Rahimdad

Thank you @waqaszohair for joining, your name has been added to the main list.

Thank you @Safiya for joining, your name has been added to the main list, kindly advise your mobile number so that I can liaise with you in case of any changes.

Hi everyone,

Let's recap what we have done so far, desert drives, mountain crawling, wadi bashing, overnight camping, BBQ, breakfast, on-road scenic drives, jet skiing, para-gliding, movie night, visiting a natural and man made lakes. So now how can we do something different to start the summer with a bang. The heat continues to pick-up and remind us that we are inevitably headed towards summer time in Dubai which is not forgiving at all. I have a friend working at the Dreamland Aqua Park in Umm Al Quwain who has graciously offered me a special deal as follows.

Official Rates are:

General Admission : AED 135/-
Junior Admission : AED 85/-
(below 1.2 m tall) 
Buffet Rate Adult: AED 80/-
Buffet Rate Child: AED 45/-

Special Rates:

General Admission + Lunch: AED 140/- per adult
Junior Admission + Lunch: AED 70/- per child
(Arabic Continental Buffet, plenty of Hummus) just kidding!!! we can opt for additional Asian/Indian Dishes if preferred.
Children below 2 yrs are FOC

This is a family event and all Carnity members are welcome. However, I will need all sign ups by 8 pm on Thursday so that a special corner can be set for us at the Lunch in the air-conditioned rooms.

Plan: Meetup at the Dreamland Aqua Park Gate at 1:30 pm

https://goo.gl/maps/y9rkzh1WaZQ2

Payment directly at the gates and get your receipt for a chance to win a Mitsubishi Montero Sport per ticket purchased.

Head in to have lunch together

Lockers are free to keep your stuff and change to your bathing suits

Splash on all the rides till parks close around 7 pm.

In addition to the normal rides there are other attractions like a mini zoo and a pool bar which serves both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

List of Participants:

1. Rahimdad + 2 adults
2. Gaurav + 1 adult + 1 infant 
3. Waqas Zohair + 1 adult + 2 kids
4. Abdul Basit Khan
5. Saleem
6. Shadow79
7.  

@Jeh thank you for your kind words and the absolute full-proof idea for a best selling book by an author based in the UAE. Now I think I need to set aside loyalty for you once this book hits the shelves.

Try to get an IMEI number for an Iphone in UAE and change the IMEI number that will allow you to use whatsapp.

 As for the memory, although it shows 60 GB but the internally I think it has only 4 or 8 GB physically. If it has a memory slot you can add memory card as per your choice and being Android you can root the device and fool it into thinking the external memory is part of the internal memory. Make sure the memory card you are buying is a Class 10, higher speed the better.

Hope this helps salvage your AED 150/-.

Another thing is never reset the phone, if you do a factory reset the original skin will show with the real brand and not the I-phone. Only if you know the person can you get the code like #40* or something to make it run like an I-phone. Seems very complicated, but once you start breaking it down it becomes easier. I used to have a fake Sansung S4 long time back and decided against such phone, I bought it for AED 600/- and it showed 16 GB but had 4GB actual memory and once I factory reset it and it showed some LUV Phone, than I took it back to the shop in Dragon Mart and he gave me the code. After running the code it turn back to Samsung Galaxy S4.

I went to the City Walk the previous week after we watched the Fate of the Furious and I loved seeing all those modded cars. There was no one there to explain about the mods, it would have been nice to go there when someone would have been around to explain what went in to those rides.

Thank you @Barry and @Gaurav bhai for your kind words. I am a story teller and not everybody likes that trait in me, a lot of people get annoyed that I get a lot of time to get to the point.

Lovely pics @Gaurav bhai and truly the night seemed short as we chatted away and didn't realize how quickly the time passed us by. It was chilly, but thanks to your warmth and your jacket and blanket, the cold was no match for us.

The nightmare of faulty Takata Airbags is still not over for manufacturers like Toyota in the UAE. Over 39,000 Toyota vehicles with the faulty airbags have been recalled across the UAE through its major distributor. The faulty airbags have so far claimed 16 lives worldwide and injured even more when upon deployment, sharp objects came flying out at the drivers and passengers causing minor to fatal injuries.

@Barry My brother was there too. I could not make it as already committed to the drive. So please share your experience, how was it and what did you enjoy the most.

Wow, where do i start. Just when you think you have the pulse of what is happening, you are proved wrong.

This trip was posted 10 days in advance to allow more people to be able to join along with friends. However, whether it was prior commitments, work, preference, or whatever the reason but with just 2 days to go and no sign-ups, @Gaurav bhai and myself had decided we would go alone if we had to, but the drive will be concluded. Come Thursday and things changed, we started receiving sign-ups even late in the night. Thank you @Asif Hussain for joining, it was our greatest pleasure to have met you. With @baselsm83 having car troubles on Friday afternoon, I was glad Gaurav Bhai made it to the afternoon session for the desert drive.

