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It's about time to have another EPIC off-road drive to enjoy the World’s coolest winter in UAE. And what better way to aim to cross the Liwa Desert from one end to another, yes really...! Let's experience the magic of Rub’ al Khali (Empty Quarter) the largest uninterrupted desert on Earth! Thanks to the Department of Culture and Tourism of Abu Dhabi to publish an open route to try Liwa Crossing so we can avoid the restricted areas and exits. It will be a 150 - 200 km off-road drive covered within 1-1.5 days through amazing breathtaking views and monstrous dunes of 200-300 meter height, that you have never seen before. Or only seen on star wars. The Abu Dhabi section of the Rub' al-Khali (Liwa Desert) was used in location shooting for the desert planet Jakku in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. (Wiki extract) The Liwa Crossing through Empty Quarter offers a chance to witness nature in its purest form and in itself is a transcendent experience. However, traveling through the largest desert in the world is not something that should be taken lightly. So we are giving some time ahead for you to plan your two full-day availability of 19 and 20 Feb to experience something that you have never seen before. We plan and hope to finish the majority of the drive on 19 Feb and then pitch a camp to experience the most memorable night under the clear sky in an empty quarter. We plan to hit the tarmac on 20 Feb by 10 AM - 12 PM, so that we all can drive back the same day. Get your house permission signed, stamped and locked. Get your car ready with all photo and video gear. And then hit the poll above at which level of drive you "surely" like to join. Based on the poll result, Liwa Crossing drives will be live on 14 Feb, Mon - Your Best Valentine

Wife passed me to my mother first for signature @Gaurav 🥲

@Ale VallecchiI have to declare yesterday drive as my favorite drive. Non-stop action and zero stucks in such soft and tight dunes. Just an unbelievable experience. Thanks to the support team @Looper @JeromeFJ I am worried I am spoiled and might only sign up for Fewbie Plus drives because if this is what I have to expect every Fewbie Plus then seem very difficult that I can do anything slower again. Met some new people but I guess since it was "rush" hour we did not have time to chat to make new friends like a regular drive. Until next time fellas! Will see if I could take any pictures and upload in the gallery whenever I can.

@Ale Vallecchi enjoyed the fast paced, riveting drive yesterday afternoon. I have been wondering recently, how the IM level looks in terms of speed, car requirements etc, and wondering if I'm/my car (Pajero without any lift) would be up to it. You gave me a good introduction yesterday 👍. A lot of silence over the radio (meaning we were all focussed and few issues experienced) meaning I checked every so often to ensure that my radio was still working 😂 Excellent weather, familiar faces and a smooth flowing drive in beautiful terrain. Sometimes you gotta love Dubai! Until the next time @Santoso Marjuki@Sunil Mathew @Looper @KAMALIO @JeromeFJ @Fabien Monleau @Vaibhav @Naveen Raj 👍

Every one is so immersed in the driving, no one got anytime chitchat and look elsewhere and comment on stuff. Everyone is needed to have 100% concentration on the drive. That’s what an @Ale Vallecchi drive is. Love every second of it, it is like meditation, devoid of any thoughts just the plan of next few seconds of drive - how to clear that dune. To think of it, @Ale Vallecchi’s drive are not difficult but are just pure meditation. I don’t think I am able to express myself correctly, but you know what I am saying.

Great mid week stress buster drive @Ale Vallecchi…more than 60 km in 2 hours, non stop without any breaks, all targets achieved as per drive plan !!! The drive put each one of us on our toes , at the summit of concentration, more so with me as the 2nd lead, as I couldn’t afford to even blink, for the fear of losing sight of Ale…. Such was the pace 😊… and thanks to the not so soft sand and our pace, I did the first hour of the drive unknowingly in 2WD , all the while thinking “ why is my car acting funny, why is my rear swaying around , why am I struggling on short climbs” it was only when we got a 10 sec break , I noticed my dashboard was missing the all important light 4WD!!! @Naveen Rajprobably had to deal with a little bit of sand churning by me during this time 😀 good to drive with you all again @Santoso Marjuki@Naveen Raj @KAMALIO @Looper @Gregory @Vaibhav @Fabien Monleau @JeromeFJ Until next time…

Thanks @Ale Vallecchifor yesterday afternoon drive. It was the perfect escape from the work week, and from the city ! The target set for the drive was challenging but beautifully executed by the team. The perfect sand condition has helped for sure, but really, excellent performance from all drivers. @Gregory @Santoso Marjuki, happy to see you at this level, excellent progression ! Thanks @Sunil Mathew and @Looper for the yellow Wrangler support, and all the team for joining and driving so well!

I packed already, where and at what time do we meet?

Looks like we are on for Sat morning with a stunning convoy @Warren Flay @Hasan Wahlan @Naveen Raj @munkybizness .. can’t wait

Got my Al Hosn updated too! this will be brilliant... the fewer the better!!!

