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  1. "Looking up gives light, although at first it makes you dizzy" (Rumi) - Ridge Riding Bonanza Report Before diving into the trip's report, I'd like to start a new way to introduce my reports, with the words of the great Master Rumi, inspired by some of the things that the drive allowed us to do, seek, or overcome. Looking up we did, to the top of the dune, looking for the right line to reach the ridge, during this "premiere" Ridge Riding Bonanza drive. And perhaps, it made some of us dizzy, while riding the taller dunes we encountered, trying to stay on top, yet looking for a safe exit down. From the very beginning, at the outskirts of Al Aweer, almost to the very end, near Mahafiz's mosque, the landscape gave us an endless set of extremely long range dunes, a true paradise for ridge riding lovers, which we tried to exploit to its maximum. I have counted 50 ridges driven, on the drive's recorded track, some of which very, very long, As announced, the main difficulties in riding the top of these dunes were twofold: first, the vegetation, sparse enough not to be a nuisance, but sufficiently omnipresent, all the way to the top of the dunes, to present obstacles that needed constant navigation, and second the wavy, curvy nature of the ridges, which needed actual driving, and not just powering through. These two characteristics, required a very careful choice of approach to reach the ridges, the ability of exiting the dunes, when necessary, avoiding the small sappy trees dotting their slopes, and most of all an absolute concentration, and control of the car, while on top of the ridges. Continuous accelerations, or decelerations were necessary to make sure one didn't overshoot a curve, lost momentum on an upturn of the dune, or veered out of control on a downturn of the next line. At times, the cars came almost to a standstill on a bumpy spot, just to power out and regain momentum on the following straight line. An additional safety requirement was added to the drive, which called for every car to exit the ridges whenever a car driving in front, anywhere in the convoy, got stuck or had problems. This made sure that we avoided multiple stucks on the ridges, and also functioned as a training exercise on choosing the right side, and line, to safely exit a ridge. Considering all these challenges, it was amazing that, in the end, we finished the drive with only 2 stucks on ridges, both self recovered (with the help of a bit of shoveling), and a few refusals, coming mostly from climbing steep slopes at an angle, or reaching a ridge from the slip-face. My great thanks go to @Niki Patel, who managed to follow all instructions, and making a few significant re-routings imposed by the treacherous terrain, to @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ, who has now become one of my most trusted Center Forwards, and to @Nabil Bishara, who calmly and expertly swept the convoy to safety (not an easy task from a very heavily marked trail). Hats off to @sheri and @soumyasaklani for debuting at Fewbies in such a tricky drive, to @Hossam Anwar, @Trekado, and @Ahmad Shaker, for driving with poise and control, and to @Thomas Varghese, @Ranjan Das and @Mario Cornejo for skillfully, and safely, navigating the back of the convoy on a well trodden, and unstable, path. At the end of the day, we all retired with another long and fin drive under our belts, having driven for 67.7 Km, in 3:58 hours (of which an abundant 3:10 moving), at an average speed of 17 Km/h (of which a brisk 21 Km/h while moving, considering we were often on ridges, or snaking between trees). Enjoy the rest of the weekend, have a great week, and see you soon in the sand.
