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what perfect day it was... as per my plan we started moving soon after the dawn from nazwa farms... surprisingly we had a very strong wind in the morning,, which made weather most enjoyable but the terrain was very surprising. Due to strong wind blowing to the slip faces it was very much difficult to read sand formation. even though the surface look compact sand underneath was very soft... this bring us the importance of expert second lead. kudos to @GauravSoni for re rout the convoy whenever it was required. even though it was challenging route at the beginning we managed to find some nice ridge riding and side sloping. everybody did exceptionally well and we were at the top of pink rock before 7 am. after a small break we head towards 2nd december and cross over to the other side of the road to explore the second part of the drive. the drive plan for this area was totally different to the part one. it is kind of low speed exploration drive. this area is mostly dense with vegetation and some high trees in between which make it perfect for camping. we explored couple of nice camping spots along this route. then we head towards south and crossed the mahafiz faya road and drove along the pilon track. the track next to the faya mountain was quite rocky. it was different kind of drive to our usual sand driving. we were able to drive close to the mountain and found some nice camping spots. after the photo session third part of the drive straight to faya climb. to everybody surprise we saw the cleanest faya without single track. it gave us plenty of opportunity to conquer the faya as much we want. finally we all climbed to the top of faya and enjoyed the nice breeze at the top of faya. all this was possible due to excellent convoy we had today. Thank you very much @GauravSoni @varunmehndiratta for jumping in to support this drive. @Anoop Nair thank you for sweeping the convoy today. @Sam K @Sunny84 @Mahmoud Taha @TT_Dubai @takeshi sobue you guys performed more than excellent. thank you very much for joining the drive. hope you guys enjoyed it, see you soon next time. i would love to see nice photos from the drive. please post it in the gallery. have a nice week ahead. 🙂

After a long break from sand, just as the doc recommended, its time to be back in Faqa and explore the beautiful terrain. So, squad "Buckle Up for the Space Jam" Rules of the game - the drive plan - that's pretty simple. Rule 1 - In Tune Squad - we go fast and we go long (range). Rule 2 - We'll start with the first ray of sunlight and explore as many long range dunes as we can - criss-crossing through this beautiful terrain to end where we we'll be around 9am (hopefully). Direction, maps - it ain't matter, its tune squad time, General Info This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Fewbie Plus and Above When: 14th Aug 2022 Sunday Meeting time: 5:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions). Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/WbWFK5iwurzey1dF8 Type of Car: Any 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 9:30 AM THIS IS A COMPRESSOR ONLY DRIVE. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS DRIVE UNLESS YOU HAVE A COMPRESSOR. ANYONE ARRIVING AT THE DRIVE WITHOUT A COMPRESSOR, FLAG, PROPER SHOVEL AND DEFLATION KIT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO JOIN THE DRIVE. ALL TOW POINTS WILL BE CHECKED BEFORE DEPARTURE. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Thursday - 9 AM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. Please RSVP on below calendar

Indeed an all star lineup with our star marshal @Hisham Masaad joining the convoy as well @Vaibhav….. this time we will surely hope to conquer the “knife’s edge” of little sweihan @Chris Wing

Dear friends, due to limited participation, i decided to change from Saturday to Sunday. Hope this does not disturb your plans. Apologies. Dear @TT_Dubai not sure you noticed or not, the drive changed from Saturday to Sunday, hope this is fine with you.

Just quick note for those following : Stock Dynoed @ 200 wheel HP Toyota spec 235 brake HP at engine 15% driveline loss Supercharged- Dynoed @ 330 wheel HP Estimated 390 brake HP Total gain- 130 whp and 190bhp over stock. End of the day it's all just numbers that sound good really :). Torque curve and gain is more importnatn and as Gaurav has mentioned before, when that extra torque come in makes all the difference. Overall the SC has made the LC more fun to drive but I'm not convinced the extra power and heat make it valuable in the sand. Luckily my only intention with adding it was to because I like projects and turning wrenches :). Will keep fine tuning and testing for now. Plan for first temp drop to have it in the sand then to fully push it over cooler months. Only future upgrades planned - -Pass rta renewal ( not sure yet how) -Transmission upgraded valve body -Slightly lighter and more free flowing muffler without being loud.

Let’s do it again! 💪🏽💪🏽

All-star line up!

Your scanner can show early signs of battery dying. Rest if you try any visible or functional irregularities, its difficult. My all batteries so far had sudden death. No signs or warnings, everytime I cant believe. Back home never happened this way.

