Leaderboard

It has been a pleasure to have @Athula Dharmadada and @Yasas Dharmadasa on our drives along with their families and enthusiasm. I'm glad as brothers you learned and grew in ranks together side by side. We will all be anxiously waiting to have you back with your choice of a newer, more reliable vehicle which compliments your skill sets.

I have a hat, i just need to find a bunny that can jump out of it 😅

@Ashok chaturvedi rest assured we are working hard behind the screens to make things happen where we can, I do not appreciate the tone in which this comes and kindly request you to hold your horses till further news comes.

It was an amazing drive, the best I had! Thanks @Emmanuel Abu Dhabi takes off road and dunes to the next level and it was empty and very smooth @Kalahari and @Christian Andras thanks for the great company and support How about doing a weekend or weekday trip to Liwa?

Humble relive hope you enjoy it ☺️

Hey @Frederic, it looks like you have 11 wait listers so far. Is it possible to have 2 intermediate drives if another marshal volunteers to lead a second procession? @Ale Vallecchi and @Gaurav did that on the RAK scenic drive.

Hi @Ashok chaturvedi, thanks for your meaningful comment about the intensity of the drive. As you will appreciate, Intermediate Drives have a faster pace and a higher level of technical complexity, which - no doubt - require a much higher degree of concentration. These are also the drives where one can refine and polish his driving skills and slots in such drives are coveted by those who are focused mostly on improving their off-roading technique. Obviously one doesn't always have to focus only on the drive and from time to time it is also nice to have a more enojoyable ride in a Fewbie or Fewbie+ convoy. This also applies to Leaders: for example, I had loads of fun yesterday leading this action-packed drive, but I like the idea to settle down at a Fewbie level for a more relaxed weekend entertainment. This is the beauty of Carnity, you can chose from Newbie to Extreme drives, depending on your appetite, provided you qualify for the intended level.

DRIVE REPORT Dear Desert Wanderers, Al Qudra is the off-roading backyard for most of us: a well known territory, usually associated with the idea of fairly easy drives. Today's drive was specifically meant to get past this stereotyped image and prove that even Al Qudra can be a very challenging place for off-roading, even at Intermediate level. The whole convoy (at the end we were 12 cars, which for a Monday afternoon Intermediate is probably unprecedented in Carnity), was diligently ready by 3.30pm sharp, and 10 mins later we closed our briefing and hit the sand. During the previous couple of days more than one participant had made it clear that the expectation for a real Intermediate level was high, and my drive brief had certainly contributed to such expectations. Well, I think the convoy got a good taste of an Intermediate Drive today. After a couple of minutes of warm up, we started a very fast paced stint along a nice group of mid-sized long dunes. It was a shot of adrenaline that woke up the whole convoy: anyone who had plans for a relaxed drive doing some photos here and there immediately came to realize that this wasn't such drive, and that - as promised in drive post and radio brief - this was, on the contrary, a drive requiring the full, undivided attention of every driver. As Carnity Advisors say, a Leader in an Intermediate drive doesn't use the rearview mirror that much, and I must say I didn't. Today's convoy was bombastic, really fantastic. Whatever I threw at them they chewed it without hesitations. From what I could see, @Ahab Shamaa, who had made the impossible to be able to join the drive, chased my tail very closely, making an amazing 2nd lead in all situations, while @Jon M, who was in his 1st Intermediate drive, was definitely faced with a whole new game, but stood to the challenge magnificently. @Ashok chaturvedi's yellow FJ Cruiser did wonders today as we didn't spare any possibility for breaking crests and doing high speed criss-crossings both from windward side to slipside and from slipside to windward side. After approx 40 mins we completed our first stint and entered an area of smaller and more technical dunes, which I tried to spice up with some very quick and tight turns and tons of sharp criss-crossings. It was here were we had the first serious stuck, with @Islam Soliman's GMC Yukon digging down in a small bowl of soft sand, which gave me the chance to inaugurate my brand new winch. A few mins after I got crested in a moment of hesitation. Being an afternoon short drive, we should have opted for a quick tug (which eventually turned out to be the solution, with @Anish S, performing an exemplary recovery), but we instead indulged shoveling, as @Mohamed Seidam's contagious enthusiasm couldn't be contained in those moments. After crossing a sabkha, we then started the 3rd stint of our drive, this time on the longest, tallest, and most complex dunes of the day. The drive had been named "The Slip Side of Al Qudra" and I think that if anyone had not yet understood why I had chosen such title, he/she had pretty much a clear idea at this point, as we probably dived down on slip faces at least 100 times during this section of the drive. We had a couple of crested cars, brilliantly and quickly recovered, and in general the convoy did incredibly well along these high and complex dunes. @Tariq Carrimjee, @Jorge Stepniak Felippe and @Ilya Golubinsky found finally adequate challenges for their capable Wranglers. Certainly today wasn't the ideal occasion for an open top drive, as @Tariq Carrimjee realized.. 😂😂 I was honestly amazed by @Gaurav Soni, who pushed is Pajero to an outstanding performance. Equally astonishing was @Jack Thomas, who had the hardest job of all today with his intercontinentally long F150. By 6.10pm I was planning our way out across the last few dunes to get out on the sabkha and eventually to Bab Al Shams. It was probably because we all felt a bit exhausted and started relaxing in the anticipation of the imminent exit, that the classic last minute disaster happened: literally not more than 50m away from the safe flat sabkha, we suddenly found ourselves in a couple of difficult bowls, where we had 3 pop-out and two stucks, one to be winched out. @Jack Thomas's two pop-outs in 15 mins were part of the game, but they should be considered a badge of honor in today's drive, as they both happened in the most difficult terrain of the day, which costed me a pop-out as well. He's still light-years away from the all-times record of pop-outs that I still hold, so he shouldn't get too excited about today's double..😂😂 The last minute disaster costed us a bit more than a full hour, so we finally made it to the tarmac by 7.30pm. All tired but, behind our masks, certainly smiling. Congratulations to everyone for a majestic performance today. I hope you all had fun as much as I did. Also, many thanks to @Islam Solimanand @Anish S for the great help in the final messy 45 mins. Your help was key to sort out the pop-outs, especially the last one, fixed in a deep bowl and in the dark. Equally my gratitude goes to all the others, who patiently waited on the sabkha: this solidarity and team spirit is one of the reasons I love driving with Carnity. See you soon at the next mid-week drive, Desert Wanderers!!

