Leaderboard

@Luca Palanca Falsini, a great and challenging drive, thank you for your guidance. Also, thanks to @Lorenzo Candelpergher and to @Shehab Alawadhi for keeping the convoy in movement. As usual, a pleasure to drive with the rest of convoy members and hope to see you soon in the sand. I took a few pictures and have posted them in the gallery, hope you like them. Have a nice rest of the weekend. ~MC

Luca and Team what a first class fantastic drive one hundred percent of the most challenging, thrilling and adrenaline filled drives I've done and a brilliant introduction to fewbie plus!!!!!!!!!! BRAVO TO ALL!

Meeting Emmanuel ( first time ) Finally i got the pleasure meeting Emmanuel @Emmanuel for the first time . I am honoured. Fast and calm and definitely in safe drive mode despite what “extreme drive “ might give an impression. So I would suggest nominating “ intermediate plus “ instead of “extreme “ ☺️ indeed it was a lovely cool start east to fossil rock , I loved the scenic view and the red soft sand, wonderful. Our chase continued up to sweadan after we crossed Faya when the gear cable issue hit at which our short lovely journey is paused and I would say to be continued by our Velociraptor soon hopefully. @Tero Vallas @Rizwanm2 @Shaaz Sha and @Jorge Stepniak Felippe Thank you for the lovely time we spent and the best and thrill is yet to come together with our desert Knight @Emmanuel 😉

great drive today everyone, really good fun, thanks @Wrangeldand @marks great route and good banter, relive video below, not many photos, which is testament to the lack of stops!!!!

What a fantastic fun day, thanks to everyone on the drive. @Luca Palanca Falsini, @Lorenzo Candelpergher, @Niki Patel, @Shehab Alawadhi and @imranaasghar81 thanks for leading and supporting us on the drive today. lots of learning and thrilling experiences... looking forward to meeting up with you all in one of our next drives.

@Luca Palanca Falsini what a super drive! Awesome to have you back @Lorenzo Candelpergher! Super convoy today and kudos to all you that got to the top and attempted at the Super Bowl! @Shehab Alawadhi great CF role played in what was a tricky first time route for us all! @imranaasghar81 your first FB+... doing the SL role the final part of drive and making it to the top! Awesome drive and glad you put the camera on after the first climb! see all on the dunes soon.

Hello guys. The site at the moment is not working well, so I have not yet been able to post the meeting point. FIND IT BELOW: https://maps.app.goo.gl/pTM91phzbnomZvGr7. I'll keI'll trying to post it. See you all tomorrow.

Thank you @Shaaz Sha it’s quite frustrating because everyone was doing so well! And it was very promising for the rest of the drive. Unfortunately, with my gears shifter cable coming off repeatedly (I think I had to put it back 5 or 6 times), better option was to exit. But we will definitely do the « take 2 » as soon as possible. Stay tuned!

Hi guys, we had a superb start and thank @Emmanuelfor the drive and for the route selection.the scenic beauty was a treat for us.unfortunately we had to exit due to the gear issue, but still enjoyed the drive. Thank you @Jorge Stepniak Felippe @Tero Vallas, @Rizwanm2, @Mohamed Seidamit was a pleasure to be with you guys and see you soon. Take care and keep cool 👍

A very special thanks to: @Luca Palanca Falsini, @varunmehndiratta, @GauravSoni, @Veedooshee, @Archibald Jurdi, @Janarthan For a great fun drive and letting me use my winch 😂. Some clips and photos on Gallery. Hopefully see you 🔜 on the sand

Great drive today with very little downtime because everyone kept moving. Thanks @Kailas @Anish S for leading. The mixture of challenges was amazing and this was my first visit to this desert.

Thank you @Luca Palanca Falsini for an amazingly thrilled drive, loved it inspite being a challenging one 😀 Thank you @Lorenzo Candelpergher and @Shehab Alawadhi for your support today. Enjoyed everyone's company in today's convoy... see you all soon in the sands InshaAllah.

Thank you @Luca Palanca Falsini for taking us to this area, I’ve always wanted to climb these dunes. I went twice with my friends but wasn’t confident enough to take my car and now for sure I’ll take my car with them. Thank you @Lorenzo Candelpergher for helping me recover my car, and it taught me a few new things about my car too!! Great job everyone, although it was tough hope everyone had fun! See you on the next one and inshallah we get to our exit!

https://youtu.be/JlMpmFAhWlQ

@Kailas awesome drive as usual... @Anish S on your first lead congrats & you managed well... @Hennie Schoeman thanks for observing my tires loosing air.. rest of the convoy guys all drew well .. Seen you soon ,stay safe & happy riding to all....

