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Thanks for joining on this great morning out ! @DP1011@Richard Franks@Martin M@Ben Lee@Andrew John Melvill@Ahmed Farouk@Vijay Cowlagi@Nizar Shawwa@Zubair@Islam Soliman@Prithvi Raj The weather was quite pleasant, and i hope this area brought some "change of scenery" to the off-roading game. The dunes were quite technical and as we had to make our way from North to South, we had a lot of straight crests to tackle. Of course that's part of the fun and i was caught a few times sitting on a crest myself You guys all drove fantastic, and as everyone reached early, we could do a quick briefing and leave on time. Thank you for that ! See you all soon in the sands again

@Frederic create maybe some trip to Salalah? Or Jordan ? 😃 5-10 cars will go with families, my kids asking for travel 😀

after i had to be rescued by the patrol safari i was thinking the same thing @Frederic 🤪🤪🤪🤪

Noooo, I like this car))

SELL THE FORD…. problem solved

The track might look like that of FB+ drive we did in September; but the speed was much higher. The area was pristine; there were not any tracks there; except from some faded ones here and there; so, we had entire area to ourselves. It was a relentless drive and never before that I took a break so early out of exhaustion from driving. There were some very technical areas, but the last bit was especially tough. It is best done at the start of the drive instead towards the end. Great performance behind the wheels by @Jona at the second lead; @Gurcharan Mehta on his first IM, @Batuhan Kulac - he is getting hang of my driving & @Beide Worku at the sweep, who came after a long break but fresh. Thank you all for joining the drive and see you next time looping somewhere in the desert.

Come on! Everyone can be stuck ))))) ps. When we went to show room to pay for expedition, my son was even on the roof of f150 raptor, but then, he said he wants ranger raptor and didn't want to go anywhere from the car 😁😁😁

@TIMMY don't cry, we'll find solution and will rock 🤘🤘🤘 😁😁😁

Hi @Looper I'm going to be filling out my request for promotion this week so hopefully I will be able to join you all. Just got to buy a couple of bits 👍

Calendar not listed but available below https://carnity.com/events/event/2209-morning-fewbie-plus-desert-drive-tawi-nizwa-ridge-ridding-madness-sharjah-25-may-2024/

Congratulations @Rk ram well done on getting the intermediate promotion well deserved enjoy it

Hello, I currently own a Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited 2020 model and a Toyota Prado 2008 model. Prado is the love of my life. 16 years now, but problems with transmission and Toyota’s inability to provide official assistance (they recommended going to a private garage) are compelling me to sell it. Wrangler was fun but the entire car shakes and vibrates at high speeds and there’s something about it that just gives me red flag feelings in my gut that I’ll have problems in the future. So I’m in the market for a new car/cars but I’m very confused. I definitely want an SUV. I’m a Dubai kid and climbing my vehicle onto anything I want, when I need to, is a must. High ground clearance is important, I don’t want to be damaging my underbody regularly. I’m not a hardcore off-roader but I’m an enthusiastic road-tripper and aspiring off-roader. So on those spontaneous road-trip days to the mountains, the car should perform. Same for those twice a year desert trips and perhaps even if I start doing it more regularly with a group like the one here, to learn more. Keeping that in mind, I do want a car that won’t let me down on the dunes, for which I’m guessing I should look for a combination of power and light weight. So what would that be? Now it gets more interesting. I also like the idea of a truck. We’re enthusiastic interior designers, buying second hand furniture frequently and a truck bed would help us not have to shell out money on a Pathan pickup every time. But not sure what truck would tick the powerful, lightweight, good for off-road criteria? We’re also a growing family so I want a crew cab with comfort on the inside, by which I mean: Good leg room, fridge, cruise control, front side airbags, good safety features, wireless Apple car play, wireless charging would be a dream, leather seats, big sunroof. So what’s a good off-road capable car, potentially a truck, that’s also comfortable on the inside, and does not break the bank? Budget is not a big criteria, but I do want to be sensible and keep it as low as I can. I’m aware it’s entirely possible that I want too many different kinds of things in one car, which may not be possible - but figured no harm in having a discussion. I like Toyota for reliability and resale value. But Hilux GR Sport is unavailable now. (Was even considering new LC70 because it’s cool, but don’t think it’d be right and it’s unavailable too). Other options are Nissan, Chevrolet, GMC, Ram, Ford. Im open to Chinese cars but apprehensive about reliability, service and maintenance infrastructure (non-dealership garages not that established yet) and also resale value. Finally, I’m wondering if I should sell both cars and buy two – One Hyundai Palisade type car that ticks all the family comfort boxes and another truck that ticks the off-road adventure capability and fun boxes. Someone help me please! Thanks!