Hi @Ahmed Wagdy Yes we will pass by one, but it wont be needed because driving in the wadi is not covering lots of distance and is slow (not 5000+ rpm 😉)

@Ale VallecchiExcellent drive. From start to end everyone was enjoying. thanks @JeromeFJand @Looperfor the support. @KAMALIOGood driving being your first fewbie plus drive. @Santoso Marjuki and @Naveen Rajgood to see you guys all the way from AUH. @Gregoryit was a pleasure drive behind you. hope to see everyone soon.

Another perfect drive. 99.98% accurate. Nonstop fun. First time ever I recorded a 0 second stoppage drive. Beat every target set by @Ale Vallecchi. Thanks to @JeromeFJ for the support and taking up the slack & @Sunil Mathew for an excellent second lead. The radio communication was at almost negligible and only thing we had to declare that the drive is going on smoothly. Thanks you all for this drive and looking forward to next one.

Trip Report: Wow. Amazing. Exciting. I just seem to run out of words. My best Liwa trip ever, well executed and the best 9 cars for the job. The episode began on time everyone reached with a clear excitement on their face. We all met at Adnoc, filled our cars with petrol and few of us carried extra fuel which was not needed and that made an extra work for them to empty cans after exiting :). As we approached to the deflation point the area to enter I was frightened by the size and formation of the dunes around us. After deflating and quick safelty breafing we entered and played around for some time, and soon we all accepted the sand was very soft and we needed to push our stock cars to get through the terrain. Playing on these dunes was absolutely amazing, but we needed to be cautious as some of these dunes formations were very different than the ones we are used too, filled with technical dunes with pockets one after other. The best part of this area is when we have to drive down steep tall dunes and the cracking of breaking the sands with your tires was just like F16 is passing by. Climbing to the top of dunes is really challenging and we need to follow the step strategy through the technical dunes and once you reach to the top the dunes are breathe taking and plenty of huge rolling dunes around. As sun went up, 12noon I was finding difficulty in reading the dunes as the pockets started becoming camouflage and we decided to stop for lunch break after driving for a while. Zed’s biriyani, tikka – Santoso’s tea, Farooq’s meat arayes, arabic cofee after having all of these i felt like I am not going to drive anymore. With enough rest second half started, we saw a group exiting, we waved them and accelerated to the top again. We came across several challenges and the team stood up to take every challenge with a huge smile and enthusiasm. This area is not for everyone as both the formation of the dunes and some very soft patches makes it difficult to drive in this area. We even encountered the tire pressure raising by 4 PSI to make it difficult to climb, so we had to monitor our tire pressure constantly. @ShereenMK was at second lead and you did amazing job by correcting the path whenever i was struggling. @Alphin Aloor thanks for joining us all the way from dubai, @Naveen Raj@Farouq Owdeh@Santoso Marjuki@Mus_hus78@Zed@Josh T.thank you all and each one of you were my confident to plan this area. see you all next time.

With 24 showing interest for the FB drive, this level drive would be full on Monday in under 30 seconds after becoming live. Ready, Set, Gone!!!

100 Liter of fuel will be needed for 6 Cylinder car 120-140 liter of fuel for 8 Cylinder. You will surely need two jerry cans of 20 L for liwa crossing. Yes, Arada to Hameem You will surely need two jerry cans of 20 L for liwa crossing.

Regarding the fuel requirements, please wait for the official drive posting on Monday. The trip lead would mention the requirements.

Just buy the one from ace hardware but abit expensive or get the emarat petrol station one Last time in yellow track i camp two night i refuel on when we about to leave

I think you need atleast 40l with jerry can extra I cross hameem 160km with my 70litre prado tabk

Enjoy the party @munkybizness dear , and for the loop sure we will have a blast together👍

I am fewbie with only 1 drive, can I tag along with people who get to go. Kindly let me know

I’m in! I hope I get a drive. I will get PCR again next week in anticipation 😎

Confirmed

Sorry for dropping out Doc @M.Seidam! Got pulled into a dinner on Saturday night which will run very late and I don’t want to risk it by not making it. But I have to do the loop with you - at this level - soon!

Green pass on my Alhosn + short convoy: I can’t miss this 😎

HI @Frederic Thanks. Confirmed. Looking forward to relaxing day (like last scenic drive😀)

Hi @Frederic, i assume we will be passing by a gas station in between? i doubt the full drive will consume a full tank but just in case

No need for PCR. This drive is only in Sharjah and Fujairah terrain.

Yes, agreed... you and I have discussed before. Ridges an issue for me sometimes. All good though 👍 - a lot of it is in my head😂

@FARAZ MOHAMMED@KKIRAN@Antony Abraham I have added you to the drive. Please confirm if you can make it.