😁 luckily you took it slow. Otherwise I will be left behind

Thank you Richard and Mark for the wonderful drive and providing an excellent start to the weekend. @marks heartiest congratulations for leading your first drive - well done and wish you more!

@Kailas @Anish S, thank you for the drive, both of you are very confident while leading the convoy, I enjoy driving with you guys,The terrain was nice today and we covered a lot of land in about 3.5 hours. Everybody drove well today.. Have a great weekend everybody.

Dear Desertnauts. The mystery is about to be solved. We have chosen a meeting point, which will soon be published on the drive's post. PLEASE CHECK THE PAGE AFTER 7PM TOMORROW EVENING. Once you reach it, please position yourself on separate sides of the road, according to which convoy you belong to. @Ale Vallecchi's convoy will be on the right hand side of the road, and will be composed of: @Ahab Shamaa, @Goutam, @Islam Soliman, @Jack Thomas, @Kenneth Bollhardt, @kolinrrj, @Malachy McGrogan, @Nihal17, @Rizwan Waheed, @VipinShetty and @Yahya Munir. The radio channel selected for this convoy is Carnity Channel #2 (446.031). @Wrangeld (Richard)'s convoy will line up on the left side of the road, and will include: @Francois Germishuys, @Humayun Ghias, @Mobeen Anwar, @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, @Niki Patel, @Rob Harper, @sheri, @Sreejith Sreenivasan, @stavros papachristos, @Thomas Varghese @Watteau and @Yousef Alimadadi. The radio channel selected for this convoy is Carnity Channel #1 (446.006). These lists are in alphabetical order, so the exact convoys' orders will be unveiled tomorrow. They have been composed so to keep into account a balanced mix of drivers, in terms or ranks, experience and type of cars. As far as the itinerary is concerned, we will be entering an area of large, long dunes (tall but not too sharp), spend some time playing in their shadows, then cross a sabkha and approach another area of long range cordons (although possibly accessed through a small set of more technical dunes). Initially our general direction will be west, with the sun at our backs, but eventually we plan to turn around, toward a yet undecided exit point, in an easterly position with respect to Downtown Dubai. All skills will be practiced: side sloping, some ridge riding and criss-crossing, as well as driving along canyons, and in and out of sand bowls as well. Meeting time is confirmed at 6:00 AM on Saturday Morning, sharp. Enjoy your end of the week, and have a good Friday.

Thanks @Luca Palanca Falsini for the wonderful drive...The begining, mid and end all were unique and equally wonderful.. It was a fun learning experience being with a small convoy over this challanging terrain.. Not only the skills but @Abu Muhammad winch was well tested through the drive and happy to test the toe points on my Jeep as well (especially since I was not the one being recovered)🙂 Thanks all for the lovely eve, looking forward to the next drive with you all, hopefully sooner than later.

Indeed we had a very good start. Everybody picked up very good pace with zero stuck or refusals. Little bit sad we couldn't finish all the way till the end. But everything is for good reason, cant wait to sign up for next drive soon.

Thank you @Rahimdad and the fellow team leads for taking us on a wonderful journey today. It was beautiful watching the sun come up as we weaved our way through the dunes. My LR3 was definitely challenged in the second part of the drive and it was good to be humbled a little after having so few incidents on my previous drives. I have a lot of learning to do, and welcome the advice by all. Lastly, it was my wife's first desert drive and she had a great time. Thank you for making her feel welcome! Have great week!

Thank you @Wrangeld for this drive, it was a good way to relax and just enjoy the views, wind, gazelles and not think about a stressful week! Thank you @Ale Vallecchi for sweeping the convoy and making sure no one was left behind 😂. Great job to @AlexPol for being our second lead. Thank you to all my seniors for helping out as much as they could and giving guidance where needed. @Foxtrot Oscar @Jeepie @Desert Dweller. Great job everyone else for completing this drive and hope you all had fun and learned something from a drive with this many experienced people! I also hope you didn’t mind my small jokes here and there 😂. See you in the next one inshallah!

