ayman_khateeb

34 minutes ago, BENNY THOMAS said:

Guys I am getting the shivers when reading online about all the complaints about transmission and others exterior/interior equipments on older models as well as 2015/16/17 models, thinking about backing out

Jeeps are not known for long term reliability, they are not in the same category as Japanese trucks, but they are backed by some of the best warranty services in the gulf, so you are pretty much covered for the next 5 years (or warranty period), their warranty exceeds the Japanese agencies here especially if you offroad or modify your truck..

also some Japanese vendors are also suffering from tranny issues, Nissan CVTs for example..

that's said, Jeeps are not terrible either. I would be happy to own a new grand Cherokee & take it for camping & normal desert drives, don't be scared of it, it is a good truck.

on the other hand, I saw many issues with friends driving Ford trucks, even pure on road ones.. Jeeps are really better!

it boils down to how hard you are going to push it, if you are going all out in the desert, then a smipler, less gadgets in the car will survive the abuse longer.. and then you should have a dedicated desert toy, as it will break eventually regardless of the brand.

if you are going to drive family kind of trips, the grand cherokee is more than up to the task, and in style!

12 hours ago, BENNY THOMAS said:

Thank you for the comment Mr. Ayman khateeb.

 

I have booked the 2017 Jeep grand cherokee limited, hopefully after Eid they will deliver the  car. Once i familiarize myself with the new car looking foward to meeting all of you and tag along on offroad trips

Congratulations! It is a beautiful SUV!

wish you all the best & looking forward to meeting you & others here 👍

@skumar83

unfortunately it is, and this upshift happens even in 4LLc

it is mainly around certain RPM, usually 5k+

you will notice the same on 4LLc also, downshifting will only happen once the RPM drops to what Mitsubishi thought "safe" do downshift..

That is a limitation in 2007-2011 Pajero, 2012+ holds the gear and doesn't auto upshift.. That's why I recommend off-roaders to get 2012+ Pajero if they want to offroad it hard..

however, you can get used to this & drive accordingly, I have the 3.8 2009 with same problem. I use it more for overlanding than crazy dune bashing.. so not bothered with it.

try to ease the gas before you reach the upshift point to keep it in gear.. it takes practice & you will miss sometimes, but you will be able to live with it for most of terrains.. 

i don't know if any mod that can change that, maybe swapping the computer with a newer model? But that might make other trouble..

if you really like your Pajero & really want it to hold the gear, then sell & buy a 2012.

otherwise you need to learn to work with this limitation 

On 6/16/2017 at 11:11 PM, Rahimdad said:

@ayman_khateeb great to hear from you again. You have a wealth of off-road knowledge and its always a pleasure to hear from you.

Thanks Dear Rahim, Nothing more than your knowledge bro

Unfortunately I'm not very active online, I'm missing a lot clearly!

Looking forward to meet sometime!

The guys clarified things above already about the explorer, but I want to add a few thoughts:

- if serious about off-roading, get a dedicated truck for that, I do, @Rahimdad also mentioned above the same!

- if only one car is your choice, then decide which category you want, 7 "real" seaters? Then Patrol, Armada & Land cruiser can serve you, .. smaller you can go with Prado, Pajero and the classic pathfinder (not the new shape)

- if 2 rows are enough & you won't go very advanced & luxury is your target, Grand Cherokee is suitable.. Pajero is als capable but less luxury

- if a dual purpose with no luxury is ok with you, then Xterra, FJ, Fortuner V6 & Classic Pathfinder are suitable options  

- if you want a cool look, don't mind the noise on road & rough ride, Jeep Wrangler can be a choice..

the choice is yours

Back to original topic.. why we don't share flips in our club. There are many reasons why we should and why we shouldn't. I will explain it from my club's point of view (we had endless discussions around that within the marshals team):

Why we should:

• an opportunity to discuss, explain and learn from mistakes, especially when the driver explains his actions and mistakes leading to the roll
• a reminder that this hobby includes risks, and they do happen more than expected

But does that really need to be from a flip that happened 2 days ago? wouldn't any similar flip video on youtube serve the purpose?

