Gaurav

I had something similar issue in past when I was driving with cooper tires and cooper dealer renaissance trading in deira 04 2669166 sent me to some specialize 3D lazer wheel balancing workshop to adjust the toe, camber and bla bla's like barry mentioned. It was about 5-6 years back and all I remember that they were using the John Beam balancing system. Either you find some dedicated specialize tire balancing guys to cure this peculiar problem or call renaissance guys and get the name and number of their trusted workshop where I been, as I don't have their contact detail. For the offroad tires, there are few tires I can suggest and recommend based on my 10+ year own experience in offroad. Listed below based on my preferences: Yokohama Geolander A/T-S Awesome for offroad in sand, wadi and mountain. Reasonably comfortable on road Reasonably acceptable on fuel mileage Reasonable tire life of 30,000 - 40,000 kms Michellin LTX M/S-2 Awesome for sand but not great for wadi and mountain. Super comfortable on road Good for fuel mileage Awesome tire life of 60,000 kms Cooper ATR Good for offroad in sand, wadi and mountain. Reasonably comfortable on road Looses tire chunks at half life Reasonable tire life of 30,000 - 40,000 kms BF Goodrich Very good if your car engine has power modification as they are very heavy for hill climb otherwise Awesome for self recovery in sand and great in mountain traction Tooooooo noisy on road - similar to Cooper STT having aggressive tire tread Bad for fuel mileage Dunlop / Bridgestone - Stay away for offroad usage as far as possible. Instead of Michelin LTX has best of all, but still I rate them second because best tire term should be as an overall factors. I think Yokohama Geolandar has crack that formula very well to strike a balance in offering Good + acceptable without any bad aspect. Secondly while shopping stick to denomination of A/T-S or M/S-2 or ATR specifically as all company slightly different variation comes in same tire name but for road usage like Yokohama Geolandar H/T (highway tread) - NO NO for off road.

It's a very interesting question and quiet valid curiosity and concern. Based on my few car ownership, I can share my experience and reasoning to best of my thinking and hope that satisfy your curiosity. Range Rover: Super comfortable, that I have never driven that level of comfortable car / suv yet. First time my wife sat in it and reacted this car has cotton wheels or it's flying above the tarmac. I know it's EAS (electronic Air Suspension) is awesome, but there a lot of other things, engineering and efforts required to achieve that level of comfort from seats, chassis balancing, engine and other component weight distribution, viewing angles, ergonomic cabin design to reach almost everything within one hand reach, very high quality and durable stuff used (leather, plastic, rubber, door seals, sound proofing etc.) Mercedes ML 500: Not as comfy Range rover for sure, but cabin inside is extremely beautiful and elegant to keep the Mercedes standard alive. Meticulously crafted details from leather finishes, stitches, bezels, dials, etc is just too pretty and inviting you to stay inside as long as you need. Instead of being 5.0 NA engine still it gave awesome fuel mileage than all my other full size SUV's I have owned. That's engineering marvel and it cost big money on R&D any day. Porsche Cayenne Turbo: Slightly uncomfortable, due to more sporty suspension and cornering ability but amazing accurately response to transfer 3 ton metal into a beast when need arise with a just a tad harder push of a gas pedal. I was totally impressive with Porsche engineering more than anything else. Designing engine, gearbox, 4x4, and torque management band were just absolute brilliant that comes with endless hours of research, patience, knowledge and practice. All this cost a fortune to perfect every mili-second delay or cornering perfection at over 100 kmph without skidding the 3 ton beast. In a nut shell, what I feel that every premium luxury car has something or the other thing to offer as per your taste as a main component (USP) and then followed by overall higher grade of material used, hand crafted (in some cases), carefully appointed sound system, head lights and tail lights and with endless introduction of newer technology.

Here is the last week Desert Driving Training Video

I guess 2 Kg should be enough, if people increase will see how we can pitch in together. I am confirming that i'll be staying for BBQ now.

Totally agree on this Barry. I thanks Al Futtaim service advisor, for letting me do my phd on brake disc when I drove my Lexus GS430 for minor service and ended up with brake pad change and then brake disc change as it's less than 8 mm thick and cost 4000 dhs in agency workshop insteda of 600 dhs normal service. Their service advisor must be trained very well to how to sell a boat to man who come for buying a fishing hook.

Barry, like I said whatever I shared was based on my own experience. I kept Patrol for two years and changed the heavy duty clutch once. Me and wifey drove my current Pajero for 6 years and changed gear oil once and checked few days back and it's still Pink. What you talking is mechanic point of view based on several parameters of people abusing beyond limit and doing stupidity may cause them to cost so much. If owner stick to regular maintenance and drive within reasonable behaviour "I feel" Auto outlast Manual any day. Auto are best for rock climbing to prevent slippage, especially uphill in stop and go motion that happens 90% in manual gear unless driver belong to 10% rally or race breed DNA. Automatic gear locks in place even if car isn't moving and driver foot is off the gas, so that next movement is much more controlled and safer than slipping 500 loose gravel and car rolling backward when driver want it to go upward. Remember I have experience this both and I have been using manual gear since I was in my teens and got my manual license in 2002. For the water wading, I drove my both cars and didn't experience any issue but mention negative for manual as I have read and also seen the video on same subject sometime back. Diamond: Indeed it was a looker and my dream car too after seeing many Patrol flying off the dunes, but sadly those Patrol run on denali 6.2 Liter or LS2 engine with 4.8 re-gearing. My old colleague got LWB stock in 2008 and it was an inch better than LC in hill climb, but nothing of that sort that we see in video or faya or bidayer area climbing insane uphil. Those run on much powerful engines and some with turbo's even. It used to be the case that in all rallies and races they use to opt for manual, now that sphere is also changing with auto stick become ultra smart that can be proven 10 times faster than human being shifting. On other hand professional motor sport vehicles are FAR FROM COMMERCIAL model, so better don't compare, they look good on wallpapers only. They rip apart whole vehicle to build a monster and then skin with commercial model for "Marketing puposes". Ask barry. The only thing new I like to add to this thread is, not all manual gears are bad in long hill climb and I was probably on of those unlucky ones to get 2006 model stock patrol with stock gearing. I heard since 2012 Patrol SWB gearing has improved quite a lot and it does good hill climb now. So bottom line you can't use this auto-manual discussion as a blanket rule as most of the time it depends on which vehicle manual is better than auto and vice-versa.