Here is the location 24°49'14.6"N 55°34'30.5"E https://goo.gl/maps/c3jKtX1DwSvZKkzT7

Thanks Rahimdad for a great drive, and a humorous, flowing trip report - another skill you have besides offroading 👍 Some great points for me especially in terms of the Pajero gearbox/diff lock etc. Appreciate all the advice and tips from yourself, Gaurav and Paul!

just delete the dot at the end of the link in your browser and it opens, I think I have done it right here https://goo.gl/maps/nw8T6zyYKBBUziK5A

Edit: Posted just a second too late 😂 @Ale Vallecchi Idk why, It says Unsupported link when I try to open it.

This video is dedicated to the 7 Camaraderie of Bu Tais @Farouq Owdeh @Taufique Surve @Hasan Wahlan @Karthikeyan Govindarajan @xavier @Mus_hus78. Remember what HeadMaster @Asif Hussain says: Follow the track 😂😂😂

Unfortunately I had a bad reaction to my prescription medicine, and unwell since this morning. Please accept my sincere apologies for the late cancellation.

@Hardik Mody don't feel sad or embarrassed. This doesn't show you are a poor driver. We are all in the learning process to drive on sand. If we don't encounter these situations how would we learn? Remember Richard @Wrangeld played the part of a good Samaritan to rescue a Patrol which got crested and stuck? We joined the club so that we can learn how not to be in that situation in the middle of a desert. In due course of time after some more drives you will learn the finesse of throttle control which @Rahimdad had been preaching to me about from day 1. Don't feel sad about this picture, instead practice more and more by participating in more drives if you have the time and interest. You could have seen me lot of times in this situation when I joined the club. I believe I drive very well on tarmac. Only once I felt bad about being stuck like this. @Frederic congratulated me that I got myself stuck and was encouraging me by teaching ways how to self recover. You haven't seen me dug deep in soft sand on a drive with Richard @Wrangeld and he insisted that I self recover by the crawl out method. Apparently it took 15 min then and lot of help in shovelings from @Chaitanya D and @Kailas but taught me a valuable lesson. Today I made use of it very successfully when I almost got stuck from a refusal and could self recover. My advise to you is get stuck more and more so that you will learn.

Great drive team, nice to meet you all and looking forward to the next!

Congratulations..! @Zed

Another Rock fan here 😌

Sure, waiting for a drive notification from you @Emmanuel

ACDC?

For any type of off road driving in the UAE you need to reduce your 4x4 tire pressure. For mountains and wadi it's easy to reduce between 20-25 PSI irrespective of the tire brand, shape, type and load. For sand the tire pressure deflation is little bit tricky and if you follow below steps, you can decode this better. Before that you also need to understand that why deflation for off road driving is so important: Deflated tires are hard to sink in or dig in the sand due to lesser resistance. Deflated tires increase the sand flotation to reduce the load on Engine, 4x4 and Transmission. By deflating tire pressure you increase the footprint, that help you stabilize & offer better directional control. Image shows the two tires track: One with 35 PSI (left) and other with 12 PSI (right). Finding a perfect tire pressure for off road driving for your specific tire and 4x4 is based on bit of learning and experiments. Of course the lower the tire pressure better it is for dune bashing, climbing and self recoveries but too low is also dangerous for popping the tire out of its wheel. You can follow the below chart, if you are totally new to off road driving as an indication (ONLY). If you have a pop out on normal driving, then increase 1 PSI next time to find the best tire pressure for your 4x4. If your 4x4 is Long Wheel Base (LWB) with full load then increase 1-2 PSI more than below indications. Type/Brand of Tire Regular Driving Intermediate Driving Self-Recovering All HT Tread (Highway Tread) Dunlop Grandtrek Bridgestone Dueler Yoko Geolander HT Michelin Latitude Pirelli Scorpion Goodyear HT 14 PSI 12 PSI (Avoid sharp steering) 8-10 PSI (Inflate after recovery) All MT Tread (Mud Terrain Tread) Mickey Thompson MT BF Goodrich MT Cooper STT - MT Nitto Trail Grappler MT Toyo Open Country MT Dick Cepek Extreme 12 PSI 10 PSI (Avoid sharp steering) 6-8 PSI (Inflate after recovery) All AT Tread (All Terrain Tread) Yoko Geolander AT Michelin Pilot A/S3 Hankook Dynapro 10-12 PSI 8-10 PSI (Avoid sharp steering) 4-6 PSI (Inflate after recovery) Disclaimer: If you can't find your tire brand in the list then rely on HT / MT / AT section to be 90% safe. For knowing how to deflate the tires, please speak to any of the Marshal or senior member to show you how its done properly. There are more than a couple of ways and tools off-roaders use to deflate depending on their choices. All tools, ways and method are correct as far as you achieve the correct tire pressure. If you are new to offroading, I highly suggest to double check the tire pressure twice once you are done. Borrow the fellow offroader tire pressure gauge and check again, as many times your new gauge might go wonky and give false readings. Once you are 100% sure that your gauge is correct always, then you are fine to rely on your own readings. PLEASE DON'T DEFLATE WITH KEY AND STOPWATCH AND ASSUME IT'S 14 PSI. Secondly, always check / adjust tire pressure again after 30 minutes of sand driving as it might increase due to the heat and stress. If you are facing constant refusal at the beginning of any drive, I bet your 14 PSI has shot up to 18 PSI and you need to reduce the tire pressure more to bring it down to 14 PSI. This happens on almost every newbie drive, so it's fine and proven gazillions of time.