It looks like Umm al-Oush. Or is it Al-Wagan or Al-Qoaa? Regarding the “level” that you’re asking about, it depends on what you consider: if it’s convoy discipline and basic safety rules, then I would say pre-absolute newbie. I wouldn’t advise anyone to drive in a convoy like this one, unless he wants to make body parts sellers rich. Technical skills? The crisscrossing is something we all learn at fewbie+/IM level - but definitely in a safer manner. At one point you can see the LC doing a pretty messy one and dangerously fighting gravity. Now, considering the pace, it’s always difficult to say based on a video but it doesn’t seem very fast. The height of these star dunes always make it more impressive than what it is in reality. I don’t know what other marshals and crews think?

Dear @Antony Calvin, @Pacific, @khurram.k, @prajupramod, @pramod, @Yahya Munir, @Sara EL FANIDI, @Abilash Madhavan, @William Fernandes Happy to see you on Friday morning. I just wanted to inform you to make sure you have all items onboard: 1) Offroad flag 2) Shovel 3) Pressure gauge / deflator 4) Compressor (gas station nearby has no compressor) 5) Radio with the Carnity frequencies programmed. Please make sure you are equipped with above items, otherwise we won't be able to allow you on the drive. If you have any questions in particular about where to buy, which model, please have a look at below advice: Also, if you haven’t done it yet, please open the Covid19 precautions 2.0 link (above, in the drive post), go through it and at the end click on the “totally agree” icon (in that same link, not here). See you in the sands!