    7 points
  2. Good to see that every one arrived on time and we were able to set out without any delays. We covered a total of 54km, which is great for a convoy that had several new fewbies. Well done guys.๐Ÿ‘ We had minimum refusals/ stucks. Thanks @Yousef Alimadadi for leading the second half of the drive. You did a great job buddy. Kudos to you!! @stavros papachristos is getting to know his wrangler well. I'm happy you got a chance to use the 4Lo gear, soon you will be able to master in crawling out from refusals. @Salty3Arab did well with his Pajero. The crested situation could have been self recovered with a bit more shoveling, but we decided to tug you out as the temperature out side was rising. @Yahya Munir & @Nathan Evans Those Jimny's were amazing. ๐Ÿ‘Œ @amir amiri I felt very confident seeing your beast with winch. You drove well๐Ÿ‘ @Arun Mathew congrats on your 1st CF. I like the way how calm you're when providing recovery assistance. Well done๐Ÿ™Œ @William Fernandes I was hoping to get you into a refusal scenario so that I could see your vehicle's recovery functions๐Ÿ˜‰. But you drove well in spite of being at no. 9. Well done mate. Try to not be shy on gas when trying to cross a dune. @Aus Alzubaidi nice self recovery from the crested situation. ๐Ÿ‘ @Gok Krish good to have you back after 4 months break. Very well managed, it didn't seem like you were driving after a long break. ๐Ÿ‘ @Javier Lucero Special thanks to you for lending your flag to Yousef. You did extremely well at your Sweep duties, I didn't have to check with you at all as you were giving me regular updates. ๐Ÿ‘ I have added pictures and videos in the gallery. See you all soon. Note: Temperature is rising with summer approaching. During the drives, when ever possible ,try to check and keep your tyre pressure to the desired psi as it tends to rise with temperature.
    6 points
  3. It was amazing how the new area of Al-Aweer welcomed us with such cool breezes, which accompanied us all the way to the end. Al-Aweer was full of wildlife, and vegetation, which enhanced the view of the natural landscapes, making the drive more visually pleasing. The spirits of Al-Aweer made sure that our experience driving in the area, would want us to come back for more ๐Ÿ˜‚. When I look back to when I was a Fewbie, I used to find Ridge Riding really challenging, but I bet after this drive, for our fellow Fewbies, Ridge Riding would be a piece of cake, @Ale Vallecchi made sure of that. Everyone drove really well, considering the fact that we only had to shovel twice and no tugs required. @Ale Vallecchi Thanks for trusting me with the role of Center-Forward, I love helping fellow drivers out. You were an amazing lead as always, throwing different challenges at us and making sure we have a fun and safe drive. Will always look forward for more drives with you. @Nabil Bishara You were a flawless sweep, actively helping out the drivers in need and keeping the tail of the convoy in order. Oh and hereโ€™s a picture of two off-road convoys side by side.
    6 points
  4. As always, it was a pleasure to support @Emmanuel's drive. Having @Brette in the same convoy was an excellent extra. Two very calm and patient marshals, which made the drive enjoyable and go very smoothly. I was pleased to see several new faces as well, and have the chance to observe everyone from the back of the convoy and check their skills handling the dunes and their cars. I believe that @JeromeFJ did really well as second lead, rerouting when asked to, which made it easier for the rest of the cars to follow the tracks. @yunus Kazi's Pathfinder struggled a bit to find the path ๐Ÿ˜. However, he managed to recover and learned a few useful tricks. @Chris Wing, @Adhir Saxena, @Ammar Naji, and @Sai Baskaran did extremely well with minimal to no refusals despite the patches of soft sand. @Kenneth Bollhardt handles the Prado exceptionally well despite being at the back of the convoy where the track gets a bit churned up, and so did the fellow wrangler drivers @I.M. Shousha and @Ehunaiti (congrats on the Fewbie promotion, btw). All in all, it was absolutely worth the early rise! Photos and videos will be shared in the drive's gallery. Hope you all enjoyed and see you soon again in the sand!
    5 points
  5. This drive was a perfect ending to a busy week. The drive started off with some really congested, technical dunes which got all of our arm muscles warmed up for what was to come ahead. The drive was initially slow paced but we gradually stepped it up as everyone was driving really well and was able to keep up with the challenges. There were minimal stucks or refusals, providing us with more time to drive and make the most out of the drive. Driving at night was something new for most drivers, but they managed it well, and we all enjoyed the drive to the max. @Chaitanya D Thanks a lot for hosting and leading this wonderful drive, had a lot of fun, looking forward for more. @Foxtrot Oscar You flawlessly handled the sweep position (definitely not a surprise ๐Ÿ˜‚), by actively helping fellow drivers in trouble and keeping the convoy in order.
