Rahimdad

I just saw @imranaasghar81 wizard by our convoy near Pink Rocks this week with his Kamakazi flag. Seemed you guys were having fun doing some low level flying.

@Matt.T happy to hear you've sorted out the clutch issue. @imranaasghar81 I just love your videos, loved the title too. I'm just glad you did not captire me or I would look like a Superman Beach Ball.

@Pacific try this post.

BhTrip Report What a pleasant morning with wonderfully caring people. It was a drive for me with many positives. From the Sun rising from behind the clouds with the orangish streak of light breaking through the clouds. To arriving at the deflation point with everyone adhering to social distancing and complying with the Covid19 precautions throughout the drive. We had a radio briefing after we realized that @Tareq Ghosheh was the only one missing from the convoy. As soon as the radio briefing was done we were headed out to enjoy what was going to be an awesome morning. We traversed the terrain from Tawi Nizwa farms towards Pink Rocks. Mostly tracks could be found everywhere as expected, but surprisingly we found some virgin dunes which was a pleasant surprise. Surely we had our part of challenges along the way and they were taken care off in good time as our momentum carried us through. We were blessed to have @Lorenzo Candelpergher convoy crossing us in the nearby dunes. Driving on top of wide ridges was the norm of the day. With great pace we had reached the play area at Pink Rocks within no time and all of us had some fun climbing and experimenting with our vehicles. as we saw another convoy approach us we moved on to the next part leaving the area for the other convoy to enjoy. It was time to head down from the play area and up again on top of Pink Rocks to take our adventure further on the other side. Everybody reached the top before I had time to blink my eye lids for a second time. Our path was blocked by another convoy so we made it around the higher grounds and headed towards the drop that continues and takes us into the bigger playable area. As we took on that challenge we had a few refusals, but nothing the team could not manage. We were crossed by a couple of convoys on the way, but we safely avoided those convoys as we approached the Big Red. On the way we were greeted by part of Dr @Chaitanya D group and a quick hello to @Tbone and we were off. Since we still had over an hour I decided to take our convoy through some higher dunes. Not my fault, they just seemed to be doing so well I almost forgot I was out with a Newbie group. An incident from another convoy on our path meant it was safer to head down and make our way through the smaller dunes. This meant we reached the base of Big Red with an hour to go. Original plan was to climb the Big Red and since there was no one around we could just play to our hearts content. Well the content was achieved by all in 20 minutes and we decided to head to some technical area which I know one of our convoy member self confesses to being in love with. In this area we saw a lone biker just having fun riding his bike around. So we carefully snuck through this area, not only to save the biker, but the area was full of shrubs and unexpected dips. It was not long before we had a stuck, yes I said stuck. We tried to keep it down to a refusal, but some how we missed the trick and with the heat going up with the sun out and time ticking past the 11 am mark, we decided to rope the vehicle and pull it out which was a wise decision. The driver of the vehicle still had his chance to practice self recovery as it was a tricky area and he managed it with a lot of finesse. Great to see. At this point we gathered the convoy and headed out to inflate and head back to enjoy the rest of our weekend. I would like to thank @Baskaran P.R for being an excellent second lead. He was the only Pajero on the drive which has not happened to me in a long time. But he made it look so simple to handle his Pajero well. My scariest vehicle on the trip was at the mercy of @Joseph Sebastian, his Discovery looked all so pretty. I am glad that he not only managed it well, but left with a huge smile and the vehicle looking just as pretty at the end of the drive as I first set my eyes on it in the morning. @Osama Al Hamwi thank you for showing us how a huge land yacht can be managed on the sands. That Land Cruiser was not only loaded with features but with family who could not stop smiling and managed through the terrain with some ease. @pramod was out with his family again and also in a Land Cruiser. The energy of this family as a whole is bound to put a smile on anyone face. @marks has always been helpful, but I've seen him with so much more energy as he is the officially chosen one to help the convoy out. Besides his enthusiasm and willingness to help I love his calm approach. You could be hanging from a cliff by a thread, but in his calm way he would walk up to you and tell you it's not so bad. This puts the driver at ease and makes them more receptive to the solutions at hand. @marks was one of the reason we were well ahead of time at any given point and kept the convoy moving smoothly. @Serafino in his red JLU did amazingly well and I heard only good things about his driving ability. I am glad I got an opportunity to chat with him after the drive and was pleased to learn he has done 7 other drives with friends. Although he's done only 3 drives with us including this one, but appreciates our dedication to safety. Hope I will be seeing his promotion to Fewbie shortly. @William Fernandes with his FJ Cruiser did so well throughout the drive. However got 3 refusals in the second part of the drive. Although he was a bit concerned, but this is not without a reason. At this level you're still learning and a good lesson in feflation for all. After about an hour of driving you gain a couple of PSI, so if you were at 15 PSI now it's 17 PSI which can result in refusals. If you feel a wheel spin or refusal after about an hour of driving in the sands, check and lower your tire pressure as required. This level also is your basic foundation of the rest of your time in this sport. So experiment with your tire pressure till you are at 9ne that suits you, your vehicle and your drive style. @Watteau was on my drive for a second time and he never fails to impress me with his Raptor. There are monsters and their are ways to tame the monster to what you want it to do. @Watteau has impressed me time and again to how well he keeps his monster in check. But time comes when he unleashes his monster with great control on throttle and steering to make his maneuvers look like a piece of art. @Ammar Naji carries his heavy Expedition well over most terrains and manages to take it mostly anywhere. Technical area might not be his strong point and a ride or two with @Wrangeld can give him that finesse in testing terrains. For these kind of heavy vehicles and burly V8 engines it important to get the deflation right and creating and keeping momentum at its peak at all times. Dr. @Mohamed Seidam was the icing on my cake. He was doing superbly well at sweep and making sure the rhythm of the drive was not missing at any given time. He was clear with his communications with me and his instructions to the drivers facing refusals were accurate. I enjoyed the loads of pics he has uploaded in our Gallery and anybody wants to relive the drive can go through his pics to remind us of what an amazing trip we had. Love you all and until next time Adios.

