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Gaurav

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Everything posted by Gaurav

  1. Gaurav
    Even if there is a remote possibility of such dug up tracks, I wouldn't advise anyone to push their daily driver thousands of km away from home. And why over-using your daily driver for 2-year mileage in one month, when you can rent. And maybe that's why that guy has sold his L322 after that trip as it must be running low on remaining healthy life
  2. Gaurav
    Welcome to Carnity Vishal, we all love cars here, do share some more details about camping on shuwait island on below thread
  3. Gaurav
    Well @treks covered it all with his nice experience in the African continent. Long travel suspension reminds me of Fast and Furious 6 where they throw modified car from a plane into Caucasus mountains I actually wanted to say so many things initially but deleted to not to be too negative on the first post People keep daily driver separate and weekend warrior separate for a reason to have the best of both the world and plus backup car for work if weekend warrior get hurt Mixing above 2 is just borderline acceptable (at your own risk) so adding third criteria to do an overland expedition to Africa in your daily driver is simply pushing your luck to extreme For the expedition, 4x4 need a lot of prep and modification to suit the country you are visiting and spending so much money on one-time expedition is far more than renting a ready vehicle for a week or a month of an expedition With so much modification, stiffer suspension, weight and PATHETIC aerodynamic you drive that as a daily drive will kill your back, deaf your ear and spend too much on petrol and maintenance. I had a Nissan Patrol that has been very well modified by the previous owner with so much underbody protection, stiffer suspension that I can do desert tracks at 120 km even, but on road, it was horribly uncomfortable that I use to stop at every 50 km to stretch my back. Renting vehicle will give a peace of mind that all such mods have been tested and proven in Africa, then you are modifying your 4x4 in Dubai where everyone will say oh yes oh yes to all option to make money and might break a lot of parts on the first bump in Africa - as per treks explanation of 1 meter dug up track - phew
  4. Gaurav
    It's a Friday prayer that ends at 12:45 - 1 PM so timing the drive accordingly.
  5. Gaurav
    I can feel you Barry, lolololol but you are still the first 1000 like scorer in Carnity. I so wish if likes were there since 2010 than just 2016
  6. Gaurav
    Amazing to see newbies hitting big likes in a week Congrats @BIG T, @Frederic Nuyttens, @jibransayed
  7. Gaurav
    If you are not an offroad guy, then do consider UK, German or US SUV's - excellent fuel mileage and reasonably good value for money and reliability when slightly used (3-5 yr old). I had ML500, that gave very good fuel mileage instead of V8 with 5.0 engine, same for my Mustang 5.0 L gave around 12 - 14 L/100 and my current Range 5.0 with supercharged gives me 16-18 L/100.
  8. Gaurav
    More horsepower is ALWAYS more fun even if you are not sheikh. Speeding is one thing and jumping from 60-120 in flash is another well within the speed limit. Totally wrong way to think to buy I6 Patrol that will be sluggish like 2.7 liter V4 Prado. Body weight and horsepower should reasonably match to each other to give you some confidence to drive than having a huge body and can't move fast enough. I agree with desertdude that if fuel consumption is your top priority then you may be in a wrong league for Patrol. Patrol is very thirsty since they are born and that is for a reason that they deliver some top end torque and HP for good offroad capabilities. I had 2006 Nissan Patrol in 2008 and that is the only car in which I could see the fuel needle movement even on the highway at 140 speed with 3.5 - 4 K rpm.
  9. Gaurav
    Told you, Toyota especially Prado is a piece of gold with an insane resale value. Good luck and good if you are patient enough to find a clean deal. It always takes me a 1-3 month to buy a car and sell within a week.
  10. Gaurav
    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.
  11. Gaurav
    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
  12. Gaurav
    Thanks @jibransayed for awesome clicks
  13. Gaurav
    Perfect looks awesome too with a hitch than just a tow hook.
  14. Gaurav
    Thanks @BIG T for sharing such wonderful shots in the gallery, you are truly an awesome photographer.
  15. Gaurav
    until
    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 Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance
  16. Gaurav
    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
  17. Gaurav
    Congratulations @Julien V for reaching the fewbie level with Carnity Offroad club. Within last 4-5 offroad drives you have shown a tremendous progress and well deserve this new offroad rank. Looking forward to seeing you growing further and helping others to learn the art of offroading in a safe environment.
  18. Gaurav
    Thanks @Rahimdad for leading a wonderful newbie drive and thanks to everyone for great participation. @Frederic Nuyttens has made an awesome video of yesterday's drive
  19. Gaurav
    Yes only buy Prado V6 and not V4 (highly underpower for your use). In 40-50k range you can fetch 2008-2010 easily. I highly prefer a direct owner with their name on the registration card and not private dealer saying my friend left country and bla bla stories as a middlemen. If you can't get a clean car with a private owner, there is no harm in trying reputed used car dealer but be prepared to shell out a couple of thousands dhs extra for finding a clean car - really worth the money in the long run - provided if the car is genuinely clean. Try car that has the full-service history or even a partial service history as close as a current odometer to eliminate doubt of deferred maintenance and odometer reversing case. @desertdude those odometer reversing is now thing of past, as since 2015 or 2016 RTA is recording all car kms in every renewal test and any discrepancy needs a proper justification. Btw, good choice for Prado as it has the best resale value so you can never go wrong with this choice and always knock off within few days for a good price whenever you wish to change or upgrade.
  20. Gaurav
    FJC started production from 2008 and not 2004, I am suggesting as latest as she can afford in 50k range - maybe 2014-2015 Prado shares everything of LC except the boat size length and weight, which is a BIG BUMMER in wadi, mountains, and desert. I had LC100 for 2 years and use to skip all tall dunes as it never use to climb up. For mountain steep climb and sharp steering, I need to reverse 4-5 times to articulate that beast uphill due to its length. It's just not fun how bad turning angle Toyota has designed fo full size 4x4. Prado she can get the older shape or even newer shape, both are built great although older version will be a tad lighter and less bloated to keep it nimble for offroad.
  21. Gaurav
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  23. Gaurav
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  24. Gaurav
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  25. Gaurav
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