    5 points
  6. Dear All More photos are posted to the gallery @Ahmed Wagdy @Lakshmi Narasimhan @Thomas Fumarola @Jasim Khumi @Richard Franks @Roger K @prajupramod @Humayun Ghias Once more thanks @Frederic & @Nivin looking forward to catch up with you in on the sand soon
    4 points
  7. Thank you too @Ale Vallecchi - learnt a lot about ridge riding & driving focusing on both ride quality & importantly safety which you always keep reminding us of & the need to act swiftly but safely. Was a very enjoyable drive too. Thanks too to 1st lead, CF & sweep @Niki Patel @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ @Nabil Bishara for your support & guidance too. Till next!
    4 points
  8. I love it when we focus on one thing until we become experts in it. I found this very helpful in improving my off-road driving skills. Thank you all for this fun drive and well done ! and thank you@Ale Vallecchi for the usual flawless lead and @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ for taking care of most of the refusals !
    4 points
  9. Drive Report We started off in the low dunes in Nazwa and practiced our angles, ridge riding, crossing and criss cross maneuvers. Itโ€™s always nice to start with a warm up and get into desert driving mode. Everyone was handling the challenges but as we began to motor @Lucky sAmreported an issue with his car, we had a look and there was nothing easily identifiable therefore in order not to risk any damage to his car I exited him to the nearest road. Not long before @asifk also noted that his car was overheating, @asifk applied the water spray to the transmission cooler and had his heat on full and was ready to drive again. We had one challenging low ridge ride and cross over to navigate which presented some issues for @Matt.T but a quick self recovery and @Matt.T was back on it. Well done, nice recovery. @asifk also got stuck on the same ridge, and again managed to self recovery even with one wheel in the air. Great recovery from you there Asif. As we headed towards Pink Rock , we continued to play in the smaller dunes readying ourselves for the bigger challenges that lay ahead. @Arman was next to report an issue, it seems his front right bush had gone, given the terrain we were going to encounter we thought it best to exit @Arman to prevent damage to the front springs. I took him to the nearest road which was at the 2nd of December Cafรฉ, at this point @asifkhad decided it was also best to exit his car from the drive. Three down and we hadnโ€™t even gotten into fully yet. We made our way to Pink Rock and as we did so the dunes and bowls became more challenging, having already assessed our Fewbie driversโ€™ skills on the lower dunes I was sure they wouldnโ€™t have any issues, and they didnโ€™t let me down, sweeping in and around those bowls with aplomb. Great work. I asked if the convoy wanted to climb Pink Rock with itโ€™s scarred sands and hidden speed bumps and they did. I checked the terrain and finally, on the third attempt. found the best approach which would have minimal impact from cross tracks and bumps, but not after my car had taken a bit of a hit. Haha Told you Iโ€™d take the hits for you ๐Ÿ˜‰ All drive leads do. @Ahab Shamaa showed the way and the convoy followed his path to the top of Pink Rock. Once they had all finished flexing their respective cars' muscles I decided to cross over and head through cowboy country, I was looking for Apaches and John Wayne as we went through. I canโ€™t recall who said it was more Mad Max than Fistful of Dollars, but @Shehab Alawadhisaid it was more likely to be Mahmoud Maxโ€ฆ๐Ÿคฃ.It was certainly The Good, The Bad and The Ugly hee hee. We passed Pink Rock and went onto another play area, with a labyrinth of bowls and ridges which we all swept around with ease as we continued towards our final destination. I asked the convoy , as I always do, if they were