Frederic

What a great convoy ! All of you drove so well yesterday. We covered some good terrain and i tried to give a variety of dunes, from the long range open areas, to tight technical areas, and some bushy terrain as well. @Sivakumar kudos to you driving all the way from Fujairah ! amazing spirit ! Thanks to @Pascal for his excellent second lead, and @Karthikeyan Govindarajan for being a fantastic support at the back. I always enjoy Abu Dhabi drives and i hope to be back very soon !

@Sivakumar you have been added to the drive. Please confirm if you can make it.

General Infos This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely. MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: COVID19 Precautions Mandatory Safety Requirements Ban from Carnity Off-road Club Two Way Radio Guidelines Drive Details Level: Newbie and above (All Levels) When: 29 Jan 2022, Saturday Meeting time: 7:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://goo.gl/maps/B9Ser43CS4yCEF1AA Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance. What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm, willingness to learn and your own compressor for tire inflation. Approximate finish time: 11:00 AM End Point: Solar Park Limited Spots Available: Limited to 12 cars only. RSVP will close on Fri - 9 AM. If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS. Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others. Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month. PLEASE RSVP ON THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT

Good morning all ! Please find your convoy positions posted above. We will be using Channel 1: 446.00625 Mhz for our radio comms. @Karthikeyan Govindarajan @Han @Anthony Tan @Ali Shah @Andrew McCarthy @Anna Dillon@Willie@Derius Olivier @Adnan Halepota@Pascal @ShereenMK@Hasan Wahlan @Salvador Perez @Sivakumar you are waitlisted, If any of the above members sign out you will be automatically added.

@Karthikeyan Govindarajan @ShereenMK @Anthony Tan I have added you to the drive as you were waitlisted for your first drive. Please confirm if you can make it.

Congrats @Naim Aoun !

Congrats @Patrick van der Loo !

Congrats !!

My pleasure. If you are looking for Prado, you can either check the Al Futtaim Pre-Owned cars online. They are a bit more expensive but come with warranty and receive a full inspection. If you buy from a private owner, you can take the vehicle to RTA if i remember correctly and get it inspected. If you happen to have a friend that's a mechanic you could take him instead. If you look at 2012-2013 models, i think the GX-R are the medium equipped models, while the VX-R is the top range. Just double check that the Prado is indeed a 4.0 engine and not the 2.7 engine (not saying that's a bad engine but if offroading is on your wishlist, then the 4.0 is definitely much better). Buying a brand new vehicle for off-roading can be painful once you hit the dunes the first time and go home with some scratches in the bumper. It might remove the fun of offroading for you and create massive apprehension. I see many offroaders in the club with brand new 4x4's. Some are extremely cautious, while others find peace with the fact that off-roading comes with the occasional dents and scratches.

Welcome @Immortal ! Indeed a lot of questions. Pajero and Prado are both capable off-roaders and excellent family cars. If you want to take them into the dunes, i would recommend the Prado's 4.0 V6 engine, and the Pajero 3.8 Engine. But we have plenty off-roaders doing great with the Pajero 3.5 model as well. Both can do wonders off-road with only some minor skid-plate or bashplate installation to protect the bumpers/radiator. The Prado, being a Toyota, is more expensive, so it mostly comes down to your budget of 70k to see if you would find a Prado that's not too very old and well maintained. For a Pajero, 70k will be a decent budget that will allow you to find plenty models for sale. The Prado drives more civilized on-road and feels less outdated than the Pajero. But the Pajero is very reliable too and there are so many around which will make spare-part availability a big plus as well. The Panoramic roof is not something i am a big fan of in this country. For most of the year the sun is sitting high and is hitting hard, and, you would want to close the cover to avoid being blinded by it. The same applies with a sunroof where i am also not a fan of. But this is just personal taste. On the other hand i do not really see the enjoyment kids would have from a panoramic roof. Nowadays they might be more in favor to have screens in the rear seats With regards to the Crossover SUV's like Ford Explorer, CX9, and Pathfinder, they have very little ground clearance and you won't be able to take those into the dunes. The Jeep Grand Cherokee however is very capable but would need some bumper trimming. A dedicated offroad toy is never a bad thing, but do consider the extra costs involved for maintenance, insurance, and if you have extra parking space. Did you look at the Mitsubishi Montero Sport ? They are not expensive, are excellent family cars, and do great in off-roading as well. After all, the production on the Pajero has stopped and eyes are focused on the Montero Sport to take over the reigns. The 3.0 engine is powerful enough, it has a brilliant 8 speed gearbox, and the interior looks comfy and modern. In the same scenario, even the Toyota Fortuner is a good contender. Again the Prado is better and more powerful, but that all depends your definition of off-roading. The MG RX8, i think we've only seen one in the dunes, @mikaeel shaik. He is doing great. Recently installed a small lift kit for it. He can probably give you the pros and cons of this lesser known 4x4.

@fayazcwelcome to the Offroad Club ! You must be one of our oldest Carnity members ? I see you joined in 2011 ?

Good morning and thanks for signing up for this drive ! Confirmed Attendees Derius Olivier @Derius Olivier Anna Dillon @Anna Dillon YM Han @YM Han Saleh Kuba @Saleh Kuba Willie @Willie Pascal @Pascal Ali Shah @Ali Shah Hasan Wahlan @Hasan Wahlan Andrew McCarthy @Andrew McCarthy Josh T. @Josh T. Ishaq Muhammad @Ishaq Muhammad Waitlisted Attendees Anthony Tan @Anthony Tan Karthikeyan Govindarajan @Karthikeyan Govindarajan Quresh Motiwala @Quresh Motiwala Just a small but important note for members who are coming from Dubai. Since recently, Abu Dhabi is now requesting to have the booster shot sorted (if you are eligible) before crossing the border, otherwise they can deny you from entering AD. See below article: https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2022/01/18/abu-dhabi-requires-covid-19-booster-shot-for-entry-into-emirate/

Yup, i think @Joji varghese @Luca Palanca Falsini @Rodi are all Fortunate Fortuner Owners