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@Varun Mehndiratta thanks for planing this route precisely.. i have enjoyed every second in the drive. It was brilliant!! We have tested our skills vs the machines, and i believe in general we all did well. As i was watching the drivers from the back. @Frans M i like ur ride and ur way of handling it.. @Tharun Kumar V u r enjoying a master setup in ur ride 👏👏 in one of technical areas i encountered a my 1st tire pop-out. The mistake i did was clear by taking sharp turn while existing a ridge and was fixed in no time with the team support. @Karthik Raptorwas always in right place giving us the right hents... Last setup of convoy order having u on front of those big cars was making our drive faster and much smoother.. @Gary F , @Ishak @rohit kumar and the rest of the drivers were doing great.. well done guys... short report can be found on the bellow link https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS8HPqRrW/ @Varun Mehndiratta we need more similar drive like this... thx again looking forward to drive with u all again soon. BR, Ahmad

@Varun Mehndiratta, thank you for another great drive, the lines you took were perfect. It was an exciting drive with a good mix of terrain with all the textbook style manoeuvres like slide-sloping, criss-crossing, and especially ridge riding one of Varun's favourite. Everyone drove well with minor refusals and stuck, self-recovering most of the times with some shovelling. @Frans M, @Rajat Verma, @Juzer Gandhi,@rohit kumar, @Ishak , @Ahmad Nerat ,@Gary F, @Pranjal Varsani1, @Mark B, good to meet you all for the first time, hope you enjoyed the drive. @Tharun Kumar V , good to drive with you and thanks for the extended support. Enjoy rest of the weekend, and have a great week ahead!

This was a great drive, we covered a lot of ground, varied terrain, the Sand is finally drying out from the rains a few weeks ago and the lack of moisture, amazing to see the amount of vegetation this has brought. I'm starting to like the convoy switcheroo; experiencing different positions on a single drive leads to new experiences that would normally take many drives. Being near the front at times is like being on a whole different drive. That bowl into a ridge ride was an experience. Key items for me, when going for ridge riding, probably due to the long wheelbase, I need a higher angle then to get that first wheel over the crest. Near the end of the drive, I managed to have a crest situation while crossing over, the front of the Sandrunner was nose down, parallel to the bottom on the dune, with a rear wheel freestylin, @Karthik Raptor was about to get the rope, but I could feel some traction in the front tires. I dropped to 4 low, rear diff on, gentle pulse of gas and left right steering and it was free. Speaking of 4Low I must speak to my Jeep friends here, it also seems to take long to get in and out of 4L, not to mention when coming our of 4low traction control must be turned back off.. The sequence I use is Drive Selector 4H->4Part-Time>Neutral then Transmission N, then Drive Selector 4L and reversed for the other way round. Looking forward to the next drive, I have posted some images in the gallery.

Nice video @Ahmad Nerat, I can see there was a lot of fun at the back 😀, I missed it. There is also Dolphin Pajero out of the track 😅 on your video. Thank you @Varun Mehndirattafor again, the amazing drive. @Tharun Kumar V congratulations on your promotion 🥲 @Frans Msee you next two weeks 😁

@M.Seidam fantastic drive through the desert of Sweihan today. Great way to kick start a beautiful Sunday morning. The first stuck was a bit tricky but with calm nerves and cool heads coupled with great team work we made the recovery look easy, although it was far from easy. We followed this up with a little bit of shovelling which is always good to get the blood circulating on a Sunday morning along with a couple of good self recoveries. All in all a great morning out. @Imteeaz did a fantastic job at second lead and helping out where needed which was much appreciated. Fantastic support at sweep from @Waqas Parvez as always. Hope the car is ok after having to exit early. The rest of the team drove extraordinarily well so a big well done to @Alexanderrr @Salim Akhtar @Gerrit Bus and @Jorge Stepniak Felippe. You guys made our jobs so much easier with your driving, your patience and your assistance when needed, well done one and all. some stats below from todays drive Have a great rest of your weekend