Slip face drive in Qudra indeed it was a drive I needed to do in Qudra and my wish came true. Fast paced doing almost all maneuvers we needed to do and the some refusals , stucks and pop outs we encountered were a bonus . Hat off really for the lead today @Lorenzo Candelpergher for this amazing challenging afternoon as well as for all the other drivers who kept the adrenaline pumping. Well I couldn’t keep my friend and companion in the car locked for many hours 🤣 ( the shovel ) , but yes agree that short afternoon day drive makes it faster with the rope 👍😄 thank you @Anish S for joining us today and being our sweep and @Ahab Shamaa our fantastic second lead and every one being centrally forwarding when needed. happy to see all of you today and enjoyed the drive more then ever @Lorenzo Candelpergher @Ahab Shamaa @Islam Soliman @Ilya Golubinsky @Tariq Carrimjee @Jon M @Jorge Stepniak Felippe @Jack Thomas @Gaurav Soni @Ashok chaturvedi @Anish S

@Yasas Dharmadasa and @Athula Dharmadada a mixture of emotions, Happy that you were able to recover the cars and sad that you have decided to take a break. But I believe you have made the right decision at the moment, and we look forward to seeing you and your family in the near future with a new ride. Take care.

@Ashok chaturvedi i do believe in miracles. 🙃

Sorry to hear about duo tragedy with @Yasas Dharmadasa and @Athula Dharmadada, hope they get their cars back soon. Such repetitive incidents really emphasize on changing the mechanic or the cars or testing the cars limit at IM level. Leaving the cars behind inside the desert is a big inconvenience and expensive plus tedious affair to arrange a mechanic with parts to do on-site repairing. Or hire an expensive desert recoveries to retrieve the dead vehicle from the dunes. 20 Feb - Srikumar - Intermediate 13 Feb - Angela - Fewbie Plus 06 Feb - Lorenzo - Fewbie 15 Jan - Ale - Fewbie 25 Dec - Sertac - Fewbie Plus While off-road drives any smallest imperfection, negligence or flaw in the timely maintenance really multiple the damages, and not worth taking any chances with such unforgiving terrain. Wishing both the brothers real good luck in finding a decent mechanic or replacement desert-worthy ride soon.

@Thomas Varghese fully agree, something more i can add to this is low sugar or lack of energy, its important to keep yourself hydrated and sufficiently fed with temperatures rising dehydration and lack of energy would be a common occurrence. Last drive i heard someone say they were dizzy after being out in the sun recovering their car from a stuck situation and it could be purely due to lack of energy or low sugar (suggested eating a candy or chocolate to bring sugar levels up). @Lorenzo CandelpergherJust a suggestion, may already be part of Marshals to do list. It would be nice for Marshals to have a drive list of participants that suffer from any chronic conditions (diabetes, blood pressure, blood group etc), incase of any situations this may be handy. I know we are required to fill in the details on the profile but there could be places where internet is not accessible and may need such information which is available offline to the Marshals.

There is lots of shops like Divya, Al Amani, etc.. that sells original spare parts and is slightly cheaper than Habtoor...

Hi @Emmanuel and team, just want to post this video here (subscribed to this guy on Instagram) - how would you rate the difficulty of this dunes and drive? Also - can you recognize the place where it was taken in Abu Dabi? (could be a destination for one of the future extreme drives)

@Lorenzo Candelpergher I surely would love to nick name you the flying lorenzo..it was a wonderful pace and I enjoyed being on this drive. Amazing is the part that you drive a Nissan Petrol long wheel which is a super heavy luxury SUV but your talent is such that you make it look so easy to drive. Among the drive objectives as you mentioned one was to enjoy the desert view but the only view I had is my bonnet and the tracks of the car in front me such was the pace. IM is an experience I feel a bit challenging with 100% concentration... .

12 waitlisted. Better start charging for your drive @Frederic bhai.🤣

Waitlist 1) Islam Soliman (1) 2) Nizam Deen (1) 3) Muhammad Kashif Razzaq (1) 4) Rizwan Waheed (1) 5) Craig Finlayson (1) 6) Christian Andras (1 ) 7) Mohammed Seidam (1) 8- Jorge Stepniak Felipe (1) 9) Rizwanm2 (1) 10) Ashok Chaturvedi (1) 11) Francois Germishuys (1) 12) David Ortells (2)