Congratulations @siddharth maheshwari on your promotion. Hope you continue to enjoy learning and polishing your off-road skills at this new level.

Time to close up the drive and share the convoy numbering and the radio channel we will be using tomorrow. DRIVE RSVP IS NOW CLOSED Convoy numbering: Rahimdad - Pathfinder Baskaran P.R - Pajero (SL) Joseph Sebastian - Discovery Osama Alhamwi - Toyota Land Cruiser Pramod - Toyota Land Cruiser Tareq Ghosheh - Xterra Marks - FJ Cruiser (CF) Ammar Naji - Expedition William Fernandes - FJ Cruiser Watteau - Raptor Serafino - Wrangler JLU Mohamed Seidam - Xterra (Sweep) @marks @Mohamed Seidam @Ammar Naji @Watteau @Osama Al Hamwi @Baskaran P.R @Tareq Ghosheh @pramod @Joseph Sebastian @Serafino @William Fernandes Please find your names and convoy numbering above. When you arrive tomorrow morning, you can start deflating your tires to 15psi if you have normal/highway tires, and 12psi in case you have off-road tires. Please arrive on time 7:00 AM, earlier is even better so we can help you out with deflation if needed. The meeting point has been revised to avoid congestion and confusion, main thread has also been updated. https://goo.gl/maps/qmYj7jASYE2e9XoaA We will be using Carnity Channel 3: 446.05625 Mhz. Seniors on the drive are myself, @Baskaran P.R in second lead, @marks as center forward and @Mohamed Seidam who will be sweeping the convoy and we will all help you out in case of refusals, stucks, which is all part of the game (and fun) After deflating we will do a briefing to emphasize on the aspects of off-roading and the teamwork involved when becoming part of our off-road community. Since the number of cases has gone alarmingly high and as per the new restrictions we will revert back to briefing from our vehicles over the radio.. In case of emergencies, you can contact me on 050 674 9099 See you tomorrow !

Thank you @Baskaran P.R, I have already checked and most of us have already used the Totally Agreed reaction. I have noticed that @Osama Al Hamwi has commented with totally agree on the thread but not yet posted a reaction on the original post which is fine. I am still waiting for @Tareq Ghosheh @Joseph Sebastian @Serafino @William Fernandes to go through the thread and react with the Totally Agree emoji.

Thanks @Shehab Alawadhi you know me, no matter how serious the topic is I try to bring out some humor in it. I think instead of searching for a job I should now consider myself as a stand up comedian. The best way to get more out of any vehicle is reducing the weight of the car, @Arman if you are not using the rear seats, remove them, it might be only 10 Kgs but that in itself increases your power to weight ratio. If you have side steps, those are heavy, remove them and so on and so forth, the lighter the car the more nimble it is.