Hi @Paurav My two cents: 1. Get the 2008 Prado fixed outside the dealership. It's not surprising that the Toyota dealer is more interested in selling you a new one. Seems like either they lack the expertise or time to really look into it. 2. Get the 2020 Sahara fixed. On a car this new this is definitely not normal, but Jeeps are sensitive to wheel balance and alignment. This can be fixed. They are fantastic off-road vehicles. The pickup you are longing for could be perhaps a Ford Ranger Raptor, but in any case i advise you to sort out fixing your existing vehicles properly, so you can at least get a good price for it. It now sounds you've given up on both vehicles.

Is your clutch fan functioning like it's supposed to? Normally when the engine temperature goes up the fan speed needs to increase to compensate for the lack of natural air flow. One easy way to check is when the engine is cold to rotate the fan. If it rotates smoothly, that means the fan needs to be replaced. A good condition clutch fan will have rotational resistance when engine is cold

Thanks @Gaurav. Well I was tilting towards the Armada mainly coz of the low prices and spacious seating to accomodate my parents as well. I guess its a long way to go for me become a serious offroader.. need to start first ! btw.. is there a limit on how many posts we can make as a free user? I was trying to reply to your post couple of days back and I was being led to paid subscription page. @Batuhan Kulac - I need a 7 seater mate... Xterra won't cut it. Thanks for the suggestion though!

It's been one year since I started a new chapter in desert driving hobby; leading drive with @Carnity, and last week it was my 50th when I took over @Islam Soliman's drive. It was also my 238th drive I have actually driven. These are some quick numbers to look into: Most of them as usual have been Fewbie drives but I find my sweet spot at FB+, I have been doing a lot of FB+ to balance overall ratios. -------------- These numbers below mean shared drives. Given means, I posted a drive but someone else also took a part of the convoy, taken means someone else posted a drive I took a part (or as in last week whole) of convoy. -------------- I really can't see in the dark. So, no night drives for me. I do not see any drives posted by me in the night. This chart also shows the number of drives I have done per month. Till December 2023 I was averaging 13 drives a quarter. This year however has been less due to my frequent travels. -------------- This list is the locations where I have driven. & following are some stats of those locations: Faqa'a (Includes both Dubai side and Abu Dhabi side) might seem to be my favorite location as most drives are done there. Actually, it is not, as I hate all the bushes. I have been doing this to find the best way of doing it. Now that finally have found the most optimal track, which is to start from Abu Dhabi side to go towards Little Sweihan and then to Solar Park. I might now do some drives on the reverse side. Qudra includes drives that started at Qudra Roundabout towards Lisaili, Bab al Shams and Solar Park. Liwa drive is my drive to Yellow Truck. It grouped in others to keep it up with the forum; the convoy was an Intermediate and I had spilt it for a FB+ convoy with @Kailas.