With the tremendous increase in the number of COVID cases in the UAE, we all have to be responsible while off-roading. Failing to abide by any single precaution at any time during the drive, will result in an immediate ban from Carnity Off-road Club. ZERO TOLERANCE First offender - 1 Month Ban. Second offender - 3 Month Ban. Third offender - lifetime ban and report to authorities. COVID19 PRECAUTIONS 2.0 All Carnity off-road drives will be LIMITED to driving only: No Socializing and gathering allowed at any time. No break for taking photos, breakfast, smoking, etc. No exchanging of off-road or recovery gears. Wear a mask at all times, while outside your vehicle. For passengers restrictions, follow RTA or NCEMA guidelines. All passengers should be inside the car, at all times. Maintain a minimum of 2-meter social distance at all times. Sanitize your hands and recovery gear after use. PS1. If you and your passenger cannot sit inside your vehicle for 3-4 hours please DO NOT JOIN CARNITY DRIVES. PS2. A Member who has RSVP the drive is RESPONSIBLE and LIABLE for their passenger's compliance. PS3. The above precautions apply to everyone irrespective of their vaccination status or schedule. PS4. You can confidentially submit the photo of any offender by sending an email to [email protected]. How to comply Read the drive post before arriving at the meeting point, so that you know your convoy numbering and radio channel. Arrive at the meeting point and switch on your radio to the pre-set frequency of the drive. Stop your vehicle at least 10-20 meters away from each other. Deflate your tires, while wearing a mask, and then go back inside your car. All briefings will be done on the radio now, so pay full attention to a briefing for your own safety. After the briefing, fall in your convoy position just before the drive starts. While driving if you get stuck, announce on the radio and be inside your car at all times. Trip lead and/or support will guide you on the radio for self-recovery or tow-rope recovery. While there is a stuck or a refusal, everyone else supposed to be inside their car at all times. You can only take a bio-break during the drive, by requesting trip lead permission. Once the drive is over exit out to inflate by maintaining 10-20 meters distance from each other. While inflating, only the driver supposed to be out and with the face mask at all times. After the drive, you can talk on the radio for any feedback, suggestions or help you need.

Looks like Al Qoaa. This is definitely fast but also quite messy. That SWB landcruiser was literally throwing himself over the ridges.

Congratulations @Ashy 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 after fewbie promotion and within last 6 months. (Drives can be a mix of Newbie, Fewbie (50%) and 2 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 Clear radio communication skills Advance recovery skills Self recover from dune crest Soft sand recovery Pop-out fixing 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 @David Ortells 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 after fewbie promotion and within last 6 months. (Drives can be a mix of Newbie, Fewbie (50%) and 2 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 Clear radio communication skills Advance recovery skills Self recover from dune crest Soft sand recovery Pop-out fixing 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

Well Done @David Ortells, Congratulations....

Congratulations @Dodi Syahdar for reaching the Fewbie 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. Fewbie: Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 5 Newbie drives are required within last 3 months for Fewbie promotion. What you'll learn Basic dune and sand reading Self-recovery techniques Shoveling at right place Crawling out of difficult situations Blip Blip - Coordinate steering and gas control Advance side sloping and hill climb Basic ridge riding and criss crossing Basic control over technical dunes Slightly faster pace desert driving Ability to manage stuck/refusals with radio Learn to control and avoid fishtailing Never fight or challenge gravity Skills required Enthusiastic and positive attitude Willingness to learn and help others Presence of mind and attention to detail Car Worthiness Any 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor. Drive teamwork Manage second lead and sweep positions upon request Intuitive and proactive to support Trip Lead Observe recoveries and offer help, when needed Drive Joining Join Newbie and Fewbie drives And Fewbie Plus, after 5 drives at Fewbie level only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

https://carnity.com/clubs/off-road-club

@naved Please read below till end, where we expect everyone to have a Emergency details printed and kept in the car glove box. till

Waitlist 1) Islam Soliman (1) 2) Nizam Deen (1) 3) Muhammad Kashif Razzaq (1) 4) Rizwan Waheed (1) 5) Craig Finlayson (1) 6) Christian Andras (1 ) 7) Jorge Stepniak Felipe (1) 8 Rizwanm2 (1) 9) Ashok Chaturvedi (1) 10) Francois Germishuys (1) 11) David Ortells (2)

Hi Frederic Unfortunately I can’t attend this Friday . Please remove me from the wait list .