Dear Sand Sailors Thanks for joining in for the drive today. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and your company made it for an Epic drive. I have been planning this route for a long time and as it was supposed to be, needed some really courageous drivers to make it through. Thanks a lot for your energy and patience that kept me going. All (other than @Sayed Bilal) were there at the meeting point well before time and by 7am we were already set to roll. As it turned out, conservation area had built a nest around our planned route and it had eggs so we diverted our track. and after a quick briefing were rolling towards our planned destination. First half of the drive was pure bliss with almost silent radio and whole convoy elegantly tip toeing through vegetation, smoothly sailing through the side slopes and enjoying themselves on long beautiful ridges. Passing by Emperor’s lake and crescent lake, within 1hr 45 min we crossed the mid point with min refusals and believe only stoppage being need to reinflate@Juzer Gandhi Pajero. Very nicely driven Juzer, just a bit more responsive on radio and do get your Tyres checked (and plz spare tyre of same size is mandatory requirement at this level). It was thereon that the real fun started. In endeavor to avoid some vegetation as we entered the tech patch we had our first long stoppage - and out comes @Ahmad Nerat smiling ear to ear, celebrating his first pop out - loved your attitude throughout the drive my friend, you brought in amazing energy to the drive. Thanks to all, we fixed it in no time just to realize that upset from being relinquished from SL position, @Frans M car was up for some revenge time. And what followed next was a continous battle between a few good men and this machine. Ofcourse the battle cry from LC angered other cars as well and we had flurry of stucks and refusals that continued till the end. Ofcourse the courage of Frans couldnt have been shaken and @Karthik Raptor was redefining the term patience at every step. All refusals were handled smoothly and all stucks self recovered using at most shovels. Very well done and thanks for your support Karthik and thanks to @Tharun Kumar V as well for extending his support whenever required. Finally, just 5 min late (than planned), we managed to find our way out Victorious and being the only FB convoy to have completed this route (at least to best of my knowledge over last year or so). Though the terrain appeared easy, the vegetation, soft sand, continous mix of tech and long range ensured it was a test of patience, determination and skill set of each driver - and you all did really well. Ofcourse I didn’t make it any easy by shuffling the convoy order continuously - which again you all handled it really well - minor stucks and refusals are expected with these changes. @Ishak and @Frans M thanks for nicely executing the SL position. @Pranjal Varsani1 @Mark B you both had perfect drives, very well done. @Gary F it was a real Gladiator performance 👍 @Rajat Verma - seems the experience of handling NCR ROADS during your break, kept you in sync with bumpy dunes. Very well driven. @rohit kumar you have come a long way in your handling of this machine since we first met. Really good job. It was surely a thrilling drive - true to the theme, the Cheap part of the title I leave it you all to decide 😀😀. Thanks again for joining in for the drive, hope to see you all sometime soon.

@Varun Mehndiratta, Wonderful drive and route taken! There was quite a bit of fauna seen along the way. Qudra always has breathtaking scenery. How you managed with the sand and the wind in your vehicle amazed me dear. It was quite rough at times. I perfectly will take note and improve on my radio communication. Thanks for the advice. And will immediately get the tires replaced. Will no longer push my luck now. That scare was enough. @Frans M , @Ishak, great in the SL roles. @Tharun Kumar V Your support in the centre was rock solid bro, and congrats for the new level up. Thanks for noticing the drop in pressure. @Ahmad Nerat , You managing the LC the in the tight terrain was amazing. @Mark B , @Pranjal Varsani1, @Gary F, @Rajat Verma, @rohit kumar - The big boys with mean machines, amazing convoy, it was a pleasure seeing you all. @Karthik Raptor commendable sweep, we all were assured having you dear.

