you @Malachy McGrogan and @Foxtrot Oscar in Liwa 😀

Well deserved, week done @Malachy McGrogan

Cheers guys! Really appreciate this - and many thanks to all those who have helped me get here! Looking forward to more drives and more dunes!

🕺🕺 Thank you to everybody! I'm really exited being promoted to intermediate level. Thank you to @Gaurav and all the marshals! looking forward the next Drive!!

@Craig Finlayson congratulations buddy well deserved 🚙👍😎

@Luca Palanca Falsini Congratulations!

@Malachy McGrogan Congratulations!

In addition to what @Srikumar and @Frederic have valuably said regarding manual vehicles also another advantage that if your battery got cut for what ever reason still you can start it by pushing it or let it roll slightly if inclined while it’s in gear pull the clutch and drive again ( I had experienced my self when I used drive manual ( not in UAE ) ) on the other hand in automatic you will need a charger , towing or recovery vehicle .

Automatic is more relaxed and has some advantages on soft terrain like sand, an also when rock crawling. But manual is more fun. It demands more from the driver and (at least for me,) the challenge and adrenaline of the manual offroad has no substitute. Having said that, I have an automatic wrangler, because there was no manual option when I bought it, and now I don't think I will change my ride in the short term.

Very true, I can relate to Scenario1:In the rear view mirror since the angle of view shows the lower level and the wings mirrors also limit sight and feels weird while reversing down a slope our brain wants to see other wise so we tend to do that I guess, I don't do this when I am reversing in known areas- in my parking for eg total rely on mirrors and usually one hand though- but I recall doing it in desert after I find mirror image confusing some times even unable to distinguish between the ground and dune behind so the tendency is to look back to get which causes only hand to stick on the wheel. need to practice to be 100% aware rather than our sub-conscious driving kick in. Scenario 2 and 3 -ditto need to practice being mindful and remember what not to do

Please ad me to the waiting list as second drive !!

@Chaitanya D thank you so much for adding, see u on Saturday

Dear @Shehab Alawadhi. Thanks for your enthusiastic reply. We occasionally plan trip which include camping. Stay tuned. All trips are announced and published on WhatsApp's Carnity Drive Notification group, from which you'll receive messages from now on. See you on Friday.

@Anish S you will be added , can you confirm

I’m signed up and looking forward to my first Carnity drive. Anything else I need to do prior to Friday? I have the new member email and can meet the mandatory requirements.

Thanks - didn't see it!

It's a wrangler. Supposed to happen

We need to change the title on this one from "What went wrong ?" to "What went right" !

You can click the (GOING) button on the event.

I think Japanese cars in general is indeed more reliable because the technology has been tried and tested. Maintenance is relatively straight forward although certain agencies may try to charge you for various things that are not required/needed. I completely agree that Mitsubishi takes the crown for the best bang for the buck, and Pajero deserves the special mention since this is the only full fledge 4x4 offroader, be it 5 doors or 3 doors, in the sub AED90k category- even if you buy new.

Thanks @Bhaskar from a reliability perspective in my opinion Mitsubishi will be as reliable as Nissan and Toyota, but the spareparts are more expensive. The reason i mentioned underdog is that i've always been a bit surprised why Mitsubishi is not that popular with the locals. But then again Mitsubishi has no alternative for the big Landcruisers and Y62 Patrols.