Dear friends, thank you for signing up on this drive Thomas Varghese @Thomas Varghese Mohamed Seidam @Mohamed Seidam Lakshmi Narasimhan @Lakshmi Narasimhan Ranjan Das @Ranjan Das Richard Franks @Richard Franks Ranjan Pattanaik @Ranjan Pattanaik Mohamed Madani @Mohamed Madani Ammar Naji @Ammar Naji Alain Canivet-Abikhalil @Alain Canivet-Abikhalil topgear @topgear @Dodi Syahdar @Ahab Shamaa Mandatory gear required for this drive - shovel, flag, programmed radio, deflator and compressor. This area is very bushy with some tight dunes and soft patches at places. We will be heading towards fossil rock for a beautiful sunset and venture towards Khatim or east of fossil rock. There will be enough time and terrain to test your finesse along with doing climbs and sideys. Make sure your car low lying parts are removed (air dam and plastic parts especially for cars with low ground clearance ) , else you risk breaking them and bumpers for sure 🤣.Drives are always with a disclaimer that I/we are not certified mechanics to sort all issues if any which can happen on sands, will try to help to the best of our knowledge and abilities. Please ensure Covid appropriate behavior on the entire drive. Deflate to 15 psi for regular tires and 12 psi for all terrain tires See you on Sunday