All met on time and punctuality on this trip was crucial due to the fact that the second session had to start on time. We moved out an time and reached Muhafiz in no time. A quick deflation and a driver briefing we were headed towards Fossil Rocks. For the first time I had @skumar83 in second lead, so he was just behind me and he did a pretty good job at his newly found position. In a convoy the second lead plays a big role along side the lead and sweep team and Sreekumar nailed it. We went through some easy dunes with a single stuck which was easily recovered. Headed to the Fossil Rocks we came across an awesome dune which I could not pass for a side sloping, so my voice blared on the radio to have a 5 minutes play time with a voice in agreement. I was the first one to head out and had a fantastic run, so good that I decided to go at it again. This was followed by a somewhat good run from Sreekumar, however he had a second go at it and he blew the sand away on his second run. We reached the base of Fossil Rocks and another briefing was given out on how to handle the climb, this was managed well by all. Now the real thing on how to descend from Fossil Rocks which is a very steep grade. Everyone followed the instructions well and we were down and headed to the Adnoc Petrol Station for inflation. Sadly no body joined us for the mountain climb and the over night camping session, so Gaurav Bhai and myself headed out and were on top of the mountain within no time. As we headed up the weather had changed for the better, the breeze was cool and refreshing. With strong winds we lined up our cars in a way where we could put up a tent in between and secure it with our cars. We watched the sunset in awe and ogled over the sights by day time during sunset, we could only thank Almighty God for giving us such natural beauty and the chance to be up there to share this beautiful view. As the sun set and we settled in to our grandpa chairs to relax and have some Aloo Parathas that Gaurav Bhai's wife had so graciously made for us, there was a feeling of calm and relaxation which took over. We sat around chatting for a while until we started feeling hungry again. By this tiem the strong wind had changed in to a pleasant breeze, out came the grill and I started the BBQ while Gaurav Bhai experimented with the night photography with his DSLR. The chicken was done and we both sat down and enjoyed the meal while feeling the temperature had gone down feeling a chill. As we finished our meal Gaurav Bhai checked his all reliable watch to see the temperature had dropped to around 22 degrees and he graciously offered me his Jacket while he rapped up in his blanket to continue our chat. Slowly the jacket had passed on to him and the blanket made it my way and I was all rapped up to protect me from the cold. As we headed deeper into the night the temperatures dropped from a cool 22 degrees to 21, to 20 and final read of 19.9 Degrees. We settled into our tent and I believe we were knocked out as soon as we hit the mattress, however strangely each one of us heard the other snore and we could have sworn that neither one of us slept. The heat of the sun woke us up and we were quickly rapping up the tent and other gear as Gaurav Bhai was heating up the second batch of Aloo Parathas and after a quick bite we were headed down. To take a shortcut I took us through some nice easy and small dunes as we were inflated to 25 PSI. We had a stop at Adnoc near Mahafiz to inflate back to 35 PSI and one last stop at the cafeteria for a tea and we were headed home to catch some Zs on our beds. All in all a wonderful drive and experience with awesome people and food that still leaves a lingering taste in our mouth, I would like to thank all who participated and looking forward to seeing you all more often.

@Barry that's a bummer. You can't help it but buy the new scanner and try to cover the loss by charging extra to the customers over time, it will pay itself off within no time.

That's great @baselsm83, now @habeebafett can also join.

For the desert trip only, join me at 2:15 pm at the Adnoc Petrol Station as per the meeting point shown in the main thread and we will head out and do some desert driving before meeting up with Gaurav Bhai at the second Adnoc Station near Maliha. Anyone who wishes to leave can inflate and head out The rest will continue to the top of the mountain for an overnight camping.

Very good thread @Gaurav bhai. I simply came to the sands to learn the art of driving in the sands to save 30 minutes in the morning getting to work from Sharjah to Dubai. Around 10 years back there used to be an open sand area which if crossed could help you save at least 30 minutes in the morning to work. But what addicted me was the people, like-minded people. Every week gathering together, sharing a story, sharing a laugh, but above all similarly just getting rid off the weekly pressures and tensions as mind is fully at work on the drive. I love to meet new people, interact with them, pass on my knowledge and share experiences and learn something from each an every one I meet.

Next please....

I agree with @Gaurav bhai. Most garages not only for Land Rover but for any modern machine that throws up such errors tries to take advantage and charge an arm and a leg for resolving the issues without any guarantee of no more errors will pop up. Honest mechanics like @Barry are in short supply. I have a similar issue with my Jeep Commander and paid through my nose and the errors still continued to haunt me, finally I had to sell my ride. With someone like @Barry I would have liked to continue to own the 5.7 Hemi, but alas I did not find him earlier.

