Leaderboard

Honestly, looks fine, something I would be interested to go have a look if I was in the market for a Prado myself. Take a flashlight and have a through look in the engine bay and under the entire car for any oil leaks. Check the transmission fluid. Should be somewhat pinkish and not smell burnt and brown. Engine oil should be at correct level. Check all the electronics. See if all windows go up and down. Side view mirrors works ac blows cold and ac fan works at all speeds. Car should drive smooth and transmission should shift smooth through all gears, no clunks and thuds no vibrations. Try to get up to highway speeds and see of it still drives smooth no excessive wind noise, no vibrations and rattles. Shift it into low range and see it actually engages. Think these are fulltime 4x4 so lock the center diff, button with four wheels with a X in the center and if you can find a patch of sand to test. Go full lock circles slowly on tarmac and wheels should squeal and bind indicating its working. Oh yeah check engine oil levels should be between minimum and maximum, ask them before you check the oil when was it last changed. If it was recently and its on the lower side or low, means car is burning excessive oil.

Wow, there seems to be so much interest on mountain drive that we should add such excursion more often now. As many of you know that we have recently set up a grading structure to rank every offroader so that he/she can join on suitable drives as per their experience with Carnity Offroad Club. This is purely for safety reason and for improvising the user experience than the newbie level joins the intermediate drive or vice versa and end up feeling out of place. Having said that, the route I selected is definitely not fit for the first-time mountain offroader, as it requires some precise control to climb up on loose gravel and boulder path. Too fast might cause damage to the vehicle and too slow might slip backward. This challenge will multiply on turnings even tougher and you need great control to stop and start the vehicle without slipping on steep incline and decline. I truly understand that some of you have had previous experience and feel quite confident in such terrain, but my humble request is to wait for newbie level mountain drive to join so that we can rate and evaluate your experience. Secondly, this is an exploration drive and my 10-year-old waypoint might be blocked as it was too close to the border fence or inaccessible due to rain or weather conditions. Although I do have Plan B - Wadi Shawka river bed loop and Plan C - Wadi Sfini crossing in the nearby area, but I cannot guarantee if all these routes will be accessible or not. @WiLfY and @Vali If you are confident for such an area and ready for an "exploration drive" where things might not go completely as per plan, please do join. @BIG T and @Emil if you have previous experience of mountain drive please join, or else wait for newbie level trip.

thank u guys, and thanks to @jibransayed there is a couple of shots from him

Thanks @BIG T !! These shots are indeed superb !!

Thanks for all the nice comments. Look what I got today ... See you soon.

Thanks @BIG T for sharing such wonderful shots in the gallery, you are truly an awesome photographer.

Before when it was 1 like = 1 dirham I used to care because every so often I’d have extra money to buy beer. Now I don’t care. It’s like earning reddit karma. It makes some people feel good but in reality, it means nothing. I don’t care if anyone likes my posts or not. My 2 main reasons for posting are either because I’m bored and have nothing else to do, or I see someone who needs help and I’ll try to offer some advice based on experience because I know what it’s like to need help. Forums are great for finding information. Post it on your Facebook group and it’s gone in a day. Post it on a forum and it’s there to help people for life, as long as the admin pay the hosting costs, the information is there for life.

Amazing to see newbies hitting big likes in a week Congrats @BIG T, @Frederic Nuyttens, @jibransayed

Thanks for the clarification @Gaurav; I would have happily joined and probably got myself stuck or sliding down a steep slope somewhere :-). Please do not hesitate to organize a newbie (or drive-you-do-after-you’ve-done-a-newbie-drive-with-all-the-first-time-instructions) mountaindrive for @BIG T and me to join soon!

Sorry to be pedantic but the Prado isn’t a V4, it’s an I4. V4 engines are extremely rare and I’ve only ever come across 2 in my life, once in a Ford Consul and once in a Capri. There are others but that’s the only ones I’ve seen with my eyes. The majority of 4 cylinder engines have an inline configuration. V4s are expensive to manufacture, extra costs for a wider block, 2 cylinder heads, 2 sets of manifolds etc. The only manufacturer deviating from the inline 4 that I know of now is Subaru with their boxer engine. Porsche and VW have used it in the past. VW abandoned it after the Beetle. Maybe Porsche are still using it, I don’t know, but I think they just use the flat 6 as their base.