TRIP REPORT Shorter convoy means more fun. That was our fate for the day. With 3 no-shows we were left with the perfect 10. As we deflated and put our flags up, face paint and everything to renumber the convoy and get the briefing out of the way. We headed in to be parallel to another group to the right of us. We had to wait briefly for that convoy to cross us. We then headed right into some awesome rolling dunes as we negotiated our way towards our first play area on Pink Rocks. As we took our chances to try going as high as possible and safely come back down, more convoys started to come around us. At this point I announced for a last round and we managed to complete a round 2 before heading forward towards more challenges. It was pleasing to see the entire convoy cross over Pink Rocks to the other side. From here the only way I love and is a great learning ground is to the Big rolling dunes leading to the Big Red. I was able to play around in the big rolling dunes to my hearts content, thanks to a convoy which never let me down. Although we had a couple of convoys around us but we managed really well as a convoy to march on without being distracted. Soon we were at the base of Big Red and tried to scale it from the side. It's really a shame to see so many cross tracks as it's easy to loose momentum and we got a really bad stuck in a pocket behind Big Red. @Lakshmi Narasimhan rear bumper was rested on the dune behind with a steep climb in a soft patch. We were lucky to have a winch with @Richard Franks who selflessly volunteered and helped us out with the recovery. Guess what, it was my turn as I wedged myself in between 3 dunes and needed a pull from @Paul Zeitoun to come out of that situation. But the convoy was so determined that we were able to catch a different line and all the vehicles were on top of Big Red. This ofcourse was not void of challenges posed by other convoys trying to go between us. I am proud that out convoy stayed patient and sensible to avoid any issues. At this point the heat was slowly picking up and with the clock striking 10 am we were put and inflating. I am so pleased to see everybody coming so well prepared and following all instructions so well to have safe fun. Also the newbie convoys I have got recently are always willing to push themselves as they try to learn and polish their off road skills. @Rawad Bahsas was my second lead. Initially he seemed to leave a long gap and surely to compensate if I made any mistakes or was in danger. But after a quick word I saw hi. Comfortably taking his Y62 beast everywhere with utmost confidence ready to reroute or stop as necessary. @Ranjan Pattanaik was my surprise package with his Explorer as he traversed all dunes without a single hiccup. It takes a whole lot to handle that Explorer, and he came prepared as he explored all corners of Pink Rock and Big Red today. @Roger K with his LR3 was not a new sight for me. Having had a Discovery 1 I know the challenges that come along with this beast. But @Roger K knows how to tame this beast and I did not see him struggle. So he has managed to impress me 2 drives in a row now. The LR3 is not a climber, but maybe a bit moody, as I have seen it scale Faya. @Lakshmi Narasimhan drives the beautiful special edition Pajero with all the bells and whistles. He manages to put his machine through all the tests with flying colors. However a little refinement and finesse required to make the manoeuvres look awesome, he is practicing on those skills and I'm sure I will see him next time to have refined and move with grace. @Gregory was such a pleasure to have on the drive. Sure he was quiet, but smiling everytine I had a glance which tells me he enjoyed the journey to as much as I did. From the glimpses I had I could see him doing everything right and not a single step out of sync. @Nikola Bozovic was the savior today helping out @GauravSoni with his spare radio. @Nikola Bozovic had guests today and the way he handled his ride were comfortable throughout the trip and with their gestures all I can say were fully satisfied with his fine driving and our route selection. @GauravSoni from last time when he signed up for my drive and by mistake drove to @Gaurav bhai meeting point by mistake, this was going to be our first drive together. But his radio not being charged almost took this opportunity away from us, @Nikola Bozovic was able to lend his spare radio to save the day. @GauravSoni not only handled the terrain well but was putting in the hard work as a Centre Forward to keep the convoy moving. At one point @Gregory was stuck in a soft patch and his knowledge of the Pajero saved the day. @Richard Franks has a Rubicon and still discovering all the options available to him. Sway bar disconnect option is one of them which he did not need today. I was surprised to see him do about 60% of thrips with his traction control on. I hope you felt the difference one we had the ESC disabled. My moment of joy came when he announced he had a winch in @Lakshmi Narasimhan stuck. This was a lesson for all of us to be able to recover with such a difficult stuck. Can't thank @Richard Franks enough. Looking forward to many more drives with you. Last but by no means the least was our real Super hero today @Paul Zeitoun. Its such a pleasurable experience driving with you. Not only are you picking up awesome driving skills but also a sense of humor from some of the seniors in the club. At Pink Rock play area I really thought I was going to be without a sweep till the other side as you almost touched the Rocks on top. The Hemi is a real beast, but it needs its match to be able to do all that you did so gracefully. Seems like we both like to talk so much the rest of the convoy doesn't find a moment to put in a word of their own. I have always admired the way you handle the Ram, it has its challenges, but you really make it look simpler than it is. Thank you everyone for reading this section. Every now and then I like to go back and read through my own trip reports from the past as I reminisce some of those awesome trips I've had with some amazing people. Until next time I bid you all farewell.

Chaitanya, please put me in waiting list ..

Hi @Ale Vallecchi having a few issues with my truck today. So I am going to have to get that checked out, so please give my space to someone else. Have a awesome drive everyone

Yeah, we'll take it slow in the wranglers... No worries 😂

Im at the meeting point

Welcome @Wadepat2, see you in the sand and would love to listen to your mud and rock crawling experience.

congratulations @Zed, well done. I hope you are enjoying your new ride. Long time to catch up sometime soon

Good Evening @Anish S @Trekado @Ehab @Ahmad Shaker @Lawrence_Chehimi @William Fernandes @Goutam @topgear @Dodi Syahdar @Arun Mathew @Hennie Schoeman Please find the convoy list for tomorrow. We will be using channel 2. Please note the starting time is 6:00 am. Please arrive on time. See you all soon.

@Pacific @Wrangeld i hope you understand it’s gonna be a rock n roll train 🤘 (if anyone understands this reference please say so, because I think it’s hilarious and perfectly timed😂)

Yes @Goutam. The drive is still open with 1 more spot after the one you took. Welcome to........ (mystery 😆)!

Thanks @Gaurav and @Chaitanya D - This is helpful.