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Liwa adventure 2023: This had been one of most awaited drive for the year and brings along the excitement of just being surrounded by the majestic dunes and the ever gasping views of endless desert. The drive had all the elements one could expect.. from a slow delayed start due to fog , to long climbs and difficult technical bowls to sweeping slopes to cherish. it was all going well until the fateful moment when we heard the radio call of the clutch failure on Anoop’s Jeep at around 2 pm just after the lunch break. (Near waypoint 12) it was then the drive became a recovery drive led by the legends @Gaurav and @Srikumar…the entire convoy including myself and@Asif Hussain moving to the support team following step by step instructions.. after a carefully selected exit route was recced, the Jeep was attached to the ever powerful Raptor and the two started the tango to get out of the tight bowls area…. It was a couple of dunes later, just before the final dune before the exit, the raptor and jeep got stuck climbing a slip face with two steep bowls on either side. multiple attempts were made to reposition the cars to have one last go at that stretch but all in vain. The area was just too soft and steep angles. With every attempt, The Jeep started to slipping more into the bowl and after about 5 hours of attempts , it was decided to leave the car and head to the camping spot. we reached the waypoint 18 around 9.45 pm and the convoy members were finally able to relax and unwind after the long had day. The next day, We all gathered our thoughts and decided to take support from the other convoy members who had winches. we made our way back to the recovery point around 11:45 am and with renewed spirit and new tools ( extra winches of @Hisham Masaad and @Bjoern) under the watchful eyes and leadership of @Gaurav, began the next phase of recovering what now was being called the “yellow Jeep”. With car about to rollover while winching, to setting up anchor , to pulling against all physics , the recovery was like a masterclass for all members present. After multiple changes in strategies based on what’s working and what’s not, the yellow jeep finally emerged from the bottom of the hellhole and onto the flat patch at around 3:30 pm. kudos to the entire convoy, @Gaurav and @Srikumar for leading the recovery, @Dodi Syahdar for the never give up attitude and going thru the sheer physical stress, @Ranjan Das for the winching on day 1 and day 2. Your machine took a heavy toll for sure.. shoveling boys @Waqas Parvez @ASAD. @Pacific @munkybizness @Vaibhav @Ishak @Santoso Marjuki @Tharun Kumar Vyou guys were special without whom the recovery would not have been possible. Special thanks to @Srikumar for leaving the fb convoy and going through all the pain on day 1 while we attempted the recovery. C @Tharun Kumar V @Bjoern for showing amazing team spirit and courage to leave your designated drives and join us for the recovery, knowing that it may very well delay them getting back home. special thanks again to @Hisham Masaad for being instrumental with your contribution in the recovery both physically and mentally. thankyou @Sunil Mathew and @Mario Cornejo for being part of this epic drive and I am sure you would have also stayed back on day 2 with the IM convoy had it not been for personal reasons and the car issue. thankyou all for the brilliant support and m sure this drive will be talked about for not only the tenacity of the team, the complexity of recovery, the leadership, but also for the carmaradire of the convoy and the heartfelt laughter that resonated at the campsite until late night!! see you all soon in sand.

I am sure you guys had lots of fun and challenging times; I clearly missed an amazing opportunity to be part of this gig. I believe that the challenges could only reinforce 1 thing - Carnity does not leave anyone behind! Until the next Liwa drive....

Can’t wait for for Liwa Crossing 2024 with my YinYang Pajero

Dear Desertnauts. A few info about this drive, its spirit, and the possibility of accommodating as many members as possible. After many excursions in the area between Murqab, Lisaili and Solar Park, having acquired (hopefully) enough experience with the characteristics of these terrains, and having driven by a few recognizable landmarks (sabkhas, tracks, groups of trees, camel farms or feeding stations), I thought it may be time to add the element of orienteering to the drive, and proceed to manage the drive "blind", that is without the use of GPS maps. This will mean mostly that we may arrive at some dead ends, and loop back somewhere along the trail, or find obstacles that will need more careful navigation, and in any case, adjust the track according to whatever we'll face, on uncharted territory. Considering the great number of waitlisted members, we'll also do our best to allow as many members as possible to join the drive. With this in mind, I wish to thank @Vanessa8580, who has offered to lead a second convoy, along a similar route, leaving from the same starting point as Convoy #1. Thanks to this possibility, at the moment I will be leading the 10 members who will be signed up for the drive on Friday evening (considering the possibility of some drop-outs from the current list, and the automatic signing up of those waitlisted). At the moment Convoy #1 includes @Jaro Tuzinsky, @Gary F, @Sunil Mathew, @Abdul Basit Khan, @Stumpy Paj, @Ishak, @Frans M, @Adam James, @Bravoecho and @Stan (I will be supported by @Dodi Syahdar). Also at the moment, considering the first 10 members on the current waiting list (signed up for their 1st drive), Convoy #2 includes @Ahmed Wagdy, @FARAZ MOHAMMED, @Andrei S, @Thejas Uthran, @Sebb, @Krishna R, @Murtaza Bhuria and @Naim Aoun, @Shahid Mehmood and @Yaseen87 Givne the above, the updated waitlist includes, from #1 onward, @Rashid Alseeni, @Zubair @DanielN, @Ahmad Nerat, @Dimitrios Kalogirou and @Claudio C. More updates on the drive's details, and the convoys final composition and order in the next couple of days. Looking forward to see you all soon.