Hi Pajero owners 🙂 Can anyone recommend a well trusted shop to buy spare parts for Pajero, it’s for a friend who will take it with him as he’s not living in UAE. He mainly needs Break discs & pads and other parts in suspension. Thanks

We set off for the dunes early morning on Sunday once we arranged a recovery team; me driving my 2015 Pathfinder, my brother in a Land Rover Discovery that we borrowed and a mechanic. Once we entered the dunes, we removed the front bumper off the Pathfinder to avoid any potential collisions due to its low-clearance. Thereafter, using the tracks from our previous drives on Gaia Maps, I was able to direct myself and find a safe route towards the Superbowl where my Jeep Grand Cherokee was stranded. Once we got to the vehicle, our mechanic was able to seal the burst radiator well enough for it to be driven out of the dunes. On the journey back to the road from Superbowl, I drove my Pathfinder and Jeep across a couple of back-to-back bowls and gave the recovered Cherokee to my nephew Damiru to drive as he was the only other guy in our group with some desert experience. Subsequently, we were able to drive out of the dunes safely as we found our way out in a 3 vehicle convoy with me in the front with my Pathfinder, my nephew in the middle with the Jeep and my brother Yasas at the back with the Discovery. Once we got the Grand Cherokee out, we decided not to go back into the dunes on our own to get the Cherokee as the the uncertainties that came with the drive to the location where it was stranded(3x the distance of Superbowl) overweighed the certainties, not to mention the fact that we were unsure whether the Cherokee’s engine would start to begin with. As a result, without taking unnecessary risks, we called a desert recovery team. Long story short, the recovery Land Cruiser was able to reach the location with ease. Much to our relief, we were lucky enough to get the Cherokee’s engine to start working well enough for it to be driven out of the dunes without it having to be tugged; an absolute miracle. In conclusion, this recovery was undoubtedly challenging and mentally taxing but we were able to manage the situation genuinely without any fear or second guessing which would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the 6 months of consistent and progressive training we went through with our Carnity family. I want to personally thank all the marshals(@Frederic @Srikumar @Rahimdad @Gaurav @Ale Vallecchi @Vanessa8580 @Foxtrot Oscar @Brette @Wrangeld @Lorenzo Candelpergher @sertac @Jeepie) that taught me the ins and outs of desert driving, I couldn’t have asked for better. Needless to say, since my vehicle in its current condition has proved its incapability to handle future desert drives, I have no choice but to bid my farewell to our Carnity family until I get a new vehicle. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this amazing experience!

Congrats @Ashy. Well deserved.

Congrats @Hossam Anwar. Well done.

Congrats @Bhaskar!!

This interesting....since TJ's make 70% of their power below the 3k rpm mark, I think the Turbo might bridge the gap to 5.4k rpm....and you'd be saving money on the part of the torque curve where the extra power isnt really needed (since super chargers are more expensive). Pretty sure the love one has for turbo hot hatches is a universal feeling. it might even be illegal to dislike a hot hatch.

There is something very important I have to communicate to fellow desert wanderers. In the drive announcement the Marshal's encourage us to bring loads of water for each drive. I also used to bring loads of water but have never used much as frequency for bio breaks increases proportionately. My fellow wanderers please don't feel shy to take bio breaks in between. Drink lots of water. I don't want to elaborate what happened to me but whatever happened was not pleasant. The suffering I had for almost 3 days is beyond description. Couldn't sleep for all this time as my stomach was feeling like a football inside. Its important to take care of us during the drive as we take care of the machines. The effects of dehydration is not at all pleasant.

Late join but lets go!! cant wait!

cant wait for my first fewbie plus drive all excited. and yeah. thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher for taking me in the drive and yes ur drive was full within a minute. I was out with my family and had to stop my car and apply for the drives lol. my family was unable to understand my madness hahahahaha..

Hi @Wrangeld could you please put me on the waitlist for this drive? Theres not any left in Dubai and would like to do this drive with you guys on Friday.... Thanks in advance mate!

I borrowed this one for a weekend only. Mine will come by next weekends only 😬

Nice to meet everyone on the ride, this is MiamiMoe (moe) and Lucile is a grey 2020 Jeep Gladiator. Looking forward to our ride. This is my first Fewbie ride with Carnity but have been riding with other clubs concurrently.