My mind is blown! Looks like we’ve all been using the wrong setting 🫣🫣 That’s what I’ve been doing too! Thanks for the info would have been driving like that forever! 🤭 definitely trying this out

A “keep going drive mission” achieved. Only one pop out, otherwise kept moving. Thank you very much @Jaro Tuzinsky @Bjoern @Sam K @salah2u @Mohamad Anwer for joining. Amazing performance all the way through. @Bjoern great SL , and great support from @Pacific and @Simon D, although you didn’t have much to do. Whoever helped in fixing the pop out thanks for the same. Apologies didn’t know who helped, since was busy preparing the coffee 😅. Look forward to see you again in sand. Nice weekend and good successful week ahead. Below shape of track.

Spot on @Gary F goes for both lwb and swb - going low means one needs to counter steer (which we all know is against the basics). Reach the ridge at point where you land parallel to the ridge with wheels on both sides. 👍👍👍 Yeah @Gary F that’s an interlock we all hate. Understand with some OBDs and kill switch you can bypass the need of switching traction control on/off repeatedly. However I haven’t met many who have had smooth experience with OBDs @Pranjal Varsani1 @KAMALIO can comment. Plus understand with OBD issue is killing the warranty - so I haven’t tried (and not planning too - a few more sec after a refusal is okay).

4W only engaged when in 4L. When I was in 4H it was still rear wheel only. I have bead locks so I went down all the way to 6psi to keep up not knowing the root problem is 4W is not engaged. Definitely not safe to drive in 2 wheel drive. Glad I’ve learnt a lesson without running into any bad luck.

@Gary F @Pranjal Varsani1 @Mark B Both 4HAuto as well as 4H part time works perfectly fine. We have many drivers (incl marshals, incl on highest level drives) who drive on 4Auto and many on 4H part time. It’s about getting used to the car and it’s feature. All my NB/FB drives (even some Fb+) I do at 4W Auto, Int and above I usually do it on 4WPart time - just the comfort level. Conceptually 4Auto ECU/Computer switches the vehicle between 4H and 2H (never 4L - it requires personal intervention) and so is surely more fuel efficient - as 4H is only used when needed. 4HPart time ensures you are always in 4H and hence reducing reliance on computer to decide 4W or 2W drive (in due course more fuel and more stress on car). It’s called part time as it’s not recommended to use it for long (like on road etc). Reg Off-road plus, I have personally haven’t used it yet, understand it’s of good use while going for very steep climbs in D mode or situation where you need that one bit extra torque at very high and very low rpm. In general your vehicles are capable of managing all without these additonal features. Ofcourse good to get used to them so as to be able to use when needed. For me the magic of off roading is when the load on car is the least and motion fluid.

I got an OBD installed and i didn’t realized it killed my 4WD. I drove 5 to 7 drives in rear wheel drive only. I was struggling for traction but completed all the drives with maybe 1 stuck and 1 refusal. I thought I was too aggressive on the gas pedal. Turns out my 4wd was never engaged. You can get away with quite a bit in a Jeep!

@Pranjal Varsani1 that’s the first I hear of this too 😂 I’ve made my way to fewbie + without ever touching 4-part-time. I didn’t realize ‘part-time’ meant full time it does explain a good bit about the climbing. Apart from that I never really thought about the other options on my transfer case. This weekend I’ll give it a try and see if it gives any big results

Driving on 4wd drive part time will keep your traction control off when switching between 4H and 4L. Also you’ll notice much better traction and a lot less fish tailing compared to 4H full time. 4H part time is basically centre diff lock on so 50% power to the front wheel and 50% to the rear.

@Gary F sounds like you’re driving on 4wd “auto” because you’re switching to 4wd part-time and then 4L. Whereas you should be on 4wd part-time for desert drives.