There are many reasons why we don't share such videos and pictures... we usually have the following concerns:

• Offroad insurance, most of new trucks will have it and we encourage it for our hobby, but insurance policies and their fine-print differs, and might not cover the same situation the same way! having a video on youtube with the incident might affect that process!
• Protecting the driver and his feelings, as less experienced drivers might get into emotional shock, and having everyone asking them "what happened with you 6 months ago" is not helpful. Usually drivers who roll will take sometime to rebuild their courage, giving them space is important!
• Club branding, too many incidents, and you will be labeled as an "unsafe" club, especially as most of the clubs are focusing on safely teaching offroading to new people.

and to cover the learning part:

• We discuss these incidents during briefing before and after drives, respecting the identity of the driver if he/she wants to stay anonymous.
• We share, explain and discuss rollover videos that are posted online (not specifically our group) and use it to teach the core concepts such as gravity, drifting, hard braking, slope and crest handling... etc.
• At the end of the day, identifying who rolled is not the point, it is the lesson we want to teach, which can be served without publically sharing the rollover incidents.

My 2 cents

Hi, I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to explain that all cars have a variance between the speedometer and the actual GPS speed, this is by design, and should be around 5% difference, but not always.

each manufacturer will have different variance, Nissans tends to vary 9%-10% .. I noticed that in the Xterra, Infinity QX4, and a couple of rentals (Sunny and Altima).

I drove also Audis and VWs, and it is similar, 9-10% variance.

Pajeros on the other hand, have considerably less variance, around 3% or so, so it will seem more accurate.

Bottom line, when you get a new car, or change tire size, do check the speed variance and adjust your driving and speed limits accordingly

28 minutes ago, Rahimdad said:

@ayman_khateeb I will hand it to you on this one as I have not seen or experience a Renault Duster 4x4 version in the desert, however the Front Wheel Drive will not do the trick.

absolutely, 2WD won't cut it

On 1/15/2017 at 11:35 AM, Rahimdad said:

I also remember that idriss other off-roader was a Jeep Wrangler, I he did not take the Fortuner everywhere, just in places where he knew he could manage it, that comes with experience. With all his experience, a simple loss of concentration and he rolled over his Fortuner in Marquab area in some very small dunes. Still does not answer the question whether a Duster is a real off-roader. We as experienced people know that Fortuner although is a little under-powered in capable hands can do a good job in most parts as it has low gearing, but Duster is an AWD. What do you say @desertdude

Well, I strongly believe yes, it is.

the Renault is NOT an AWD, it is a proper 4WD, it has a selector for 2WD, Auto (AWD), and Locked, which is a proper 4Hi with locked center differential, but doesn't have low range...

in the manual edition, it compensates for the lack of low range with a super short 1st gear, it is a crawl gear! (around 5.79kph per 1,000 rpm according to online brochures), which means maxing up at around 35 kph in 1st gear, that's even lower than my 1st gear in low in my R50 pathfinder.. while it won't make for a dune climber, but you can still manage to cruise around in the desert and climb easy tracks..

The local version seems Auto tranny only, and it clocks 0-100 in 11 second, which is better than 3.8 Pajero, it really has a nice power to weight ratio..

again, I wouldn't recommend it for an offroad hobby, but it can handle itself in the desert far better than a KIA sportage, a CRV, or even RAV4.

Duster is an adventure oriented small SUV, it takes you to desert, wadis, mountains and beaches with no problem, but not necessarily on the same track that more offroad ready SUVs.. but pretty close..

here is the local version brochure:

http://www.renault-me.com//CountriesData/GCC/images/pdf/BROCHURE_RENAULT_DUSTER_4X4_ENGLISH.pdf

26 minutes ago, AmrHassanien said:

I have seen those who gave Xterra to their wives and bought FJ ...!!  The guy who bought Xterra and sold it after two years quiting his hobby! Same as I have seen modified Jeeps waiting for someone to pull them out! I know what you will say , it's the driver, ok , got it. 

Thanks for sharing your experience with Xterra, I was delighted to hear you are enjoying.. really! before that I heard only ladies praising Xterra. 

I donot know why you are quoting my words that weren't to you originally in which I donot mention your lovely Xterra... 

My original answer was to give an advice beyond the spec sheet comparison, which actually I cut it short, and to rectify the bias against FJ and FJ drivers... so before you take the thread off the topic , you would rather listen to other point of views with open heart. Save your ego advise to those who play hard enough and do stupid things, Which I doubt you stand a chance to try or you would have bought a patrol safari ... let me a little judgemental here, you deserve it.

I have no interest to take this conversation any longer, so please feel the pain quietly.