By then you will be the ultimate Offroader my friend !

What an amazing experience, Liwa is something else!! Congrats to all of us making it to the other side safely @Kailasyou were an amazing lead, you made it a fantastic drive, challenging yet safe. Thanks @DP1011 , Deepak wranglerfor holding the convoy at the center and for all the help and tugs you gave. Thanks to everyone who supported the support, I guess we were the only ones getting stuck hahaa.😀 Hope to see you all on sand soon.

Congrats to all participants, and thanks to everyone who took part in organizing this amazing Liwa Crossing. Special thanks to @Kailas for accepting the challenge and being such an excellent lead, always searching for the most enjoyable track, to @DP1011 , Deepak wrangler & @Lawrence_Chehimi for support, and to @Gertjan for 2nd lead (and photographer!), and thanks to the rest of the convoy for being part of a memorable weekend, outstanding job guys! I've uploaded most of the videos and pics that I took (360 videos will take longer) and will keep them for a few weeks here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZL6q82_mAwXTibyA5pr7Akevv9S_-CMa?usp=share_link

Hi @Krishna R do not focus too much on the wattage as most brands advertise 500 or 1000 Watts while in reality this is called PMPO (Peak Music Power Output) and not representative for the actual output. The actual wattage will be expressed in RMS. In an offroad vehicle i have seen multiple issues occuring with external amplifiers, this is mostly because quite often we will have sand getting in the vehicle, and the wires and cabling in general are having a hard time from all that shaking and rattling. For that main reason i would advise you to get a decent head-unit installed (Pioneer, Sony, or equivalent) and just connect the 4 new speakers without an external amplifier. It will sound pretty decent for an offroad vehicle. You can always add an external amplifier later. A subwoofer is also something i would avoid in an offroad car. It takes up a lot of space and gets damaged easily. Make sure to double check the correct dimensions of the speakers you want to buy (yours seem correct). A good alternative for the Pioneer speakers is Infinity, or JBL GTO Series. Upgrading the Stereo System in Your 2005-2012 Nissan Xterra (crutchfield.com)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15_5xTRV9E4s0eLY6iKOQY9q8ympO4RJd Couple of pictures and videos for ya

So now when u r set, do research and spend the most money on high quality/power/rms speaker and better quality head unit, as my previous Pioneer head unit had 100 RMS per speaker by default, whereas most offer 50 RMS only.

In my car after few years, amp, cabling and head unit all failed due to regular offroading. So running now with the same Fredy advise, to run 4 speaker directly with head unit without an Amp. It's not wow output but better to have reasonable sound than no sound at all I suffered when my amp, head unit and wiring failed one after the other.

@munkybizness one of the first mods on my Y61 was to fix the cup holder problem. This addition has been money very well spent. https://www.mulletmods.com.au/products/patrol-front-cup-holders

reading this i could feel what in between the lines from details , i wish i was there but reading the above helped the abstract forming in my vivid imagination ,although iam 100% sure the realitiy was far more challenging mentally and physically and still after all always together solutions can be brought to surface . well done every one and viva Carnity

@Frederic, now you’re giving me goosebumps ✨🤩 There is a guy I ran into in Al Quoz who was doing exactly what you’re talking about in the back boot of a Lada. The moment I saw it I was in love and terrified of it both. And you’re absolutely right about finding decent shops in the UAE. Very few know what they are doing. Actually, the person who installed my speakers did such a poor job at tuning that I spent a month learning to do it myself. And then played around until I had it right. One day, and I even know which moment, I was driving to Sweihan and suddenly I realized that my speakers had broken in. I can’t explain the ecstatic feeling when you realize that your speakers are finally breaking in to their true character like a child losing its milk teeth.