Questioning my sanity.... Mission complete! 😎

We left the camels’ races to enter the desert. Slow path with some refusals quickly recovered. @Gauravmade an incredible repairs on @sohinikcar to be able to exit car. Lucky enough not to be too far away from Lisaili. It was nice driving with you this morning. Have a nice week and hope to drive with you again, next weekend 😉

Cool I plan to try it sometime soon … perhaps we make it to sweihan sometime in coming weeks and explore it. Yes the fact it stayed longer in Gear 1 is the main thing about off road plus I have heard from other drivers, which is something really good for steep climbs 👍 Also check your fuel consumption as those who have been using it shared fuel consumption goes up crazy. Last drive I consumed a bit less than a quarter of tank during drive, just as a reference. Again gladiator and rubicon are diff plus the driving style make a diff, but still to compare.

@Varun Mehndiratta I have always used the off-road plus mode , the only useful part I find off road + is throttle response, with one button it turns off traction control ,makes the go pedal more sensitive. Turns on the off road page screen, seeing the gauges is nice at times, or the angle of a slope on a steep descent, (I feel the screen is more gimmick as eyes should be concentrated on situational awareness) and changes the gear profiles in D. Although at times it does hang around in 1st too long, hence at times I’ll manually go to 2nd or my favourite is when it decides on a long climb to change into 3rd and loses all power near the top. this drive it behaved well and I rarely passed 3,000 RPM

Wow!!! driving at 6psi … dude you are surely giving me a shocker after another one. Check the warranty details on your beadlocks, m sure at this level damage wouldn’t have been recoverable in warranty.

Hmm.. the screen was showing 4W engaged? The dia with transmission connection? Either ways if you managed to do that drive in 2W, hats off bro - and I am really feeling lucky that nothing went wrong - as we did quite a few stretched sideys and crossings that day. Good that it’s fixed now 👍👍

Yes I was in 2WD for that one. I couldn’t figure out why I was struggling for that drive and a few before that one. That also explains why I couldn’t switch on the diff locks. Anyway, it’s all sorted out now and my Al Qudra drive with you felt so much smoother.

Same here @Mark B i played with part time a few times but never thought we should be running it all the time on the sand. Can’t wait to try on some big bowls.. and ridges. Looks like we will all be drive 4h part time next weekend 😃

This actually explains a lot of what I’ve been feeling when climbing or on side slopes , thanks @Pranjal Varsani1 4H part-time for the next drive it is. what were the engineers think calling it 4H part-time ?

Incredible drive! Thank you @JeromeFJfor planning and executing this awesome drive to perfection! Perfect introduction to Fewbie plus. I am sure @Yaseen87would agree on this. The variety of the terrain was incredible and the "Fudra" part was the best I had a close call as @JeromeFJmentioned, I lost the ridge and then tried to climb it on the soft side and nature politely reminded me about gravity by tipping the side of the car over gently for a split second and I fell back on 4 wheels soon. For a second, i felt proud of myself for having stopped at the right moment but was soon overcome of the repetitive saying of the marshalls - Never ever fight gravity! The longest drive I have ever been and supported by an amazing convoy. we ate up the desert like theres no tomorrow. Thanks a ton @Rajiv Samfor the sweep and support. Calm and cool as ever with a hint of humour! @Joji varghesePerfect second lead. It was like watching my car 30secs into the future @Yaseen87Bro. We gonna kill the fewbie plus. Lets race to intermediate. I loved the way you were climbing with bare minimum momentum. I never heard your car roar. That shows your true offroading skill @Pierre de Maigret Your drive was wonderful. I was seeing you in the rear view. You left a nice gap and were smooth in your ridge riding and just floating in the sand enjoying the view @JeromeFJThere as a reason why i picked your drive this weekend and I am pleased with my decision until next weekend guys!