I really don't know why you insist on insulting everyone here..

maybe you are trying to compensate for something with your big hollow talk.. You know.. I mean lack of skills..

anyways, I never saw any real desert expert who talks like this, they know better to respect others & other trucks.. Lack of such respect means simply that you are a noob who is just talking a big game..

And what is this crap about what women drive? Since when women driving anything is a shame?

I saw girls driving everything.. Xterras, Jeeps, FJs, Patrols, Pajeros, Vitaras, and LandCruiser 70 series in the sand.. And I know a lot of them who will definitely beat you on every skill and put you to a big shame any day..!

people who know me in the desert know exactly how I drive, which crazy level I fit.. Your ignorance is hilarious when you are trying hard to throw baseless insults..

look Amr, enjoy your FJ, it is a great truck in my opinion, respect the desert & others.. And try not to roll over! .. Guys talking your talk usually end up on the roof while trying to show off..

26 minutes ago, AmrHassanien said:

Pain?! Shut up! 

it's only joy with FJ.

You know who feels the pain? those jeepers and patrol owners who get stuck badly and need someone to pull them out, you will know them by their talks praising the kinetic robe and soft shackles

In Fj you have recovery options that takes you out of any shit! I meant it , out of any shit!

Once I learned how to use them right " Diff lock" and "A-Trac" , i have a different estimation for my situation.All the jeepers and patrol marshals say that I'm stuck... and later they watch the FJ getting out of it easily, I just like the surprised look on their faces. and they know I do. and they hate it.  

I can see you are driving Jeep , good luck with your toy.

Oh! .. You really just started this hobby obviously!

while the FJ is a fine machine, I wouldn't brag too much about anything here.. Especially while driving up the dune with a view of the sky only due to the big bonnet, endless plastic dashboard & jail cell Windows.

ANY SUV can get stuck.. You simply are not playing hard enough!

getting stuck is normal for any level driver.. Doing stupid thing & getting stuck like an idiot almost flipping is a different story

FYI..

difflock+ ATRACK is in all major new offroad trucks:

Xterra Offroad: Difflock+ABLS

Pajero 3.8: Difflock+ATSC

JK-sport/Sahara: similar to ATRAC

JK-rubicon: FR+RR difflocks

...

the interior of the Xterra is water proof.. Just like the FJ.. And it is all hard plastic.. Zero guilt feeling when my black interior turns brown with sand..

for aftermarket mods.. Many shops can fabricate anything for the X that will make it as good as anything else.. And I wouldn't trust half of the ready made aftermarket stuff you find around for your FJ!

learn to respect all cars, each one of them has advantages and disadvantages.. No truck is perfect.. And take care not to be too excited driving your FJ, learn how to drive and keep the ego aside... many of them end up with bent chassis when driven hard... Or end up upside down!

7 hours ago, ging said:

This is interesting topic I printed and saved in my car dashboard.

My car was yesterday little bit drowned and in evening it started perfectly fine when was logged water dispersed.

Water must have touched the chassis and little bit under-body, do I need to redo the rust proofing or it's ok....?

rust proofing will be fine, depending on your car, you might want to re-grease the wheel bearings and differential oil if applicable, usually differential breather should be high enough, but worths checking..

usually this info and what to check after water crossing is mentioned in the car booklet/manual, at least for 4x4s

9 hours ago, wildcat said:

I fully agree with Gaurav, but allow me to share one last bit of irrelevant information here before we call it quits-

Apart from rock crawling, which is something I have never done, the fact is that the more you modify a vehicle, the less reliable it becomes. So to perform extensive modifications just to get some performance and handling from a vehicle intended for off road use is a really bad idea. Oh, and there is a lot of sand in Africa too!

Thanks guys, it is always interesting to learn about other experiences and ways of doing things. 

It is always good to have a discussion with different people across the globe..

We are not talking about extensive mods, we are talking about "protection" ones..

a bolt on bumper & similar rear protection, which every truck in the desert need, including Jeep Wrangler.. But each of course to different degree..

Take a look at my truck in the profile pic, it is completely stock except for the bumper & the LED lights, which didn't invalidate my warranty even with the pain in the a*% Local Nissan dealers..

although I would LOVE to change the stock suspension, but better to keep my warranty as long as it lasts!

i agree with the Gaurav experience and comments, but it is nearly the same negatives for all other brands.. 