@varunmehndiratta if you are going for a Merc forget about the C series, look for an older and more reliable S Class. They are loaded with options you can't even imagine and they are as smooth as silk to drive. I think upto 2014 models were pretty reliable and came with options where you can control the front passenger seat from the rear for extra comfort in the back. You can get a good one for under AED 100k so you can save a few for the maintenance cost. I would recommend you take it to a Mercedes specialist which are plenty in town and I am sure it would not cost you as much. I do agree with @Gaurav bhai and his personal recommendations for the Lexus GS series, if I am not mistaken the LS series is also pretty good. I am not a big fan of the IS or ES models as IS is entry level which is more for youngsters, and ES is mostly focused by companies like Uber and does not come with a lot of driving comfort as it seems to be meant for driver services. I am not a big fan of Infinity either. If going for the Audi, avoid the Q7 as any work you need to do you need to remove the whole engine which itself costs so much, the Q5 on the other hand is more popular as it is easier to work on and thus does not cost you as much in labour.

Congratulations to the following for joining this drive. @marks @Mohamed Seidam @Ammar Naji @Watteau @Osama Al Hamwi @Baskaran P.R @Tareq Ghosheh @pramod @Joseph Sebastian @Serafino @William Fernandes You're all confirmed for the drive this week - but not until I know that you have confirmed 'totally agree' with the new COVID restrictions requirements for the drives. Numbers are rising and we will be much more vigilant this week and beyond until the pandemic is under control - which it currently is not. So make sure that you confirm that you totally agree with the new rules. No confirmation - no drive. Hopefully that's clear enough. And, if you don't comply on the drive: 1. You'll be escorted straight out of the desert 2. You'll earn yourself a ban from Carnity. If you have any questions on this, let me know - but I think this is pretty clear. And it applies to you, me and everyone on the drive. I am working on the convoy numbering along with the radio frequency we will have to use this week which will also be crucial as we will have 3 of our convoys in the same location. Also we are working out different meeting points to allow enough space to all the convoys for practicing Social Distancing. I will get back to you later this afternoon with the exact details.

Wow this question comes to bite me back. Although my question was a bit different but handled quite well by the technical gurus available to us. @Barry was my main help to understand and decide against either one. Firstly to understand the difference between a Turbo and a Supercharger. Turbo needs outside air and kicks in at higher revs. Supercharger produces its own air from within and is not reliant on outside air. So Superchargers are more helpful in all rev bands. That wants me to go for a supercharger. Now the reason why we should not get one. You will end up spending 3 times more than your Jeeps value to get any help from it. Why? No matter how much air the Turbo or Supercharger tries to put in, the values of how much air the engine should get is decided by the MAF Sensor. So we can get the MAF sensor changed, right? Yes, but the ECU is than programmed to supply a certain amount of air, fuel and sparks from the spark plugs to create a certain amount of power. So what all do you need to change to make any difference? Good question. So you need to change the ECU to a programmable one and pay about AED 40k just for tuning. But you also need a fuel pump that will supply more fuel. Don't forget to change your manifold and exhaust system for all the carbon to be released from the engine. Oh by the way you will need to get forged parts for your engine because your engine will not be able to survive with all the extra stress. Spark plugs and wire sets will have to be upgraded. So finally after spending AED 120k you're able to enjoy your Jeep and still your skill levels will never be high enough as what the Jeep is offering you. Plus guess what, the RTA just scrapped your car as it is no longer street legal. So now buy a truck to pull your trailer with the Jeep as you cannot drive it on road anymore. Hope you are on 7th heaven enjoying your Jeep for that 10% extra power you wanted to make. As for me after 12 years of driving in the sand I'm still crazy enough to come out week after week to learn new stuff about myself and my car. It always surprises me. About 3 weeks back I was lucky to find a good line on Faya and made it 75% to the top from the front face which was the highest ever. Last week I made it 90% on top of Faya from the front face and I'm learning never to say never. I have always tried to find my cheat routes to the top, but recently got that passion back to push myself and my car to the max and it gives me great satisfaction. Looking forward to catching you on top of the tallest dune on Mars as UAE Mars rover inspects how you did it with a moded Jeep. Enjoy.

Thank you @syed salman raza, looking forward to driving with you soon.