It was a Very nice drive, really enjoyed! Thanks guys for your support @Rizwanm2 @GauravSoni @varunmehndiratta @Anoop Nair

Our forums are rife with people discussing modifications that they are either doing or intending to do. There are clearly two camps: the modders and the purists. And there are those sitting on the fence. Neither camp is incorrect. And I don't think we should be trying to resolve the tension between the two. That's what makes the conversations here so darn interesting So when @Rob S called me out for pushing the "stock car" camp in drives, it forced me to rethink if I really have a true purist's machine. Having just completed a year at Carnity and owning my car, I've driven roughly 3,400 km off-road (thanks Gaia) in that time. And this coupled with Rob's shoutout, I felt like it made a good moment to reflect on what I've added to the car in that time, and answer the question - "is my car still stock?" To help bring some gradation to this, I'm going to employ the SAMR Model. The model is designed to study technology integration in the classroom, but the core strategic construct can be applied to vehicle upgrades too. After all, everything we do is integrating technology in various ways. Broadly speaking, technology integration is broken into two pillars - Enhancement looks to find direct substitutes or add-ons that don't fundamentally alter the core technology being used. For example, adding offroad lighting in any place that was not a light before, is augmenting a new use out of a previously unused area. Similarly, if you swapped out a Philips H4 Halogen bulb with an Osram one, or an LED one, you haven't physically altered the bulb housing or the reflector/projector setup. Transformation changes the design and/or definition of the part being used. For example, if you use an All/Terrain (A/T) tyre instead of a Highway/Terrain (H/T), you have fundamentally altered the part beyond it's core design. Therefore, an A/T tire is a modification. For our purpose, I will be using "Augmentation" to refer to Enhancement, and "Modification" to refer to Transformation. Here are all of the changes I've made over the past year of owning my Nissan Patrol (Y61) Long Wheelbase "Super Safari". *The priority coding is intended for you, and not for me. I can tell you for certain that the speaker upgrade was the single greatest thing I did. With this lexicon, it is clear that I've made four (4) modifications to car in the past year: A/T Tires, Fog Lights, Entertainment Head Unit, and Speaker System The truth is that the only true purist who can say they are driving their car as is would be somebody who has only installed a bash plate and is still running the H/T tires the car shipped with. Beyond that, almost every car has been modified from its original state in some way. And therefore, I'm not really driving a stock car anymore. But what long-term purists are constantly trying to help the modders avoid sinking their money into upgrades that are masquerading as significant incremental performance, but are instead purely aesthetic. And aesthetics are deeply personal. What looks good to you may not appeal to me, and vice versa. And secondly, pragmatic purists are trying to help modders stop and reflect about what is a true performance gain. Gaining 30bhp on a 250bhp car is a 12% performance gain. Your real, at-the-wheel bhp figures will be even lower. For example, if your car weighs 2,950kg and produces 271bhp; a 10bhp incremental lift will deliver a 3.7% gain in Power-to-Weight Ratio (PWR). But if you carry an additional human being weighing 50kg, this gain will go down by 2% to 1.7%. A half-empty fuel tank of 60L is already ~22 kgs lighter. So performance gains are notoriously difficult to get right unless you make the associated weight savings as well. And manufacture rated horsepower numbers are never the real at-wheel delivered power. And lastly, seasoned off-roaders (who actually care) are trying to ensure that anybody investing in a modification is "investing" in an upgrade that they know will fix a continued and replicated gap. Not being able to climb one or two times is not enough reason to tune your engine and get suspension upgrades. But, understanding the concepts of rebound and compression, and isolating how they affect your driving control when you try to negotiate steep or uneven climbs is. A seasoned offroader is just trying to impress upon you to invest the time and experience it takes to isolate where the real gain will emerge from. So, with these caveats and voices in my head, what might then, be further upgrades that I'm looking at in the future, you may ask: Aftermarket Shocks + Longer Springs (High) This will be my single biggest modification to the car, and I'm doing a ton of research to get it as close to right as possible. And I still may not do it for another year. The only real time I have felt the need for better shocks are when trying to build enough momentum over uneven dunes. In places like Iftar Bowl, when you climb from the right-hand side, there are a few humps in the get-go that my stock suspension just rebounds too much over. This leads to a lack in control and a fear that the bouncing front will rub the nose as I try to climb. If I take my ego out of the picture for not doing the climb, I don't actually really need the fancy Remote Reservoir or Dual-Shock setups. I can then instead look to make a suspension upgrade that will give me the ability to significantly increase my payload, increase comfort over rocky trails and corrugations, and account for additional weight in the front to prevent any nosediving. Cabin Drawer System (Medium) is a "redefinition" because it requires removing the third row of seats, and physically altering the space For all the things I want to stow away, and not have to constantly ratchet down. Dual-battery system (High) If you see above, I have a ton of lights If I add any more, and a fridge, and a rig to power any devices while camping, I will need an additional battery. One of the things that most of us never do when we add extra lights is to check for the current draw. Please do that, whenever you add additional electronics. This includes your entertainment head unit as well. And what are upgrades, I don't think I will be getting any time soon or at all: Beadlock Rims: I may even downgrade to the classic silver Nissan Rims on the Safari. The true benefit of using beadlocks is so far lost on me. If I was to truly upgrade my rims, I would go for forged wheels to reduce weight while increasing strength, than prioritise bead grip. Roof-rack: I don't currently see the full value in installing a roof-rack. I will only do this when I've exhausted the internal cabin space. The roofs of cars are not rated to carry the enormous loads that we subject on them. Furthermore, if weight distribution is not done correctly on the roof, it will significantly alter the center of gravity of my car. Exhaust Mods: As I live with a sportscar that is plenty loud to wake up the neighborhood, and is being tuned for the track, I prefer the "sleeper" silence of the Patrol. I've also gone to extreme lengths to deaden the internal cabin to hear music at the levels I like so getting louder outside seems counter-productive. Will this kick off another debate? I sure hope so. Like I said, that's what makes these forums so darn interesting. [ 🐵 ]

