Rahimdad

Since there has been a lot of buzz and so many people want to learn the art of driving in the sands, I am posting this absolute newbie desert drive. When : 27 January 2017 at 7:30 am Where : Adnoc Petrol station on Maliha/Kalba road. GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/7LJBiXhtjCK2 Level of drive: Absolute Newbie. Plan: Drive followed by breakfast. What to bring along: Breakfast, water, liquids, smiles and stories. Approximate finish time : 11 AM Note : Drive level can be changed if we have no beginners in the desert to suit the level of the convoy.

@aatish Now that the air has been cleared, it does feel nice to be removed from the asshole list of defame. Hahahhahahah

@aatish Need to be more patient, i am one of the biggest assholes you flash. For your information I am close to 100 KPH and not 80 KPH, and the track you cal is for the fastest lane is actually an overtaking lane. When you flash me, I do indicate that I am overtaking and than change the lane as soon as I have completed my overtaking manoeuvre and once I have made sure it is safe to do so. My wish is not to block you when i know you need to reach yesterday, but I don't want to be stuck at 80 KPH behind someone driving in the second lane and I do not wish to overtake from the right. Your truely BIGGEST ASHOLE.

Thanks @ethan, that is very helpful and a great question by @manums. Just to be very clear, RTA in Dubai might allow air filters and mild exhaust, but come to Sharjah and if the Sharjah Police feels that there are any mods thay would stop you and ask you to lift your hood for inspection. This is commonly seen on the Maliha/Kalba road. Some of the cars are stopped by default, Jeep Wranglers and Nissan Patrol are common to be stopped by Sharjah Police. If they find any modification you better hope and pray that they are in a good mood and leave you with a warning to change only. If they are not in such a good mood, or you piss them off the car can be confiscated for a month and pay heavy fines to get your vehicle back.

@adil I had the same fear that magnetic clips and holders would interfere with the mobile gps and other applications, however if you see the new Motorola Z, it comes with a magnetic back to clip on the motomods, which means that the magnetic holder should not have any effect on the phone. Secondly if the magnets did cause interference with the mobile phones than these companies would not be mass producing them. Just my 2 fils.

Well put @adil bhai, I am one of the many drivers being bullied by the morons. However I do remember there being a post on Carnity where different speed limits were explained and a link posted regarding thhe actual speeds allowed on each road. Ahhhhhh!!!! Here we go....

Thank you @adil bhai. I know it is a long read, but it does take time to put yourself back to the event and pour your heart out in ink. It feels really good to receive compliments from fellow members and you really know how to appreciate someone. With at least 1 appreciation I feel that my time spent on writing the trip report was worth it. It would be brilliant if you could not only write up your trip reports, but also share with us when you are going off-road so that we may join you on one of your adventures. Thank you once again for your kind words.

Try Hot Wheel Auto Repair Workshop in Musaffah Area as listed under the Car Businesses tab on top.

Better to buy and install the hood from a Pajero Turbo Diesel which will not cost you a lot and store your original hood with Barry if any passing issues. In my opinion it looks good and more chances of passing since this is originally installed by Mitsubishi. Gives a great look to the car and should solve your purpose.

You can find the direction and contact details in the Car Businesses in the tabs given on top of the page.