If you find a car and need a mechanic to inspect it, send me a message

Thanks @jibransayed for awesome clicks

Get ready for real mountain exploration drive, without the tarmac road and still reach some awesome viewpoint on top of Hatta Mountain range that span from Hatta Dam to Wadi Shawka. I have done this route almost 10 years ago and just found the old waypoints for entry and exits. If they are still accessible then we are in for a great surprise as drive up to the top will test your mountain climbing skills, 4x4 handling, low gear power, braking and starting on a steep incline with slipping stones and sweaty palms. Plan to start from Al Munay area on Sharjah-Kalba road and detour towards Qur and then start climbing up and reach to the top and have some amazing views of UAE on one side and Oman on another side. We plan to end the descend near Buraq dam and visit that place if water still there. I also have plan B and C, in case if an above plan fails and that's why I'm calling it an exploration drive. When: 14 Dec 2018 Meeting time: 1:00 PM, a convoy will move sharply at 01:15 PM Where: Al Munay's Mosque GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/sUpbcCpQo492 Level of a drive: Fewbie - Intermediate All level Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance Please RSVP on the Calendar

Wow @Gaurav @Rahimdadi can see a lot of new members and their Pajeros in the group now. excellent contribution from @BIG Tand @jibransayed its always nice to see your name on the list. waiting to unleash my beast after im back from my annual leave in Jan 2019 i guess.

I hear ya buddy. It's a pet peeve of mine too and bugs me to no end when people call their inline4 pots V4 !!!!!! Errtrrghhhh!!!!!! It's like nails over a blackboard to me. And worst part is you hear and read it everywhere. In used car advs, people discussing cars, forums, Facebook etc etc. I guess majority don't know the difference between a V, inline, W or even a boxer setup. Think V is something you just put in front of the number of cylinders a engine has. I think I even read V3 once, got me thinking that must ne one horribly unbalanced engine!

Thanks @Gaurav bhai for your clarification. It is not only the driver comfortably but also comfortability of Marshal or Crew with the driver's capability, patience and keeping a cool head in all situations. Grades are there not only to self access and know where you stand, but also for us to know you and your driving capability better. Would recommend you join a few newbie drives so the we can evaluate and understand you better if you have already driven with other clubs before joining a Fewbie or above drive.

You were right, indeed! Thank you. Let the obsession begin haha

Follow Desertdude advise as it is, but just be gentle with 4x4 LO gear on the tarmac and don't drive above 30-40 speed, same for turning - be gentle. You should also check the following things: Ask for full or partial service history and verify its stamped on the booklet or owner has receipts or service details Look for driver side door sill, for oil change sticker when and where it was last changed to tell you a careful owner Skip few speed bumps at slightly high speed (oops sorry) to see how suspensions are keeping up Look closely under the seats and boot carpet for sand presence to verify if the car has been offroad Pull the driver side seatbelt full out and see if it roll back smoothly or need a bit of assist. Slight assist with this age vehicle is acceptable, but if it needs to much pushback then car either has been in an accident or driven very rough on the road or on offroad for sure. When the car is off, open the engine oil cap and put a flashlight inside and it should have a crisp golden color on moving parts and not dark brown - sludge feel means engine oil has been delayed in past or using some cheap engine oil. If the exhaust is dripping few droplets of water, then that means the engine is happy and well kept, use it as a good sign

V6 gives better mileage than a V8. 320 V8 give better mileage than the 400. If you’re just driving on the road, buy the cheapest one because the extra horsepower will be wasted. It just turn into a willy waving exercise, mine is bigger that yours etc. Big horsepower is wasted on uae roads because unless your first name is sheikh, you are limited to how fast you can drive. If you’re going to the dunes regularly, then it’s worth splashing out on as much horsepower as you can afford.

I am just back from my travel. Thrilled seeing this video. Excited to join the next drive.

Well we have today who have driving licenses for decades now and still don't know how to drive. Long ago I had a friend Bharat, educated guy, smart, nice job well settled, but couldn't drive for shit. But somehow he had managed to get a license and drove for many many years without ever getting into any sort of accident! Someone up above was truly looking out for him.

and as an extension you will eventually have people who dont know how to drive because they will have self driving cars...