All car brands will destroy an engine once the truck is old & you push it, it happened around me with nissans, toyotas & mitsubishis.. Toyotas tend to last a bit longer, but all the same fate eventually..

I never saw any popular SUV in the desert that doesn't need some kind of extra protection..

Xterra? Dangerously exposed radiator & flemsi skid plate, a proper skid plate is a must, I went for full bumper for more aggressive offroad driving style than usual..

FJ? Same, front bumper sides always gets a dang when things goes beyond smooth cruising, & the front skid plate is too thin & too low that it gets bent in a few drives

nissan Patrol y61? Plastic bumpers front and back gets a hit easily.. But protection is not a functional must

pajero has a very exposed rear bumper lip, I always take it off for anyone joining my drive, a few screws.. Front bumper needs some "decoration" work to remove the lower lip.. But nothing more than cosmetics here 😁 .. Still a negative for sure

again, I do respect your trans-africa experience, I know I can learn A LOT from your experience in that regard. but for sand, I can help more

25 minutes ago, wildcat said:

The strange thing with Pajeros is that while everything you say is true,  I have yet to see one complete an African transcontinental trip. I have completed more than 200 000 kms crossing Africa in all directions over the past fifteen  years or so, and the only Pajeros we ever see are broken ones. 

As for the Dakar- you must remember that all teams have massive technical support, which can make anything complete, and even win the event. You mus also remeber that the Pajeros competing in the Dakar bear very little technical resemblance to the production models ordinary peope can buy. 

Pajeros may be perfect for dune bashing, but all SUV's are useless in serious off roading driving conditions where there is no technical back-up, no spare engines, no spare  transmissions, or a dozen mechanics available to repair any break downs. You may want to try some real off roading on a grade 5 trail- I think you will change you mind about what makes a real off road vehicle.

I am also an accredited off road driving instructor, and my experience with Pajeros and other soft roaders have been uniformly bad, and these days I refuse to take any SUV on even grade three trails, simply because they do not have the suspension articulation and flexibility required to cope with seriously uneven terrain. Moreover, they have too many electronics and driver assist systems, and disabling the ABS to make them safe to drive off road is more trouble than it is worth. 

I should perhaps also mention that you cannot fit a winch to a Pajero without extensive modifications, which makes it useless as a serious off road vehicle.

I don't think we are talking about the same thing when we speak of off road driving, but you should perhaps put a Pejero to a real test sometime.

Yes, we are really talking about different types of offroading, and you need to stop shoehorning your own irrelevant experience into this.. it is a wide spectrum of activities, advice will vary based on the type and the intended use.

we are not talking about rock crawling here, we are talking about sand driving... and what you are describing is becoming more like a purpose built crawler rather than a daily driver.. so let's not go their..

your comment and "question" about side sloping and pajero "high center of gravity" just shows that you are not experienced in this type of "offroading". which is not a problem, I have zero experience in rock crawling, and I don't go and start discussing that topic because I don't have the practical experience. in the sand I do exactly know what I'm talking about, and for the Pajero specifically as I own one and know how it handles the sand.

I respect your knowledge and experience in the other type of offroading, but it is totally different, while the overall knowledge and nature respect is transferable, the technical knowledge is not, at least not immediately, and what works there might work differently in the sand.

your statement about big mods for a winch is false, big time.. it is no different than practically any SUV.. you need a winch bumper, for any truck, and for the Pajero you can get the ARB one which fits directly. actually you can buy it ready from the agency under the name Pajero Adventure edition, with 2" lift and ARB bumper fitted in the local agency, just add a winch.

I don't really want to argue much, but your articles and advices are based on different offroading, and it doesn't fit in this case as well as other cases. for example the advice for choosing an offroad vehicle article is valid for a specific type of offroading, and it is invalid for the MAIN type of offroading here which is sand, yet you write the article as if it is an absolute truth and as it is one size fits all..

it is not!

3 hours ago, Jayesh.delani said:

That was a helpful post.

Are there diff locks in Pajero 2014 model 3.6 ?  