As daily driver and music lover this is indeed a bliss to enjoy music in the best possible way and i totally agree with the direction you went. This used to be one of my hobbies back in Belgium and i met wonderful people in this world. We did both IASCA competitions based on audio quality, as well as DB-Drag races (louder is better). This scene has slowly faded out due to the fact that new cars came with much better stock soundsystems and the police and car inspection started to crack down on tuners and people with 9 subwoofers in the trunk In UAE the number of high quality shops is extremely limited. You will indeed need to do extensive research to find the unicorns and be completely transparant with your wishes and how to execute it. Reading your post catapulted me back to these good old days of looking for the newest Focal or MBQuart speakers, Rockford or Audison amplifiers, and JL audio subwoofers..

I have an opposing take to the above. I did actually go the full monte on my internal speaker setup, and it is still hands down the best upgrade I made overall. But audio is subjective and you need to know that you can discern the difference. KNOW WHAT YOU LISTEN TO I spend upwards of 6hrs to get to and from drives deep in Abu Dhabi, 4hrs in Ras Al Khaimah, 3 hrs in Dubai, and 2hrs in Sharjah. My Patrol is also my daily driver so I take it everywhere. Also, on Newbie & Fewbie drives, I listen to music offroad. To put this into perspective, I logged 29,000 minutes of streaming on Spotify in 2022 ~ 79 mins on average per day. So music and podcasts are extremely important to me. Before you go into a build on audio, look at the top genres of music that you consume. For me it is classical, electronic, indie and a smattering of hip-hop. This meant that I needed vocal clarity, good separation of individual instrumentation, and the ability to deliver clean bass (not earth shattering). I also wanted to listen to my speakers down low. EACH COMPONENT HAS A ROLE I did do incremental builds with my Pioneer head-unit and a 3-way front speaker & 2-way rear speaker setup. While the head unit has a decent amplifier, it is nowhere near as good as a dedicated amp. A dedicated 4 channel amp meant that my headunit became a digital signal processor (DSP) accurately setting in the right delays while the amp did the heavy lifting of powering the speakers. It also meant that I could accurately control passover frequencies between my individual speaker layers. The difference in layering when connected to good source quality music is night & day. I recently tested Tidal HiFi Plus and the FLAC-level source audio was a different beast. SUBWOOFERS When it comes to subwoofers, I agree with @Frederic, that they take up too much place. I got a portable unit and it has been impossible to manage. I intend to build a dedicated ported box for this in the near future because your speakers should just not be messing around with frequencies on the lower end of the spectrum. They just cannot deliver fidelity there. DON'T FORGET SOUND DEADENING One crucial addition that you must do is invest more in "sound deadening". Don't skimp on this. Our cars are loud, and with AT tyres, and they blunt way in which they cut through air, they are loud all the time. Sound deadening will help reduce cabin sounds down a few decibels which is all you need to isolate the sound from your speakers. HEAD-UNIT - watch outs! No local installer will tell you this but because of the chip shortage, there were tons of American units in the market. Please don’t buy them even if you’re offered them. Most of them don’t have the same steering control interface as EU spec, and they are locked to only odd numbers on the FM so any even decimal numbered FM station will not work. And finally, as for dust getting into the car, you have to live with this but a regular cleanup has kept my equipment relatively unimpacted. For the amps, I have casings that protect it with some mesh to ensure heat dissipation. My audio needs outrank my offroader needs. A happy cabin is one I can spend more time in regardless of the terrain I'm in. I am at the other end of the spectrum above 😛

Thank you for your kind advice @Gaurav @Frederic and @Looper. So i will go ahead with the rear speakers mentioned above and a component speaker for the front. Pioneer single din head unit ( i dont like the large screens) with no amp or sub. Hope that would satisfy! Shall update here after installation

Will recommend you check https://www.crutchfield.com/ they normally will have car specific combinations that can choose from. After that you need to get someone dependable to install, depending on availability of the parts here as per your budget. I upgraded my head unit from a 7-inch Jeep OEM to a 10-inch Stinger Off-road and had a person install it for the cheap towards Al Nadha or Al Qusais area, they took a few jabs at it & could finally manage it. It was a difficult install because we don't do such things here in Dubai and you know instructions are for pussies.

Hi Everyone My name is Deepak, live in Dubai. I'm driving Jeep Wrangler - 2-door. See you on the 29th.

Thank you very much @Kailas for leading this incredible trip... such a fantastic weekend, and you made the route superb! Great highlights along the way. And such an amazing convoy of drivers... so many laughs and smiles, truly made it all so much better. And a special thanks to @Gertjan for providing such spectacular photos on top of being second lead.... you didn't miss a beat 😎 Already can't wait for the next one.