happy with the pace, if they felt they could be challenged more. The call came to be challenged more so I did. The pace was raised a little and we enjoyed sweeping around all the wonderful dunes like a helter skelter ride . We had a couple of refusals but nothing major. With the convoy coping so admirably I kept going and we arrived at the back of Big Red, I asked for total concentration from everyone as the back of Big Red has some nasty surprises. The convoy didnโ€™t disappoint, and we made it to the top at around 6:10pm. We werenโ€™t alone, we had a couple in love who had red roses all around them declaring their love for each other. Or was it a photoshoot? Whatever it was I was sure they didnโ€™t want Carnity invading them. We headed down, only after I had gone back up twice to see if there were any issues, and when we had finally gotten all back together, we went up and over and down the other side. Again the convoy was asked if they wanted to head back in and see the sunset away from the romantic scene. We tried, but it was all proving too much for @Paul Zeitoun son and with what seemed like a total breakdown in comms and convoy discipline I decided to end the drive before we had some more issues. @Matt.T you had a great drive, I know I pushed you, but you handled absolutely everything . Your self recovery too, no issues. Great to have you in the convoy. @Shehab Alawadhi, I donโ€™t think you had a single issue the entire day and were big enough to admit when you hadnโ€™t executed a cross correctly. Always a pleasure to have you with me on a drive and I am pleased your lady enjoyed it too. I hope to see her soon โ€ฆbuy her a wrangler haha Likewise @Paul Zeitoun, first time Iโ€™d driven with you, I was impressed with how you handle the Ram, great driving, great fun too. Now that Iโ€™ve seen you drive that thing, I am sticking you at the back of the convoy. @varunmehndiratta I know it wasnโ€™t easy being behind the behemoth dune wreckers but you handled it all with aplomb, great drive. Well done too @Ashok chaturvedi, enjoy your holiday. Finally, a mega big thanks to @Ahab Shamaa who executed the second lead perfectly, honestly love having you at my back. I know youโ€™ll reroute and keep the convoy safe. Thank you for getting the winch out when it was needed. It was a difficult scenario. @AlexPol I wanted you involved in recoveries like you had asked , but they all drove so well haha. You too had a great drive. Well done. @Islam Soliman thank you for sweeping everything at the back. I volunteer my time to lead people on drives because I genuinely love it. It's not just the driving itself and passing on knowledge. but driving with you guys. Itโ€™s great to have such a responsive and committed convoy. Thank you. I had tremendous fun today,
    3 points
  10. Dear Friends, Lakshmi Narasimhan @Lakshmi Narasimhan Nithin Vaidir @Nithin Vaidir Ahmed Wagdy @Ahmed Wagdy Azfar Aboobakar @Azfar Aboobakar Ranjan Das @Ranjan Das N@ved @N@ved Richard Frank's @Richard Franks Kenneth Bollhardt @Kenneth Bollhardt Ranjan Pattanaik @Ranjan Pattanaik Ahab Shamaa @Ahab Shamaa We will use Chanel 1 for Radio Coms Convoy listing will be as below: 1. Chaitanya - Black Xterra 2. Ranjan Das - Wrangler - 2nd lead 3. Ranjan Pattnaik - Ford Explorer 4. Lakshmi Narasaimhan - Pajero 5. Azfar Abobacker - Wrangler 6. Nithin Vaidir - LC 7.Ahab Shamaa - FJC - Center Forward 8. Richard Frank's- Rubicon 9.Kenneth Bollhardt - Prado 10.Ahmed Wagdy - FJC 11.N@ved - Silver Wrangler TJ- Sweep You all need to have the mandatory gear for Newbie ( Off Road flag, Deflator, compressor, Shovel and programmed Radio) without which you will not be allowed to drive. Deflate to 15 psi for normal tires and 12 psi for All terrain tires. Myself and Ahab will manage recoveries if any, if we need more help we will be calling for your assistance. Ranjan Das as 2nd lead, Ahab as CF and Naved as sweep will keep the bunch together. We will see how far we can explore with this set of varied drivers and cars which makes every drive (especially at newbie level) very interesting. Please remain seated in your cars and follow COVID precautions, Zero tolerance on this, if anyone is not following he will be escorted out of the drive. See you all tomorrow, Good Night