Congratulations @Ahmad Shaker for reaching the Intermediate Level with Carnity Offroad Club. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment. Please make sure your Carnity user profile is always updated with all the latest Emergency contact details. P.S. Trip lead might deny your participation if you don't have required off-road gear. INTERMEDIATE Drives Attended (Indicative) Minimum 10 Fewbie Plus drives are required within last 6 months for Intermediate promotion. What you'll learn Basic GPS and navigational skills Basic tow rope and winch recoveries Extreme side sloping and long hill climb Tall dunes ridge riding and criss crossing Precise control over technical dunes Fast pace desert driving Clear radio communication skills Advance recovery skills Self recover from dune crest Soft sand recovery Pop-out fixing Skills required Adventurous and thrill seeker but in a safe manner Level headed under stressful situations Responsible, dependable and accountable Car Worthiness Capable 4x4 vehicle with low range gearing Suitable approach and departure angle High profile tires Off-road gear required Safety flag, tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, shovel, fire extinguisher, medical kit, radio (walkie-talkie), air compressor, tool kit, rated recovery rope and 2 rated shackles, GPS. Drive teamwork Manage center forward position with Trip Lead’s permission Learn/assist recoveries under Trip Lead’s supervision Re-route convoy and coordination, when needed Learn to lead small portion of Intermediate drive under Marshal supervision Drive Joining Join Newbie, Fewbie, Intermediate and Exploration drives only Forum participation Active participation on the forum Share drive experience + feedback Share drive pictures in the gallery Post trip report after the drive

This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and strictly follow these guidelines. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Intermediate and above Meeting time: 5:15 AM (deflated and ready to move) Meeting Point: Dropped pin https://maps.app.goo.gl/ATc8SASUigiP8xo28 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), smiles, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 9:15 AM P.S. Only join if you have a compressor to inflate your tires after the drive. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 10 cars maximum. RSVP will close on Friday - 12 PM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members that do not confirm the terms of the COVID requirements will be removed from the RSVP list. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

@varunmehndiratta i still in fewbie level, can i attend this drive ?

Thanks @Rizwanm2 it was a really super drive and the last time I was in Faya, I had to be towed out by @Tbone and recovered on a flatbed as my clutch in my manual Wrangler exploded! 😅

It could be the scanner it self causing all this 😇🤣🤭

@Ale Vallecchi first time driving under your lead - it was epic… @Ashok chaturvedi + @Tom B simply amazing at keeping the convoy together and driving at all times. we started the drive when it was still blazing hot (49 deg at some stages), i was keeping a close look at my engine temp as the AC was running full blast. 2 - 3 minor stucks, which were sorted out within seconds.. Looking forward to our next drive with the same convoy. enjoy the weekend

Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for a great drive and route! Also @Ashok chaturvedi and @Tom B for the support. We were all so focused on driving that the chances for taking photo's were limited. Still managed a few shots. At some point it was an awsome sight to see the convoy zig zaging down a dune in the softer afternoon light. See you all soon on the sand!

Thank you for this extreme drive @GauravSoni. Really enjoyed the 1st part until my battery had a sudden death. Sorry if I was behaving irritated. The extreme heat was exhausting and driving me nuts. Anyways thank you friend for being with me until the recovery van came to lift the car to the garage. Except for a totally dead battery everything else is fine in the car as per the mechanic.

Some stats for the interested ones!!

