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Varun Mehndiratta

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Everything posted by Varun Mehndiratta

  1. Hope the same terrain we explored couple of weeks back...was beautiful area to explore, looking forward ..
  2. Happy birthday @Ale Vallecchi wish you a wonderful year ahead...
  3. So true...hv only tried Sweihan once (DPI worked that time) was an extraordinary experience.. hopeful in couple of months weather n COVID situations will both get better... N we will have more rides across the Emirates.
  4. Hehehe can relate so well to the owls vs larks comparison... Begining of April hated the idea of such early morning drive (purely due to challange of waking up), Tried an afternoon one - hated it more - no one could even dare to try a recovery by shoveling and one pop out through the drive with a team member was enough to consume all energy, don't even ask about inflating and deflating experience , Then gathered courage to try a night drive - found them the worst (without i put in additonal lights i am not going to try it again) Since May being doing early morning ones, no parties on Thursday but it's worth it - the sight of early morning sun through the desert is really rejuvenating after a crazy week. And no complains from family as by 1pm i am done with my sleep and ready to be a chauffer/valet/buttler to family for their outings and my chores..😎 - i am still the self designated boss of my home and life (at least for 4 hrs in the desert) 😎😂😂 Now don't even need to put an alarm i am usually fast asleep on Thursday by 11 and up by 230pm..it's just too addictive.
  5. Thanks @Wrangeld for the lovely drive...it was smooth and rejuvenating start to the weekend. Car got a good sand shower and finally my rope and shackles have started to lose some shine (recovering ROE 😃). Thanks all and @Gok Krish wish your car a speedy recovery. Hope to see all soon.
  6. Actually Beema matched for me the price of Axa (post no claim discount);and then topped it up with 300-400 AED of fuel card...and with this COVID home working my major drive is weekend desert drive...so hopefully will get some cashback .. on mileage .😃
  7. And these days with Beema you get Axa cover with almost the same price as the useless ones...trying it for first time, coverage is any case by Axa so i think a good option.
  8. Congratulations @Goutam....this info is just wow...!!!
  9. Had my first pop-out in previous Intermediate drive through Lisali with you Richard. Need to break through it to get over that feeling. Looking forward.
  10. Yeah working on this cresting thing @Kailas over last few drives managed it well however agree with you need to work on it for consistency, honestly sometime it's more of overconfidence that does it for me - always a small dune that gets me crested. ...didn't had any refusals through the ride . was a pretty smooth drive for me till the last min one at fag end where came too close to Gautam while gliding through the bowls..
  11. Finally here I am with my bit on this drive. Usually I share my thoughts within couple of hours of drive. However with this review i typed and deleted multiple times - with mixed thoughts. Not mixed about how I felt about the drive yesterday but how it will be taken by my colleagues on the drive. So before I give my brief about the drive, a humble request to all - plz take it in positive note, we are all learners here and only a feedback (introspective or from others eyes) can help us improve. And what i share below applies to me as well - it's a team sport and team as One should take this feedback. @Kailas - Thanks for the lovely drive. Terrain was just awesome, challanges you took us through were amazing with some nice ridges, super avenues to practice criss cross and ofcourse your plan to experience those lovely Little Sweihan bowls (which eventually we missed to explore). It was just the perfect setting for what we (I am sure all will agree) were hoping for as we RSVPed this drive. However sadly enough repeatedly every few minutes the convoy let you and terrain down. We all can have stucks, refusals, crests etc. I had my share of them - cresting on a dune and landing in a tricky pocket at the fag end, @Dodi Syahdar had a crest and even for that matter @Kailas had a stuck. However, the fact that through the drive there was not a continuous period of 10-15 min where convoy moved smoothly is not reflective of what we expect in an intermediate drive, specially when though challanging, terrain was well within the zone that we expect Intermediate or even Fewbies plus drivers to be able to manage. Without adding sweeteners, i surely believe performance of convoy was below par. Some basics of self recoveries were not executed well and convoy was just not able to push through the soft sand, with some drivers having repeated stucks and refusals, every few minutes. I understand some of us were coming back after a break - then perhaps better to