    3 points
  11. Thanks @Foxtrot Oscar for the lovely drive... The bowls were simply awesome... Enjoyed every bit of drive with the team . I guess the machines were no match to teams enthusiasm n skills - we had our share of minor niggles over radio and had to let go the Pajero, TJ and Patrol. @armaan @Lucky sAm and @asifkhope you guys could or would get it fixed for next drive, looking forward to see you back in action. Thanks to @Ahab Shamaa for cracking the code to Camel Rock and to @AlexPol and @Islam Soliman for keeping the convoy togather through the labyrinth of bowls... I experienced and truly enjoyed the awesome aura of Raptor and HEMI, both have mastered the art of seduction..๐Ÿ˜€ - a bit of distance and they were the energy boosters and everytime I tried venturing into the inner circle the heat was a bit too much for even my Jeepto handle, leading to couple of refusals. Lesson learnt - some things are better cherished with eyes only. @Shehab Alawadhi @Paul ZeitounZe Was my first drive with @Ashok chaturvedi was fun meeting you hope to catch up again once you are back from India. Thanks guys for the nice evening, looking forward to drive with all again soon.
    3 points
  12. For my second drive with Carnity it was awesome! Still a lot to learn but I'm happy about the pace and progressive skill honing drives we do; builds our confidence nicely. Carnity is now my recurring Friday event thanks to @Emmanuel for leading us and hopefully I'll get to meet all those who participated in future drives. And thanks @Desert Dweller , I got a couple of refusals but it's all learning experiences also @JeromeFJ will be leading soon I'm sure
    3 points
  13. Well said Nabil - and thanks a million for loaning me your spare radio for the drive, weirdly my walkie talkie switched on absolutely fine when I was back home! Technology can be so unpredictable! Thanks once again!
    3 points
  14. Thank you @Mehmet Volga and @Wrangeldand @Jeepie for your great help in this unfortunate event and drive me back to exit safely, Thank you @Lawrence_Chehimito help at the end with compressor
    3 points
  15. This was a ride exactly as advertised! The landscape, vegetation, wildlife, farms, tracks and wavy dunes requires absolute control and concentration! What a super drive... I would encourage every fewbie to experience this as itโ€™s a 3 hour master class on momentum! I left the drive grateful to @Ale Vallecchi for such a great experience/education and to @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ @Nabil Bishara for all the support and getting the full convoy through safely on what must have been such a difficult set of tracks to follow as you got further back! Kudos to all In the convoy especially the 2nd half (I didnโ€™t envy your challenge) ... shovels out only twice and no ropes needed! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿฝ
    3 points
  16. until
    Drive Details Level: All Levels - Newbie and above. Must have mandatory off road gear - offroad flag, shovel, deflator, compressor and programmed radio. When: 28 Mar 2021, Sunday EVENING Meeting time: 3.45PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Starting Point:https://goo.gl/maps/27ScMPXZD95y5Eyz8 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time:7 PM
    2 points
  17. Hi @Chaitanya D, i hope you remember me, returned from same place due to non proper drive gear. I would like to join for tomorrow evening drive. I have now equipped with all required drive gears. Pls let me in if slots available. Thank you.