I'm in the process of an overlanding build, which will take another year as I do incremental upgrades to see what works and what doesn't. Personally, I prefer the one-at-a-time upgrade to see deficiencies before throwing the kitchen sink at it. For lighting, you can definitely go too far, and we have some members here who could initiate close encounters of the third kind with their arrays 👽 I would separate your lighting needs into two sections: Auxiliary Driving Lights and Camping Lights 1. Auxiliary Driving Lights are any additional lights that aid your visibility off-road to drive better. The three most common mounting points for these lights are the Bumper, A-Pillar and Roofline. a) Bumper The bumper is one of the best places to increase forward visibility because that’s where the headlights are, and are in your direct field of actionable vision. Fog Lights are a great first step to swap out. The housings are already designed so there is limited amount of cutting involved. Mounted low to the ground, and angled outwards, these will give you great spread directly in front of your car for up to 50m. Warm temperature fog-lights such as amber or yellows are a good choice as they don’t reflect off the sand being kicked up as much. LED light bars mounted on the top of the bumper trim or within the grilles are a great location to get a great forward flood spread. LED/Halogen Spotlights can be mounted using bashplates that have integrated bars to mount them. You’ll see many drivers here with F150s mounting Baja LP6/LP9s in this way. b) A-Pillar Smaller (4 to 6 inch) auxiliary lights are commonly mounted on the A-pillar either using the pillar frame or the side mirrors, or through brackets emerging out of the hood. Commonly called side-shooters or ditch lights, this location raises your lights higher up and is a great place to mount lights pointing off to either side. Here, you have to think about terrain. There is a reason why so many drivers in the desert have ditch-lights, and that is because we’re seldom driving on a trail. Since we’re carving out our own path, riding up and down ridges; lateral visibility greatly improves how you react to the surroundings. c) Roof-line Lights mounted on the roofline usually either as a bracket from the A-pillar or on a roof-rack provide the highest point for mounting your additional lights. Usually done using light bars (preferably curved), they will throw the light far and wide. However, lights pointed this high up will bounce off your hood as well as severely impact wind noise on the road. If your car is a daily driver, I would advise against this option. 2. Camping Lights There are two flavours to camping lights – fixed and portable. a) Fixed Camping Lights are traditionally mounted on roof-racks. Additionally, some drivers are also now using LED light strips under the side rooflines. Since your car is not a full wagon, this option will not work so well. b) Portable Camping Lights are what you should rely on primarily. Through telescoping stands, you can connect them to portable lithium ion batteries. Beyond all of this, amperage management is something you have to take into account too. Asking your car battery to supply the power for all of these lights for long periods of time or overnight while you camp is a recipe for disaster. If you don’t have a secondary car, and your battery goes dead, there will be nobody to jumpstart it. Hence, whatever lights you add on, please keep a tab on your voltage and amperage draws as well.

See it is about drive style if push push you need alot of fuel

Missed Dec liwa drives, can't miss this epic one. BTW how much fuel do we expect bring? 200km I'd say 140L ?

Would love to join dont know how to submit for this event i been to hameed and yellow track wish to enter inside

I am in🙂🙂

Dear @Thomas Varghese one drop out, and therefore you are added to the drive.

It's new to me to know about such event, happy to join next time if it's allowed.

@Frederic I've just gotten my Alhosn turn green, so I'm going to make the most of this small window, to join Islam's FB+ in AD instead. Seeing as there are a few drivers with not a single drive this weekend, this should help one of you out. Nobody routes through Mahafiz like Frederic does - you're all in for a treat!

Well done guys !! Hats off !!

@Frederic hi can you pl add me to wait list as per my earlier comment.

Planned route track what we did

Thank you very much @Kailas for a great drive in the afternoon. It was a bit technical in the beginning but soon everyone settled down and drove quite well. @Desert Wrangler wondered why was that when I was in my newbie drives there used to be so many more refusals than when she is driving now. I guess it is because these days unlike early covid days more serious off-roaders are coming to the drives and they are driving excellently. @Russ thanks for all the support in keeping the flock together.

Thanks @Shaaz Sha for a truly wonderful drive. The surprise play area at the end was cherry on the top. Never knew Qudra has such nice spots to offer, even the mid section of long range dunes were great fun to drive. @Tom B thanks a lot for keeping an eye at the back and helping in keeping the flock together. @ASAD. & @Vinod Damodaran pop outs happen all the time and it is part of game, we fix it and move ahead that's all. We had a couple of pop outs just the previous morning, one with my car so there's nothing to be troubled about. @hugo, @Andrew McCarthy, @Issaa, @Joseph Raju @Reggie Landicho and @Michel Van Woudenberg it was great driving with you guys and you drove nicely and had good control over your cars. See you all soon in the desert discovering even more nice playgrounds.

@Islam SolimanThank you for such a great informative and safe drive. Pace picked up neatly as the drive went on. See you soon inshallah. @Julian Patterson @Willie Thank you for your assistance