get over the rustiness by going through some Fewbie or F+ drives. Overall despite the awesome terrain i would rate whole drive experience as Fewbie (maybe a plus) drive from drivers perspective, yes from recoveries we executed, it was a good drive to learn some tricky things @marksidea of using rope to pull the tyre during @Ashok chaturvedi Pop-out was very innovative yet simple and @Dodi Syahdar with his Raptor is all one need when in tricky position. @Lawrence_Chehimi thanks to your support wouldn't have been able to protect my Jeep's air dam without your support. And @Goutam dude your collection of tools is just super. Again all, i have driven with most of you on many drives. We can all have a bad day at work, important is to learn from each day and move on. Thanks
  12. Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher awesome.terrain and drive I have been on this one earlier as well with you (wasn't 100 crests last time though). However it was yesterday that i realized the test of skill it demands. Last time I was SL and all i had to do was try and immitate you (which surely is in itself a big challange). Yesterday being a bit behind in convoy and limited possibility to follow your direct track, i surely struggled a bit staying up some of these crests - especially with soft and hard sides alternating regularly. Enjoying these challanges and as remains a fact learning continues. And i am sure with me struggling would have affected @Ahab Shamaa as well - sorry dear for that. In my regular series of experiments further deflating down went well yesterday, though a bit early to confirm so will try it in 1-2 more drives before really making up my mind about it. Was interesting to see how a change of ride can even affect a legend @Wrangeld so have decided to continue for such experiments on newbie and Fewbies drives. Thanks @Gok Krish for the lovely video and regularly warning us all about challanges on your way. Wouldn't have been easy on a drive demanding such focus. Thanks all for lovely drive. Hope to see you on sand soon.
  13. Hi @Kailas any possibility for me to join this one.... Was fun drive today want to give it one more shot, assuming plan is similar to today's drive (?)
  14. Hi @Islam Soliman it's my first/only drive for weekend as stepped out of Friday drive. Please consider me wait-list 1st drive. @Islam Soliman just noted that RSVP was still open..have added myself to it ..let me know if any change.
  15. Hi @Kailas planning the same terrain with Lorenzo on Wednesday, just announced, so will some other area for weekend. Thanks
  16. I think can just pray that convoy size will be expanded else it's already a big convoy ..😃👍
  17. Hi @Kailas just realized that i not only signed for two but did it on same day and same time as well. I will step out of the @Ale Vallecchi one and join for this. Thanks for highlighting
  18. Sri i have 255/70/R18 stock on LWB Wrangler didn't consider need to upgrade...considering this R18 size, do you think upgrade to 265 may help? Still pretty new tyres, however something to consider for next change?
  19. Interesting observation...would be good to know feedback/advice from @Lorenzo Candelpergher @Alexander Alcala...in general don't think yesterday drive tested the clearance of JL... stock wheel as a concern, would like to know how much would that have helped...
  20. Thanks @Lorenzo Candelpergher for this awesome drive ..been to Area 53 a few times (at least thought so), it's today that i realized the real fun of it... The whole drive was a medley of adrenaline pumping "Highway to the danger zone" while ascents and beautiful and calm "Take my breath away" while descent. The speed, the elegance and energy with which the convoy went through this beautiful terrain full of awesome bowls, high dunes and tall ridges made it undoubtedly one of the best drives i have been on...Iftar bowl literally felt like a baby dune today @Ahab Shamaa what steroids do you feed into your FJ, the roar of your engine following my vehicle really added to fun... sincerely curious is it the muffler effect or have you boosted/tuned the power? Thanks to @Hisham Masaad @Shaz Shah @Alexander Alcala for holding this long convoy togather was surely a challenging task...with no visibility of what's happening on other end of dune..👍 thanks @Ahab Shamaa for continous feedback and much valued advices through the drive. Really appreciate. Hope to see you all soon for another action filled drive..
  21. Wow what an observation ...today was driving at 13/14 psi for most part of the drive, around 2-3 points higher than my usual. After first hour had a drastic drop in pressure on one of the tyres (perhaps a bit lose valve or something don't know), after inflating kept it at 14psi as was concerned that it may drop again... It stayed however meant was driving at higher than usual. And since one was high, didn't deflate others when they went up in course of drive....
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