    2 points
  18. Nice videos @Mohamed Seidam . Hope you had a clean ridges to ride after me ๐Ÿ˜œ just a suggestion to @Carnity Admins @Gaurav . SInce there is limitations to upload big video files to gallery how about giving an option to add youtube videos to gallery. so will have all pics and videos in one place. a memorabilia for future. also add the drive discussion thread link as well. so we will know what an eventful day it was ๐Ÿ˜ƒ
    2 points
  19. Nice recovery by @Foxtrot Oscar https://youtube.com/shorts/qLdfyGfJpzE
    2 points
  20. Hi @Lawrence_Chehimi you need 5 fewbie drives to be eligible for Fewbie + Iโ€™m sure youโ€™ll get on one soon ๐Ÿ˜Š
    2 points
  21. 2 points
  22. Thank you @Jeepie and @Mehmet Volgafor the amazing lead ๐Ÿ‘ It was surely challenging at the back with some soft churned up sand but having @Wrangeld at sweep position was definitely boosting my confidence. Summer seems to be playing its part now and opening a new phase of learning in the chapter of sand for us ๐Ÿคž. Thank you @Danish Mohammad for managing CF for the first time, you should only get better and better from here ๐Ÿ‘ Thank you everyone else in today's convoy, see you soon in the sand InshaAllah ๐Ÿ˜Š
    2 points
  23. Thank you @Jeepie @Mehmet Volga and @Wrangeld for great drive. Refusal are part of the game. Unfortunate for @rajeshkumar rathod hope all went good. Special thanks @Wrangeld for tip of not going tip off, that hold me back to my conscious ,really that helped a lot. Have great days ahead all.
    2 points
  24. Hi @Foxtrot Oscar, I wonโ€™t be able to join the drive. Something I need to take care tomorrow. I am sure the fewbies will have one exhilarating drive... as usual until next time!
    2 points
  25. Thank you @Emmanuel for the guidance through the dunes this morning. Very scenic drive ! And thanks to @Desert Dweller for the support! See you in a next drive
    2 points
  26. @Jeepie, @Mehmet Volga,thank you for the drive and sorry that I had to exit early. The terrain was challenging and the sand was very soft, in which the convoy had multiple refusals starting with a very early one by me ๐Ÿ˜ƒ thanks to the help from the guys digging the sand out of my tires and the instructions from Richard @Wrangeld I was out in few minutes. Couple of Hours later my kids got bored and started nagging in the back, and with unfortunate water hose burst on @rajeshkumar rathod car, he had to exit out, so I decided to end my drive as well since I didn't want to loose concentration driving. Sorry again for the early exit, Kids will remain kids at the end of the day... @rajeshkumar rathod, hope that the recovery vehicle didn't take much time to reach you, hope it is just a simple fix on the car.
    2 points
  27. It was an amazing drive today which thoroughly enjoyed! Many thanks for the experience @Kailas & @Yousef Alimadadi
    2 points
  28. So that car was a bust. Lots of little cosmetic issues and took very long to engage the 4x4 gears and diff-lock compared to other vehicles I tested. So I left it. Viewed and tested a few cars. One thing is clear. "Perfect inside and out" is almost never perfect inside and out and not one of the vehicles with "full service history" actually had a complete service record, except the one I bought. I got my Batmobile. ๐Ÿ˜… 2015 model with 30000 km. Full service record on schedule. Pretty much perfect inside and out. Very happy and thankful for everyone's advice here. It really helped.
    2 points
  29. @Foxtrot Oscar @Ahab Shamaa @AlexPol @Islam Soliman Great drive today led by Angela, my 1st Fewbie Plus drive and I felt suitably challenged on some awesome dunes. Thanks Ahab for a bit of guidance at times and the team for keeping it all safe. Cracking drive Foxtrot thoroughly enjoyed it
    1 point
  30. Thank you everyone, I enjoyed this drive very much. Special thanks to @JeromeFJ who handled perfectly his mission as second lead, @Brette for taking the hardest part of this drive, as CF, and @Desert Dweller for her support in sweep and her nice feedback.
    1 point
  31. It's Grey Wrangler for me ๐Ÿ™‚... I don't know how the photo shows the blue(ish) color @Thomas Varghese can advise what he did there...๐Ÿ™‚ With two huge dune destroyers leading ahead it's going to be an interesting drive. Looking forward.