 

I guess you mean 3.5.

in the recent years, the agency limited their imports with full traction control/ Difflock to the 3.8 engine.

if you have the 3.8, you should have a button in front of the gearbox with R/D written on it, it only activates in 4Llc, when  you try to activate it, a small dot will blink between the rear tires on the dashboard, once all the lights are solid, then it is now engaged

38 minutes ago, wildcat said:

I have a question;

Why the insistence on driving on sideslopes deliberately, but more to the point, why the insistence on driving on sideslopes with vehicles that were not designed for it? Worse though, why drive on sideslopes deliberately with softroaders like Pajero's that have very high centres of gravity?

Wildcat,

The pajero is not even close to a soft roader, and it's center of gravity is seriously better than a Wrangler or an FJ.. it is a superior one and it is better designed than all the bunch.. their air intake design, water and dust trap in the intake is a work of art, it is a very well thought off offroader that is great for sand!

Pajero, if you don't know, is the king of Dakar, Gen2 and Gen3 ruled it for years until Mitsu decided to race the Lancer variant there.. and it was unbeatable.. Gen4 (current Paj) is not different than Gen3.. it is one of the very best desert SUVs.. it is only let down by it is below class engine output, which is reliable, but is not as powerful as the FJ/Xterra/Prado/wrangler... etc.

Still, it can do everything, many marshals drove Pajeros, and some still do in many clubs...

Pajeros have Low range transfer case, rear lockable Difflock, and one of the best traction controls in the business.. only relatively recently Toyota and Nissan caught up with it with ATRAC and ABLS respectively.. 

Pajero is an icon, and it is a great all purpose truck, I bought one for the wife and I take it for family offroading trips where my Xterra is left for hardcore and have many gear and equipment occupying family space, I purely decided to make the Xterra my main offroad truck because of engine power, nothing else!

regarding side sloping, it is a basic technique, we take Pajeros to far more advanced stuff, side cresting, big ones, and fast ones with 80 Km/h speed side crests done on big dunes.. it is awesome.. if only it had more power I would make it my main offroader!

7 minutes ago, Jayesh.delani said:

Traction of pajero is actually a issue.

The other day i was stuck and i switched the 4WD in 4LLC (Low range). It was showing that traction is off on the dashboard, but while doing a self recovery the traction was still kicking-in and not allowing my tires to move  .

 

Can someone share a picture of the switch which i can remove in the pajero, it was 2013-14 model.

This actually means it is working perfectly fine, & trying to help, but you are looking at a deep stuck tire!

If you look at the other tire it will be spinning aimlessly.. The traction control is trying to stop that other tire, but if the first one is deep stuck & under full weight of the truck, no traction control will help, it might move slightly but won't get you out of trouble.. Either case, flooring it will make things worse with or without traction control..

You need full differential lockers, which in the 3.8 comes in the rear diff only.. And in my 2009 it also switches the traction off completely (so no elsd in the front).

anyways.. Bottom line, in your case, switching the traction completely off by removing the fuse/relay will not help either.. You need a recovery (snatch) by another truck my friend...

1 hour ago, Danny said:

Well I admit jumping the queues few times, because in big long pile-up driver ahead of me start texting, doing make-ups, cleaning car dashboard and all sort of non-sense as when queue moves he realize after 30 seconds that create a gap of 50 cars and then plenty of other jumpers jumps-in. So why not me as well.....!

Hope this camera fine those lousy drivers as well.

I do that as well in these cases, trying to skip over that specific driver.. but I don't feel happy or proud about that.. I prefer if everyone respected the traffic & others..

 that won't work without punishing the offenders 

This is a great move, queue jumpers disrespect all others, piss everyone off, & a main cause for exasurated big queues... I'm all for this..

on the other hand, i agree with Baraz, slow drivers doing 100 on the fastest lane when it is miles free ahead on SZR are equally irritating.. 

17 hours ago, sidhan said:

 

Secondly what Ayman mentioned that you can take it to beginners drives, then surely it's a wrong understanding as the person who go on beginner drive will be a beginner in off-road and such vehicle will kill all it's morale and spirit of off-roading as the engine power is not designed for such level of off-road experience even. Off course we all know that driver skills play an utmost importance in off-roading and we all have seen such people driving two wheel sedans in dune driving. So if super expert driver drives duster, then I can agree with Ayman statement, but not for beginner level driver.

I'm afraid I have to disagree here, I'll talk about my own experience marshalling in the desert.

In beginner drives (especially first timers) we teach people about operating their 4WD vehicles (most don't know how to properly engage 4WD), the different options, the equipment they need, and how to start cruising in the sand easily, which actually can be done in virtually any 4WD/AWD cars there (provided the leader is aware of the car's limitation in his convoy), even KIA sportage should be able to navigate in and out without any drama. truck power is completely irrelevant there.