Trip Update: Date: 27 July 2023 Country: Oman Region: Duqm to Sur On the road to Sur, we had 2 well-known points we wanted to visit: Sugar Dunes Bar Al Hikmann beach Sugar Dunes: https://goo.gl/maps/HMHEsg6KQdzoXN6s6 They can be reached by entering from here: https://goo.gl/maps/wLVe8rvExhFAxUr88 It's about 25mins on a regular gatch track, even in 2WD and inflated it was fine to do, as this is the road to the Duqm Salt Factory nearby. The catch track continues to run parallel to the beach at about 20m from the actual shore. The sugar dunes are called because they are actually white as snow, and the contrast with the blue sky and ocean was stunning ! Nice Google Photos: We didn't feel like going back on the same track where we came from so we kept following that same track which goes towards Al Khaluf and here it became tricky as at one point we had to deflate to 15psi, engage 4x4, and drive on the beach itself (mostly over litter that washed ashore). It was compact and no issue, but when you are alone it is a bit nerve wrecking and I was glad to be back on the regular gatch track later on. (gpx track attached). However beautiful the sugar dunes are, the moment you get closer to Al Khaluf you will see tons of litter / plastic that washed ashore. It's a shocking realization that somehow all of us are partially responsible for this and I hope in the future we can see this reducing by all doing our best. Barr Al Hikman: https://goo.gl/maps/q1UdTzMTWEiLSuML7 Entry from here: https://goo.gl/maps/KF2hEPiD4JRReJJYA In 2021 I read this article: https://www.thenationalnews.com/gulf-news/oman/2021/10/29/a-delightful-adventure-why-retired-omanis-are-heading-to-barr-al-hikman-beach/ it immediately made me put Bar Al Hikman on my Oman wishlist, but as soon as I started doing some research I read countless contradicting stories going from "totally fine with any SUV", to "extremely difficult due to salt-flats and sinking risks !! take multiple vehicles !!!" Evidently I wasn't planning on taking risks being one car only so it was on my mind for the last couple of days and after doing a lot zoom-zoom on Gaia to try to find existing tracks, I noticed a few tracks running parallel to each other, and ending up at the beach. The distance is about 40km but a big chunk of it is on salt flats which can be extremely deceiving to navigate. I drafted one track in Gaia and wanted to decide once we reached the entry point that day. The moment we reached the entry point next to the road, I was like "this looks totally fine, as it contained lots of gravel and bushes, and felt very hard. We discussed amongst ourselves and agreed to go in on moderate speed with 4x4 engaged and to keep an eye in the rear-view mirror to see if the car actually sinks in. If it did we would immediately retreat without second try. We started heading in cautiously and the first 10-15 mins were extremely easy. I followed my planned route religiously and there was indeed a nice hard gatch track on that salt flat, which looked like this was the regular route for the ones who come here often. After about 20 km, the terrain opened up and all around us we could see only endless sabkha, and to our biggest shock we track we drove on remained perfectly compact, but just on the left or right of the track you could see tracks of cars that immediately sunk in and retreated back to the compact part. This meant we had no other option than to continue on that compacted sand and not stray away from it at whatever cost. It became drop-dead silent in the car and kept going at 50-60 km/h and Alhamdullilah that track was a blessed one as it took us straight to the beach where we only saw one other visitor. I have attached the GPX file here but take note of the following: - I would NOT recommend doing this alone. I was experienced but all this means nothing if you sink into sabkha mud. It would have been a serious stuck and only on our way back 1,5hrs later we noticed some cars entering that could have potentially offered us help. - Even if you enter with a couple of 4x4s, following the track STRICTLY and do not deviate from it. If you see someone else stuck who has deviated from the track, the only option would be to join several ropes together and give a pull from the hard track, as you really do not want to venture into the mud yourselves. Luckily the end destination was worth it: a beautiful beach but unfortunately again a lot of litter and plastic that washed ashore. My son took a quick dip and soon we made our way back on the same track, this time we sped up to 80-90kmh without issue as we knew the track was fine. I now understood the big contrast in comments about driving to Barr Al Hikman. If you are not comfortable and experienced to follow your GPS compass heading exactly, you are in big trouble as sometimes that hard patch became difficult to see and we had to rely on the gps solely. Secondly even experienced off-roaders have been caught off guard as the salt flats shift and move as per the season, tide, and overall temperatures, so what was fine and compact today could be slushy mud the next day. We walked out of there unscathed but with sweaty palms and the acknowledgement we should always respect nature and abide by its rules. We booked a small cosy bungalow in the Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve area (SAMA Ras Al Jinz) which was extremely quiet, dark, and they offered delicious dinner and breakfast. Would be a great spot for stargazing ! We drove back to Dubai today, and this closes our trip. I am honestly already planning so many things for the next time we head to Oman. We have completely fallen in love with this gem of a country, its people, and the adventures it has to offer. For anyone who likes a road trip, sunny desolate pristine beaches, majestic and sometimes lush green mountains, super nice hiking/swimming in wadis, fantastic scenic dunes, and so much more, I would say GO NOW before this country becomes too well known. bar-al-hikman-track.gpx sugar-dunes.gpx

It amazes me the kind of questions that pop up on your mind at 3:30 am @Looper😁 Well, my take on this is, very few people own broncos as it's a fairly new launch. I have seen hardly 5 cars on road till now, and the off-road heads generally go with tried and tested cars. I am yet to see a bronco in carnity drives. we should start seeing more of those soon. Thinking to change the Jeep to a yellow bronco ? Huh @Looper

Having driven many, H2 every time. It’s rugged and tough. The H3 is for people who want to cruise around car parks attempting to look cool whilst reminding everyone on Instagram that they own a Hummer.