Congratulations @Krishna R

Hi @Krishna RCongratulations on the promotion, enjoy the new level 👍🏼

Unfortunately, the break down caused a bit of delay , but aside from that everyone in the convoy drove brilliantly @Maheshwar C.S. @Mehek Merchant @Xavi Moyano bravo and great job on 1st drive , job well done.it was great to make new friends @Misha Puskar @DEEPAK ESWAR @Jeetu Sharma @GeorgeFJ @sohinik, great support by @Looper @Fabien Monleau @Melenany @Gaurav it was yet another great learning opportunity for me to learn how to exit a car that has significant damage, @sohinik hope it is sorted out soon i have posted the photos in the gallery , enjoy

Thanks, @Fabien Monleau @Melenany @Waqas Parvez and @Looper for brilliant and endless support today with a very struggling and difficult drive from the beginning and with an on-site quick fix to get Trailblazer out. Thanks, everyone for your patience and cooperation, today's drive really marks the importance of team sport that we keep repeating on every briefing. For the few of you, who were there with me two weeks back in Lisaili must be appreciating the huge contrast in two drives at the same place with the same lead but with totally different end results. We barely covered half of km today which we usually do due to constant challenges and situations but hope to see you all soon in the sand with good spirits for the next one. Have good weekend ahead.

Epic drive. Thx @JeromeFJ for leading this convoy through some of the most interesting sections I have encountered in carnity. It was the perfect introduction to Fewbie plus 👍🏾

No worries my friend . Will miss you sure . Next time inshallah 🙏

Thanks everyone for the patience and shoveling during the drive. Got so many refusals today. Here are some pictures taken.

@Varun Mehndirattathanks for the fun drive! Looking forward to the next one with you. @Karthik Raptorand @Tharun Kumar Vthanks for the support and keeping everyone moving.

Ahoy Sand Sailors Been a crazy week with back to back events at work. Need a NICE fast paced detox drive - hope you are all ready to roll? Final plan and convoy order for the drive is as below. Meeting Time: With sun starting to riser earlier, I have moved meeting time to 6:45am - don’t want to lose a minute. So please be on time. Channel:2 Convoy Order: 1. Varun - Rubicon 2. @Frans M - Swb LC 3. @Sayed Bilal - Safari 4. @Rajat Verma - White wrangler 5. @rohit kumar f150 6. @Juzer Gandhi black pajero 7. @Tharun Kumar V pajero 8. @Ishak white pajero 9. @Ahmad Nerat Land Cruiser 10. @Gary F - sandrunner 11. @Pranjal Varsani1 Rubicon 12. @Mark B Gladiator 13. @Karthik Raptor Raptor See you all tomo.

Dear Desert Knights Imteeaz @Imteeaz Imran Kashif @Imran Kashif Gerrit Bus @Gerrit Bus Davie Chase @Davie Chase Alexanderrr @Alexanderrr Jorge Stepniak Felippe @Jorge Stepniak Felippe Naveen Raj @Naveen Raj Salim Akhtar @Salim Akhtar Hello and welcome back to Sweihan Drives my favourite area for the intermediate level drives and this time we return , inshallah , stronger , sharper no defeat or retreat and on top of all wiser to embrace the desert with big dune hug . the plan is to cover as much as of distance within Sweihan in a fast thrilling paced drive . Concentration and sharp focus is extremely important as you know . No place for fight or flight here because the gravity will pull you down always. Expect all sort of action : tall dunes , ridge riding , squeezing in between tight technicals and a lot of switching over the ridges whenever possible . Please get enough rest the night before you will need it indeed. please make final check on your vehicle and your gear attained for this level. As well as your radio communication devices to be fully charged . Get full tank as much as possible and the gas station is not far from the meeting point which is updated above . gas station https://maps.app.goo.gl/C3EZJzY3jeuYjAmu6?g_st=ic meeting point https://goo.gl/maps/k2Zip7ZaWYvXLLjD9 Till we meet enjoy your time. Seidam

@M.Seidamunfortunately my 4wd is not engaging, almost came halfway to sweihan. Apologies for not able to join.. See you all soon in sand, have fun everone

Sorry @M.Seidam I will not be available tomorrow 😪