Dear @Rahimdad bhai driving with you in any drive level is definitely an honor and for me a great added value to my learning the offroad world which never ends. Thank you for the trust and for giving me the chance to excel what I have learned so far and to my best being in the sweep position. I hope I did the job the way it should be. thank you also for the above superb report which I enjoyed reading it not less than the ride it self 😄 also I would like to thank @marks whom I had the chance to handle some situations together ( with keeping the Covid precautions on off course ) especially the last technical part ( the one I most love 😉 ) With your invaluable guidance. I would like to thank all the drivers for being adherent to the precaution rules and their strict abidance which was evident from start to end . And their positive active participation in a very pleasant driving style on the Carnity’s way despite the few refusals and one stuck . However it’s the game flavor and it’s spice I would say so we can learn better and refine our skills. from my sweep position it was a treat to the eyes to see how the whole convoy moving in rhythmic tune so elegant in a back ground of pinky dunes as if I was looking to an alive paint masterpiece 😎 painted by a true Legend @Rahimdad Special mention to @Serafino who was driving directly in-front of me and honestly I was impressed of his drive style, approach and handling the terrain effortlessly ... but later I came to know about his previous experience in desert driving. I hope too he gets promoted soon to next level. all and all every one did amazing , how can ‘t they with carrying along with them all this trust respect enthusiasm and on top the safety aspect and etiquettes of convoy and desert drive. wish all of you best time ! cheers 🙏🏻👍🌷

BhTrip Report What a pleasant morning with wonderfully caring people. It was a drive for me with many positives. From the Sun rising from behind the clouds with the orangish streak of light breaking through the clouds. To arriving at the deflation point with everyone adhering to social distancing and complying with the Covid19 precautions throughout the drive. We had a radio briefing after we realized that @Tareq Ghosheh was the only one missing from the convoy. As soon as the radio briefing was done we were headed out to enjoy what was going to be an awesome morning. We traversed the terrain from Tawi Nizwa farms towards Pink Rocks. Mostly tracks could be found everywhere as expected, but surprisingly we found some virgin dunes which was a pleasant surprise. Surely we had our part of challenges along the way and they were taken care off in good time as our momentum carried us through. We were blessed to have @Lorenzo Candelpergher convoy crossing us in the nearby dunes. Driving on top of wide ridges was the norm of the day. With great pace we had reached the play area at Pink Rocks within no time and all of us had some fun climbing and experimenting with our vehicles. as we saw another convoy approach us we moved on to the next part leaving the area for the other convoy to enjoy. It was time to head down from the play area and up again on top of Pink Rocks to take our adventure further on the other side. Everybody reached the top before I had time to blink my eye lids for a second time. Our path was blocked by another convoy so we made it around the higher grounds and headed towards the drop that continues and takes us into the bigger playable area. As we took on that challenge we had a few refusals, but nothing the team could not manage. We were crossed by a couple of convoys on the way, but we safely avoided those convoys as we approached the Big Red. On the way we were greeted by part of Dr @Chaitanya D group and a quick hello to @Tbone and we were off. Since we still had over an hour I decided to take our convoy through some higher dunes. Not my fault, they just seemed to be doing so well I almost forgot I was out with a Newbie group. An incident from another convoy on our path meant it was safer to head down and make our way through the smaller dunes. This meant we reached the base of Big Red with an hour to go. Original plan was to climb the Big Red and since there was no one around we could just play to our hearts content. Well the content was achieved by all in 20 minutes and we decided to head to some technical area which I know one of our convoy member self confesses to being in love with. In this area we saw a lone biker just having fun riding his bike around. So we carefully snuck through this area, not only to save the biker, but the area was full of shrubs and unexpected dips. It was not long before we had a stuck, yes I said stuck. We tried to keep it down to a refusal, but some how we missed the trick and with the heat going up with the sun out and time ticking past the 11 am mark, we decided to rope the vehicle and pull it out which was a wise decision. The driver of the vehicle still had his chance to practice self recovery as it was a tricky area and he managed it with a lot of finesse. Great to see. At this point we gathered the convoy and headed out to inflate and head back to enjoy the rest of our weekend. I would like to thank @Baskaran P.R for being an excellent second lead. He was the only Pajero on the drive which has not happened to me in a long time. But he made it look so simple to handle his Pajero well. My scariest vehicle on the trip was at the mercy of @Joseph Sebastian, his Discovery looked all so pretty. I am glad that he not only managed it well, but left with a huge smile and the vehicle looking just as pretty at the end of the drive as I first set my eyes on it in the morning. @Osama Al Hamwi thank you for showing us how a huge land yacht can be managed on the sands. That Land Cruiser was not only loaded with features but with family who could not stop smiling and managed through the terrain with some ease. @pramod was out with his family again and also in a Land Cruiser. The energy of this family as a whole is bound to put a smile on anyone face. @marks has always been helpful, but I've seen him with so much more energy as he is the officially chosen one to help the convoy out. Besides his enthusiasm and willingness to help I love his calm approach. You could be hanging from a cliff by a thread, but in his calm way he would walk up to you and tell you it's not so bad. This puts the driver at ease and makes them more receptive to the solutions at hand. @marks was one of the reason we were well ahead of time at any given point and kept the convoy moving smoothly. @Serafino in his red JLU did amazingly well and I heard only good things about his driving ability. I am glad I got an opportunity to chat with him after the drive and was pleased to learn he has done 7 other drives with friends. Although he's done only 3 drives with us including this one, but appreciates our dedication to safety. Hope I will be seeing his promotion to Fewbie shortly. @William Fernandes with his FJ Cruiser did so well throughout the drive. However got 3 refusals in the second part of the drive. Although he was a bit concerned, but this is not without a reason. At this level you're still learning and a good lesson in feflation for all. After about an hour of driving you gain a couple of PSI, so if you were at 15 PSI now it's 17 PSI which can result in refusals. If you feel a wheel spin or refusal after about an hour of driving in the sands, check and lower your tire pressure as required. This level also is your basic foundation of the rest of your time in this sport. So experiment with your tire pressure till you are at 9ne that suits you, your vehicle and your drive style. @Watteau was on my drive for a second time and he never fails to impress me with his Raptor. There are monsters and their are ways to tame the monster to what you want it to do. @Watteau has impressed me time and again to how well he keeps his monster in check. But time comes when he unleashes his monster with great control on throttle and steering to make his maneuvers look like a piece of art. @Ammar Naji carries his heavy Expedition well over most terrains and manages to take it mostly anywhere. Technical area might not be his strong point and a ride or two with @Wrangeld can give him that finesse in testing terrains. For these kind of heavy vehicles and burly V8 engines it important to get the deflation right and creating and keeping momentum at its peak at all times. Dr. @Mohamed Seidam was the icing on my cake. He was doing superbly well at sweep and making sure the rhythm of the drive was not missing at any given time. He was clear with his communications with me and his instructions to the drivers facing refusals were accurate. I enjoyed the loads of pics he has uploaded in our Gallery and anybody wants to relive the drive can go through his pics to remind us of what an amazing trip we had. Love you all and until next time Adios.