You will never stop learning because desert never stops teaching Every drive is a chance to learn something new, it doesn't matter which level it is. I joined the Newbie drive today and in my mind it will be an easy chilling and relaxing drive, then @Gaurav threw the bomb in my pocket and decided to make me his second lead , which means I won't enjoy watching the Convoy crossing the Dunes, But the biggest advantage is that I'll have another chance to watch the leader and learn how to read the Dunes and how choose the best crossing points. The surprise when i got refusal on a very small dune and when i see my self and other fewbie and fewbie plus drivers sloping and struggling on a very easy dunes The reason why as our boss said "Because the older drivers getting over confident" 😀😀 So my decisions after today's experiment is i should join lower levels drives at least once a month to keep learning and to be more confident on all off road drives Thank you @Gaurav for this chance to learn, and for guidance and support, i really learned a lot from you. Thank you @Anish S for always stepping up and helping the Convoy in every single situation, and @Morshedi for sweeping the Convoy and keeping eye on every driver. @Luke Johnson & @Thejas Uthran it was amazing seeing you in my mirrors crossing the Dunes And thanks for everybody else, i didn't get the chance to drive closely enough with you but you did it guys 👍👍 Thank you all, see you all again on the sand 🌵

Drive report: A drive which had flavors of almost everything one can expect. Pop-outs, stucks , refusals, winch recovery, car failure, tyre stem valve leaking, flat tyres, convoy getting lost, broken flags, no flags, car getting tugged out of the desert. The terrain was amazing and the convoy strong. Yet, proving Murphy’s law is what we ended up with. Brilliant driving by @Simon Dawood following my moves rerouting when necessary even without guidance. You guys responded well with every challenge thrown your way.. well done @James Thorn @Thomas Varghese@Chris Wing @Mohamad Anwer @Daniel Yang @Zed thanks for the valuable support @Pacific @Ashok chaturvedi And @Zed for carefully tugging the X out to the tarmac. At times I could sense the exasperation brewing up however I thankyou all for the patience. That’s what makes each one of you a true off-roader. in the end, we all got in and got out safely, and that’s what is the most satisfying aspect for the convoy. kudos! I will see you all again on sand , probably on the same route again next weekend. Have a great weekend. just to update you all, Thomas’s car is being taken on a recovery to his garage as I write this report. He will let us know what happened exactly!

Well, that was fun! Many thanks to @Gaurav Soni for the lead and @Brette for the support. I am loading quite a few photos to the gallery - I can't claim credit for any of them as they were taken by Nigel. Please take a look as some of them are very good indeed. Andrew

This is quite true. Most often the pop outs are due to the way one drives the car rather than the tires or the wheels. As an offroad driver, one needs to give a little more time to get familiar with your car than you think. When I upgraded my tires, I thought that I had a need to upgrade tires at that time. I was let down by a lot of refusals & crests while crisscrossing, and the general advice was slightly wider tires will help. On hindsight I can tell that with a little more patience & practice, I could have overcome that problem. The Pareto rule applies here as well. You reach your 80% potential with 20% effort but that last 20% of the potential takes 80% effort and we tend to throw money at it hoping it resolves the problem. Of course, money helps mitigate the issue, but you could always try a little more to achieve the same potential but with time. While I am at heart a purist, and don't like to make modifications that alter the look of the car - I love the way 285s look nice on my car.

Thankyou @munkybizness for bringing up this one. We started off-roading more or less at the same time and this might be a good time to consider this subject even though I would like to believe that I fall in to the category of so called 'purists' in terms of mods. I bought my Jeep mainly for off-roading (its not my daily driver), but I got it in stock form and tried to keep it the same. As of now the only thing I have done is 1- 80Amp Amaron battery as @Gaurav mentioned when my old one died. 2- I had my first pop out on my 53rd drive and until then I had kept the HT tyres came with the car when I bought it. Now I have changed to LT/AT tyre but with the stock measures of 245/75/R16. I had a presumption that changing to a bigger tyre will give me more traction but @Frederic advised me to keep it in stock size and I am glad that I did not change the size. Also to be honest I do not feel much of an improvement in performance by changing my HT tyre to AT (It looks great through!). But I feel the following mods are inevitable for me and hopefully can be accommodated in the next year's budget. 1. Head lights: changing the head lights (I have the stock Neon / Yellow ones and it does not even give me enough illumination on road let alone during a night drive. But I want that retro look and still have not managed to find a retro looking bright head light). 2. Suspension: I have stock suspensions/ shocks which gives me real trouble on bumpy climbs as it is very easy to loose momentum. I eventually want to go with a stiffer suspension. Many people have advised me to get a 2" lift along with the suspension (which apparently will improve my ridge riding abilities 😁) but I am still considering only about a stiffer suspension. 3. A roof rack: A Rhino / equal rack may be a good addition if I want to roam around with family during winter. Bonus will be the looks. Really like what @Ranjan Das got now.