    1 point
  32. Thank you for exhilirating drive. The most enjoyable by a long shot thus far. Nice group of drivers too!
    1 point
  33. @Kailas & @Yousef Alimadadi thank you very much for today's drive.. had lot of fun & my machine took up the challenge . First time to do a CF which was cool as well as first refusal pull out (thanks for the directions @Kailas, i will need to buy the rope though) Hope to see you soon... Till then be safe & happy riding !!!
    1 point
  34. Hey @Wrangeld - @Jeepie - @Alexander Alcala, thanks for the great drive (really increase my dopamine level - still smiling!). Learned a lot, especially โ€œwhy I should drive a non-electronic car Hope to catch up for the new drives ! (I will add some videos and photos if it is ok for everyone)
    1 point
  35. Thank you Vanessa and Islam, I had a fantastic day and the first 'clean' round of my career๐Ÿ˜‚. The Gajero was flawless with her new bashplates and 2 inch lift kit (thanks Icon) now if only I could get better than 44 litres per 100 km life would be good... Lovely to meet my new offroad buddies Gautam and Tim, Gautam driving the family Pajero was perfect for me to follow (anywhere the big bus could go, the little Gajero could follow) and I raised many a smile watching Tim plow the sand with his 300 thousand dirham shovel (at one stage I saw the nose wings go deep and I thought he was going to have to switch off his vibrating, massaging, leather captain chair THAT'S VENTILATED and concentrate!) Great day and looking forward to the next one already๐Ÿค™
    1 point
  36. Coming back to OP of wider tyres do not help, I like to add my two cents with very basic understanding first. I hope everyone knows that car basic HP figures as advertised by any car manufacturer is totally different than that car actual HP. Reason being that is manufacturers rate Engine with just Engine HP at the crank and when they place that engine in the vehicle there are several components that robs engine actual HP like AC, Fan, Tires, Drivetrain, 4x4, Transmission and last but not least the car total weight. The final HP that comes to wheel for final action is called WHP (Wheel Horse Power). https://www.mk5cortinaestate.co.uk/calculator4.php Below example guesstimate my Pajero 225 HP at crank must be doing 168 WHP. Now when we know how much WHP we have and what all limit this WHP, lets start talking about the number ONE factor in the "SAND" is the "power-to-weight" ratio. Lighter the car, better it will perform, just like in any street racing fundamentals. Adding heavier bash plate, bull bar, winch on the nose of the car will seriously limit it's climbing capabilities. Before adding winch to my Pajero in 2017, I could climb Faya almost every time and now I can climb some times only. Tried in colder and summer season, day and night, cross track vs lesser cross track, result was more or less the same. Now let's come to the final point of main concern here for wider tires. Every increase in tire size than stock tire size will rob the WHP and eventually limit the climb capability. Having said that for offroading we do need to increase the tire size sometime to gain better ground clearance. So while doing that one should stick to as close to the stock size as possible within the bare minimum requirement of lifting vehicle by 2-4 inches max. As more you lift the vehicle more you will disturb the center gravity and roll (separate topic for another discussion). Why to increase the bare minimum is because of below added weight that drive train will have to push. EXAMPLES: Stock tire - 29 Inch - 12 Kgs Offroad tire - 29 Inch - 15 Kgs Offroad tire - 30 Inch - 20 Kgs Offroad tire - 31 Inch - 25 Kgs Offroad tire - 32 Inch - 30 Kgs Offroad tire - 33 Inch - 35 Kgs So if my vehicle WHP was 168 hp with 12 kg stock tires, it will be eventually under 130 hp or lesser if I install 33's. Above numbers are estimate only as actual numbers maybe up or down depending on tire companies and number of ply they use in their sidewall. MT tires having 10 ply sidewall for rock climbing and mountain which make them solid for rocks but results in too heavy for sand. Few of you must have seen what many local enthusiast use here is called Sumitomo 900 (Tsamia) tires which is super light and almost bald without any treads but perform amazing in the sand. Same for Shaheen tires, but these tires are disaster on road and that's why very few daring enthusiast opt them. In my Patrol I have tested BF Goodrich that barely used to climb half of Big red. Then switch to Cooper STT and then ATR, which was slightly lighter and reached upto 70% Big red. Then