We don't push anything beyond that as desert driving requires practice.

Duster has enough grunt to cruise in the desert, actually more than enough with it's 2.0L 133hp engine (3.0L Pajero weights more than 2300Kg and barely makes 175hp, the duster 2.0L weighs around 1200Kg and makes around 133hp and 195Nm of torque.. one of my friends drove his 3.0L LWB Gen3 Pajero from complete newbie up to fast advanced drives.. the duster specs are on a real advantage here)

Engine power is not the problem as much as the  front approach angle, which is no bad btw.. however it shouldn't be seriously challenged in beginner drives anyways.

so, a first timer in the desert should be comfortable to join my beginner level drive, have fun, and leave with his duster with no damage, and appreciate what this little 4WD car can do, and where it falls short.

an expert driver will be able to take the duster to much higher levels, while still respecting its physical limitations and avoid serious damage. that's why it would actually be still ok to take it to intermediate levels, once the driver gets better understanding of his duster, and how to navigate in the sand.

that's said, anyone who wants to take desert offroading seriously and to relatively high levels should choose something with more power and low gear for sure, duster would be fine for people who want to cruise in the desert/mountains/wadies, have relaxed fun, and reach a nice camp site, rather than drive in the big dunes and challenge other SUVs. basically what a beginner drive should be.

I did some research about this car earlier & I disagree with some opinions here..

This car can go offroad, in terms of taking you to mountains, hiking places, deserts for easy cruising & camping.. Etc

It is not suitable for serious off-roading, in terms of climbing big dunes or going rock crawling..

It was designed to do that, this is basically a Dacia duster, built for the rough roads of Eastern Europe & mild adventures off the Tarmac, the manual gearbox have a very low 1st gear ratio, to help in crawling off the road, and engine power is low but acceptable for the weight of the car..

if you want to simply take it to the beach, go camping in the desert, wadis, mountains... Etc, it is definitely capable..

if you want to go serious dune bashing, following an offroad club track for example, it will be fine for the first level only, easy drives.. After that it will struggle with power, clearance & front/rear bumpers... It will be around its limits in stock form..

all in all, it is a very nice small package, but for an active offroad life style, I would go bigger and avoid the risks

Well, usually you do need to keep the engine running to cool it down, that is in case it overheated under load.. if it overheats because of burst coolant pipe, radiator, or oil leak/oil pump failure, then yes turn it off asap.

The engine kill and shutoff scenario is unacceptable by all means! it should never happen as it will create much more danger than anything else! I prefer to have a dead engine than getting struck by other cars, or rolling over in the dunes because a computer turned off my engine.. I should turn it off myself when I deem the conditions are safe or necessary to do so...

I suffered from fried head-gaskets with old cars driving in the desert  .. and I would LOVE to have a loud buzzer alarm going off when the engine temp is approaching red-zone.

my solution was to get OBD-II style readers that are hooked up to the car all the time, with configurable warning levels... 

Now, if you are not much into mechanical stuff and don't want to keep an eye on your car.. then buy new ones and avoid old cars, they need a lot of attention to catch problems early.. and they all do fail sooner or later...

Hi,

the switch is under the steering to the right, I have a 2009 3.8 Pajero for the wife and it has all these bells and whistles, I took it offroad in advanced drives (big Side Slopes and side crests) a few times and I LOVE the traction control, just make sure the switch is pressed and ASCS OFF is illuminated on the dashboard, that's when the stability control is off, and the "Offroad" traction control is working...

the traction control should not kick-in while side sloping, unless you are going too slow and digging, which is dangerous in all cases and the traction is actually trying to help you avoiding a side stuck, if it kicks-in while you are going with speed this means that the switch is not pressed and "on-road" traction (Stability Control) is effective, which will kill engine power and brake tires unnecessarily risking getting stuck or rolling over.

when the switch is pressed and all is good, this traction can work very good when you are about to get stuck and brakes the tires which lost traction (significant wheelspin while the other tire is almost stopped), and I never felt it was annoying, it doesn't kick-in when the car is going with good speed and momentum... and there is no engine cut-off at all...

I prefer the Xterra power offroad, so the Pajero is a family adventure car for me, and a good backup offroader as well.