Hi @habeebafett sounds good, I have an extra radio so that should be fine. The only thing is I have not driven with you in the desert also. Lets wait and see if someone with experience joins in and we can go ahead with the desert section. Regardless of participation we are going to go ahead with the session 2 which is the mountain climb and overnight camping. If any member joins who has done a couple of drives with us than I will be more comfortable. You have driven in the sand before? What is your comfort level driving in the sands? How many desert drives have you done?

Welcome Jaan to the most comprehensive car community in the Middle East.

Although I have never driven either car on a long term basis to give you the pros and cons, but having been in the desert myself and off-road scene for over 10 years I would like to help you decide.

Land Cruiser: I have found it to be comfortable on-road and off-road, it all depends on your choice of suspensions and tires that will make you ride more pleasurable. If you are looking for a LC 100 series than you are looking for a second hand option. The resale value of the land Cruiser is a bit higher as it has loads of after market mods available, spare parts are easily available and it is cheap to maintain compared to other vehicles in the same category.

Patrol: Equally comfortable as the Land Cruiser on-road and off-road. The older version 4.5 liter engine used to come with a gear-box which was not complimenting the power of the engine. The 4.8 liter version had a better gear ratio allowing you to do much more, however it was not available in the SWB vehicles only in the LWB. However, I know a few friends who have acquired the 4.5 liter SWB and than converted the gear to the 4.8 liter gear box and are very happy with its performance. This is slight better priced than the Land Cruiser as after market mods are available, parts are easy to get but slightly more expensive to maintain than the Land Cruiser.

Comfort: i would always recommend to test drive a few cars before you decide which one feels more comfortable to you. With the summers coming in the prices of these vehicles will drop slightly to give you a better buy.

Power to weight ratio: This is very important as most people would be after the most powerful vehicle. The power to weight ratio is simply the power of the vehicle divided by the weight of the vehicle. Although I do not have the exact calculations, but I would assume they would be pretty much the same in the case of the vehicles you are talking about, however if you do select the 4.8 Liter engine on the Nissan patrol you are bound to have some added advantage.

Hope this would help, looking forward to some insight from anyone who has actually owned one for a long period to give you a better over view.

@waqaszohair Enjoy Jordan, beautiful place and loads to do for 2-3 days. Enjoy Petra, Dead Sea, the Promised Land by Prophet Moses and much more. We will miss you.

Seems the options are confusing.

Let's make it simple, when signing up just mention if you would like to do the desert run only, the over night camping only, or both sections. 2 days to go.

@ging I know exactly the problem you are facing. Any popular cars, Toyota or Nissan sell easily with a fair resale value, Other Japanese brands also fetch a good price, although not as high as the top 2 mentioned. After about 5-7 years of use most American, European and Korean brands will loose their value pretty quickly, exceptions are always there. It all depends on what you have and how popular it is here, which is dependent on how easily you can get the spare parts and how much they are going to cost. As an example a 10 year old Toyota Land Cruiser will still fetch you over AED 60K, but a Range Rover once 10 years old will fetch you around AED 15K although brand new the price of the Range Rover is double of the highest spec Toyota Land Cruiser.

Good one @Barry.

I already know the fix as @Gaurav already showed it to me, so I am not going to spoil anyone's fun here. It is not only with Range River, any cars packed with computers nowadays can throw up a bunch of codes and faults for a simple problem. That is why I believe in less computers, a good ECU and PCM is all you need.

Hi @Baraz

I got the LED fitted from a shop in Sharjah near the tire shops after Sahara Center, however I have been unable to use it to its full so far as weather is still bearable in the late afternoon or early evenings. But night drives to start soon and I will be trying it out more rigorously in a few weeks time for the upcoming night drives. So far I believe that I need some adjustment for it to be pointing a little bit higher than it is positioned now, but will be experimenting and will keep you posted. However I don't think you will get with the LED what you are looking for, you need pencil beam which shoots the light to the furthest corner, generally LED are a nice spread.

@Aumio If your car is running on Petrol and CNG than I am not in a good position to advise as I am not too familiar with that setup. I am having a Nissan Pathfinder R50 which is a 2001 model and is running without any issues. There was some race being lost when brakes were applied that it would almost stall, but that was due to timing going off when I replaced all the hose for the air intake. Once timing was set I did not face that problem again. You might want to check the fuel lines and hoses for the CNG to make sure there are no blockages.

@Aumio as per my experience I had similar issue of my LR Discovery loosing power when operating at optimum operating temperature. However switch it off for 30 minutes and start it up with cooler engine and it used to be fine. This problem also occurred when my petrol tank was half or less than half. The solution as it turned out was simple, the fuel pump for my Disco had gone bad. Try checking the fuel pump, that might solve your problem.

Welcome @Titan to the only car enthusiast community in the region with learned people sharing from their real life experiences.

It was an absolute beautiful night with great company. The movie was much awaited and loved the action scenes. Thanks to all who made it, was a night out to remember.