Yokohama geolander made to almost 80-90%. My Nissan Patrol SWB was flawed by bad gearing but using this as an example purely to make everyone understand that how heavier the tire will limit the climb capabilities. On other hand I have even tried HT tires in my LC 100. With Grandtrek they were horrible to climb. When changed to Michelin LTX (in that era, discounted now) it really climbed substantially higher, because of lighter weight tires and softer sidewall - 3 ply made a day and night of a difference. @Emmanuel is still using Michelin since long time now and everyone can see his Xterra climbs really well without much of an issue. Now coming to the last point of wider tires will not help because added width will only increase its weight and broader footprint will not help as much as longer footprint, that's what @Frederic was trying to explain. Longer footprint are easier to achieve and beneficial in getting additional height (ground clearance) at the cost of added weight, where as wider footprint will not bring anything to the table for stock vehicle. Broader tires are needed when you lift too much and add those broad tires to widen the wheelbase to lower the center of gravity. Now if you go this route then you also need good power mods to counter additional 10 kgs X 4 = 40 kgs additional stress on the drive train. @Ilya Golubinsky you are right that we are unique at Carnity in stating the facts with expert knowledge and experience as we aren't supported by any offroad garages to sell mods. Most if not all off-road clubs in the UAE are the front-end of off-road garages or off-road products sponsors and that's why they love to sell the looks first and when customer come back to them that its not climbing enough (pet peeve), then they open the buffet of modifications - power mods, firm suspension, lift kit, re-gearing, supercharger etc. I have spent close to 60-80k in mods on my 3 cars and still never satisfied with the stories and claims I used to get from offroad garages. And if I talk too much on logics and facts they will either ban me from the club or laugh at me to discourage such fact-finding which will eventually ruin there business model.
    1 point
  37. As the proud (former - for some reason my wife thinks it's hers!!!!!) of a TJ and also an SWB Pajero, here's my contribution. If I had had the money and could have found one that was unthrashed, I would have gone for the SWB Prado or the 4800 Y61. As it turned out, I could afford a Pajero or a Jeep and so with one jeep in the family already, I decided to go for something different. Why the Pajero - mine is a 3.8, and while it suffers from the dreaded 'upchage at 5200rpm' problem, that does not really become an issue too often because this thing has so much power that you don't notice. It's less direct than the Jeep. Translate that how you want - you can say as an alternative that the Paj is comfortable on an off road, and it's pretty much as capable. The Jeep runs on Gelolandars at around 9PSI and the Paj on street tires at 12.5 - so the Jeep is a bit more capable because of that, and being more rugged gets broken less. The body work on the Paj is plastic, so bits get broken a lot easier than the steel of the Jeep. Mechanically - the 4.0L on the Jeep feels indestructable as is the gearbox. It can take a hammering and come back for more. The Paj, less so. As an SWB both are a much of a muchness. I don't yet have any mods on the Paj, so it suffers more on ridge riding and crossing crests than the Jeep. A back plate will fix that. Truth is they are different sides of the same coin and I love them both. If I want a day out hitting the dunes and going straight up and down to my heart's content, I would take the jeep. It's fun and cheeky and can do stuff that I am not sure is capable in other cars big os small because you don't worry when it is under pressure because all that will happen is that the engine will overheat. With the Paj, I love driving to and from the desert in air conditioned comfort where i can hear myself think. I love the composed way it approachs the dunes and is unflustered by anything. Some days after say a newbie I am sort of questoining if we really went out into the desert because it was so comfortable and we never went over 2000rpm When it gets hammered, however, I feel for it because it seems to be saying, ever so gently. Please take just a little bit more care of me. I am tough but not that tough and yes I am small and prefectly formed but I would really like IronMan shocks and then I will really show you what we can do.
    1 point
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