Welcome back to those who have been to Liwa this weekend and back, whether it was with Gulf News or just with a few friends. @Gaurav and myself formed part of a team of 14 strong individuals, both of us had been away from Liwa for the past 4 years for one reason or the other. We both agree that this was the best Liwa outing ever. We started on Thursday evening with a meeting at one of the Adnoc petrol stations on the way to Abu Dhabi at 7 pm, Started from the Adnoc station around 7:30 pm as a convoy to reach a Mandi restaurant around 8:30 pm in Musaffah Area in Abu Dhabi. Had a good meal and chat with like minded people, each one of us excited to advance to the next stage of the trip. Around 9:30 pm started from the restaurant and on the the camping ground in Fathiya with a Petrol Station close by. We could not beleive our eyes but some Gulf New participants had also decided to come early and camp the night out as about 850 participants on the only petrol station around would be a very difficult predicament to be in. We filled up our cars and the extra fuel cans we had carried with us just in case we ran out of fuel where we could not find any petrol station. As we drove in trying to discover a nice place to settle down we realized how soft the sand in Liwa was almost like quick sand in a few areas. We learned the hard way as we had a couple of stucks and a pop-out. While a few of us tried to help each other and get the convoy moving, the rest of us went in search of that perfect spot for camping. It did not take us too long and just 2 Kilometers in from the Adnoc pump we found that suitable spot. We got our camp fire going with the ample wood that we had gathered, and were soon joined by the rest of the convoy. It had been such a long time since we last had a good hearty chat, we sat around catching up on what we had missed. Suddenly a voice echoed, "Its 3 am, go to sleep." We realized we all needed some rest to cope with the harsh environment in the Liwa area. Slowly and hesitantly each one headed to their tents, the good thing is, all of us fall asleep as we hit our beds in our tents. We were woken up to the excitement of a drive that we had been looking forward to and chatting about all week. But before we could head out, a nice breakfast awaited us with some awesome tea to open our eyes to a beautiful morning. In the excitement we all had a quick bite and packed our tents in a real hurry anticipating the drive to kick off. Quicker than someone to ask if we were all ready, we were seated in our cars and all ready to go. As we headed out, we made sure we did not get in the way of the Gulf News participants, taking some awesome dunes. At times we realized how tough and different the terrain was as some soft patches where some cars really bogged down, this included myself a couple of times. The trip leader asked me to deflate further and after a second time I actually listened to him. After deflating further I felt my car was well afloat and I never got stuck on a single occasion after that, my sincere appreciation for our amazing trip leader. We drove from around 9 am to about 1 pm and found a suitable spot to settle down for some lunch. Like thirsty horses ridden around a desert our rides were given a well deserved break and a genius plan gave us a some very nice shade from the afternoon sun. We all settled down as the fire got going again and our master chef and his trusted helpers started preparing Mutton karahi. Some snacks were going around and chats and laughter and discussions of what we had achieved in the first 4 hours in the day. Our Muslim brother offered the afternoon prayers and after a bit of a wait the lunch was ready, out came the plates the Mutton karahi along with some Chicken Mince was placed, while Gaurav bhai made his own vegetarian dish and we all enjoyed a hearty meal. We were all feeling a bit heavy as the food was so delicious that we could not help but over-eat. Soon we were all washed up, packed and ready to go. The second half saw very little stucks and all the ups and downs made sure our lunch was digested. We went through some wonderful dunes and some gauge tracks. some of the gauge tracks lead to a set of beautiful virgin dunes and it was just a pleasure driving through them knowing that we had a very strong team and individuals who were always willing to help. Some of these tracks were all churned up and one could only imagine what those 850 GNFD drivers had done to torment and leave the dunes in the shape they were in. Luckily the desert is the quickest healing environment. The sun was going down slowly as the voice of our trip leader blared on the radio, " We have 7 more kilometers to go before we come to a gauge track, it was a relief to hear as you don't want to be in the middle of these awesome dunes when the lights go out. Sure 7 kilometers later we were on a gauge track and heading out. We departed the tracks at 6:30 pm. As we inflated our tires and recalled all that we had done during the day, it was well worth the excitement we had and beyond. We had driven 106 kilometers off-road, normally we would drive anywhere between 20 - 25 kilometers on any given day. Non of us had to use the extra fuel we had carried just in case, so we filled up our tanks with the spare fuel as we knew the pumps would be full with the GNFD participants. Most of us decided to head back home as a couple of us decided to stay back for a well deserved rest and headed to Tal Moreeb where the GNFD was camping for the night. We headed back to the petrol station in Fathiya where we were the night before and it had gone quite, we just rested for a while and headed back, by the time I reached home it was almost midnight. Today is Sunday and a whole 2 days since the drive has been concluded, but it is still fresh in my mind and I just cannot stop talking about it. The perfect get away, with a perfect plan, with the perfect people, carried out to perfection. Tiamo Liwa.

@hAwX Barry is a much better option than Fasttrack, and he will not charge you an arm and a leg. Plus free tea, coffee with a nice chat which will leave you with a better understanding of the problem and the solution.

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

Amazing info @Gaurav bhai. Thanks for sharing.

looks amazingly cute, but not one to drive, just for decoration.

@chutz you are most welcome buddy, hope you can help me when I need it.

I agree with @ayman_khateeb and @vanhack, a lot of experience there, I would just like to add that another thing to be considered in an off-road vehicle is the transmission cooler, the normal SUVs and AWDs will not have one and you don't want to loose your transmission in the middle of the desert.

Wow @Barry I couldn't even imagine seeing the Camry in this shape and form, TRD has done a marvelous job. However, this is just another trick like the other car companies to show what a vehicle can do and leave their customers to imagine the rest after they have bought one. I am sure that none of the components in the TRD Camry match the one being sold stock at the showrooms.

@chutz Mitsubishi might be right in saying that there is no cabin air filter in the 2012 Mitsubishi Pajero, but this does not mean that you cannot add one. As per the videos shown on youtube for Mitsubishi Montero there is a space but has been covered by a plastic that can be cut off and there are even spaces for screws to fit the original Mitsubishi Cabin Air Filter. I am posting this video here which links it to another Mitsubishi with a similar work. Hope this helps.

This might explain why one of my friends was furious that he was driving at 90 KPH on a 100 KPH road and got flashed. Thank God he has not received a fine so far.

I agree with @derik

Very true, use original brake pads and get the disk polished which can be done at any auto turning workshop. You may try to do it yourself if you are a petrol head, on the other hand it does not harm to pay someone to do the job for you if you are not totally confident. If you stick around and see closely you will notice it is not rocket science and you can know exactly which tools you would require and gain experience as to how it is to be done.

@Dave Daniel, if you are referring to the Porshe Dynamic Light System, it is awesome.