I do not like turbo lag. I prefer linear power delivery, hence voted for NA

I had a Lancia Delta (not integrale ;)) in Belgium. Fantastic car.

And if you do get stuck all you have to do is get you and your friend to pick up the car with one finger and she’ll be out Reminds me of my Dolphin car (Reliant Kitten) which I was using in my college days from 1986 to 1990. Fiberglass body and 800cc. Small, light but extremely powerful with an aluminum engine which was relatively new in that era. I used to offroad with that car inside jungles crossing streams, rock climbing etc. Stock car. No mods. Relatively easy to repair. Had a nasty roll over when I tried to lift the car by 2 inches and the car rolled over thrice and landed safely resting on its roof once the momentum stopped. Nothing much happened to the car except for a broken side window and some paint scratches (my friends who was inside the car was safe but little bit disoriented for some time). The car was put back on its own wheels by my friends (4 of them) & me by just pushing and rolling it over by brute force and we continued our journey. Getting bogged down on mud and rocks were not at all a problem as me and my friends could literally lift the car up or push it out (raw teenage power). Can't say Jimny could be lifted up like this as its a metal body and much heavier. The Indian variant of the Jimny is the Gypsy and is the most preferred transport of Indian Army. Infact even when the company announced that its discontinuing the aged model Indian Army suddenly placed an order for 3500 units or more. That's the legacy of Suzuki Jimny and the version we get here is much more powerful than the 1300 cc we get in India.

I started with a dune buggy flag and fixings from DM which was a terrible investment and drooped in an unforgivable manner. I bought the suction cup and flag from ACE which has held firm on all drives so far and is usually stuck to the rear passenger window. I almost choked at the price though costing just over 400AED and will use it until either it or I die to get my money's worth out of it!