Please explain, which "things" you can do? It's called intelligence buddy to accept and listen to your mind over heart. My 2006 Nissan Patrol manual has been driven by KING OF OFFROAD drivers and still couldn't climb more than 50% of faya from front in more than 10 attempts. My stock Pajero (Auto) does 80% of faya from front on any given day.

What an interesting yet highly biased thread you created. I'll talk based on my experience of owning both manual and automatic for offorad in UAE, majorly sand. I love manual but I am driving auto since 6 years because of it's severe performance gains in off-road. Automatic Gear Easy to drive Better for long hill climb in sand Better for mountain stop and go hill climb No wearable components Less chance of getting stuck in soft sand, small dunes Better and safer for rock crawling due to constantly engaged in gear and moving forward Better for water wading, as no water can get in clutch in inside the sealed transmission Manual Gear Fun to drive (for some people) Better for self recovery Slightly better fuel mileage Expensive to maintain in wrong hands (frequent clutch burning) Push to start when battery is dead Unlikely to overheat transmission fluid Better in wet off-road conditions offering instant wheel-spin when you need it

First those wheel winch and now sand anchor, how much space you like to dedicated these in the car.....? And remember all these adding tremendous weight to your offroad rig who every owner search exclusively based on power - weight ratio. Still vote for sand mats for quarter the weight and space.

Nice, but sand mats are much better for sand self recovery where you hardly have any solid tow points around.

After lot of research and reviews check, I finally got the Pioneer GM-D8604 Amplifier for my Pajero to have better sound signal and bass boost. Got it installed professionally with correct cables and connections at Barry's garage. After the installation we played with back panel setting to configure and realize that AMP is only sending sound+bass signal to channel A (front) and only bass signal to channel B. To eliminate the doubt of wiring goofup or exploded rear speaker, we swapped the channels wire and then we got reversed reaction that bass comes from front and all perfect sound+bass comes from back. How I do best configure this AMP so that all 4 Speakers (both Channel A and B ) delivers Sound+Bass signal at best strength. https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/Amplifiers/GM+Digital+Series/GM-D8604

I might stay back (75% in for BBQ), will confirm closer to the date.

Absolutely, me too. I share the same feeling that's why I posted evening drive this time.

For some reason I think it's changeable without any big fuss of swapping the cluster or software. Just because firstly miles is in digital format, so it can be easily displayed in KM and car companies these days uses same hardware with different settings and config for different regions. Secondly Speedometer dial carries KM and Miles. Have you tried speaking to Kia dealer on this subject?

I think @baselsm83 drive similar Patrol, may be he can advise you.

Thanks Diamond for your feedback on training, hope to see you all on next Friday training drive - part II. It will be more fun as it's gonna end in cooler ambiance.

As per amazing response from last Friday's Desert Driving Training - I, I like to conduct the second part of same training as we have missed out on few critical areas due to time constraint and heat. Though now content is divided in to two parts, so I also like to add the night drive - introduction which will very helpful to those who like to enjoy the desert night drives during summer month, it's really amazing. Training outline How to manage car engine or transmission overheating How to deal with desert wild life and any mishap Self recoveries In soft sand patch - rocking method On side sloping - face the gravity Cresting - best use of shovel Cross pocket - use of diff lock / hand brake Deep bowl - gain momentum and exit Recoveries When and how to use tow rope and shackle Safety while using tow rope and shackle How to Identify the best and safe tow hook How to secure the tow rope with assist Communication and coordination while doing recovery Multiple tow rope recovery How to avoid tire pop-out and repair Use of Jack, wooden plank and compressor Safety How to navigate - basic level What to do if involve in a car accident What to do during a roll-over or flip What to do after a roll-over or flip Night Drive Introduction Advantages Overcoming the fear When: 19 May 2017 Meeting time: 3:45 PM, convoy will move sharp at 4:00 PM Where: Adnoc Petrol Station Maleha Road GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/mzb26kxzte72 Level of drive: Absolute Newbie - Fewbie - Expert Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 10 inches of ground clearance Plan: Theory, Practical, Drive and BBQ What to bring along: Evening snacks and BBQ stuff - whatever you like with little extra to share, water, liquids, smiles, stories, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 9 PM List your name and mobile number in this drive thread and RSVP the below calendar:

Well said @skumar83 but do you know that Deepak shovel can never rust, as its all aluminium one - lol. I'm glad that frequent carnity driver learned something new and got a chance to clear some myth and had some fun. Like @Rahimdad always says that we are here with lot of skills and expertise but depends on taker on how well they accept and need it. It feels very encouraging when members come forward and take the lead of asking new stuff or putting the learning into practice. After the drive Rahim bhai was appreciating a lot about your skills, efforts and commitment as a second sweep. Well done bro, keep it up.

Here are the pictures from my camera, but BIG THNAKS to Deepti (Kavin's wife) for clicking some wonderful shots and also to Srikumar for helping in capturing some awesome moments. Guys please upload your pictures and video on below gallery link, as from whatsapp it will disappear in a short while. https://carnity.com/gallery/category/18-desert-driving-training-12-may-2017/