Frederic

Good point about the Manual FJ Cruiser. I have seen them during my time in Saudi but i dont know if the gearbox ratios are good for the typical offroading style we have. They are cheaper and is good thing to consider. Do not forget the FJ cruisers Achilles' Heel: which is lack of visibilty all around, and lots of dead corners @Ale Vallecchi has complained about this before. I would go for a slightly older Xterra with the simple reason that you can probably easily find one which has never been offroad. Xterra is often used as mall crawler or commute to school vehice, so those are clean examples.

Amazing video !!

What a fantastic drive report and seeing Vanessa coming home with a smile after such a great drive means your preparation and planning really paid off !

Join us in exploring the Al Qudra Desert to see what's beyond the lakes, and learn the art of offroading at the same time ! This area is a very versatile playground for Absolute Newbies on their first offroad adventure. If you have already driven in sand before, then you can learn more from experts having decades of off-roading experience in the UAE. This area offers a good mix of playable long set of dunes and broad ridges to test your off-road control. Drive is open for all 4x4/4WD/SUV/AWD vehicle having 8-10 inches of ground clearance and front and rear tow hooks. You can bring your family, friends and kids, but if you are absolute new to sand offroading we advise you to drive alone first to learn off-roading without any distractions. What you'll learn: Introduction to off-roading Desert driving basics and etiquette Desert driving tips, techniques, myth and best practices Off-road and safety gear familiarization and recovery procedures Vehicle orientation, risk analysis, deflation and outdoor safety advice First time with Carnity Off-road Club: Please share your vehicle details - Make, Model, Year. Do you have any prior off-road experience? Confirm your vehicle has front and rear tow hooks / eyelets. Why should i join? We will teach you how to self-drive off-road safely and learn the best offroad driving and recovery techniques. If you have already driven in sand before then you can learn more from experts having decades of offroading experience in the UAE. This area offers a good mix of playable long set of dunes and broad ridge to test your off-road control. Can my vehicle do this ? This drive is open for all 4x4/4WD/SUV/AWD vehicle having 8-10 inches of ground clearance and front and rear tow hooks. If in doubt please first announce your questions on the drive thread so we can advise you further. Any stock 4x4/4WD are most welcome, you don't need any modified vehicle. Can i bring passengers ? Yes of course, but if you are absolute new to offroading it is better to drive alone first to avoid any distractions. STRICTLY: For ABSOLUTE NEWBIE who are driving for the first time with Carnity. MUST READ AND AGREE - COVID19 PRECAUTIONS MUST WATCH: NEWBIE VIDEO BRIEFING Drive Details Level: All Levels When: Jul 10, 2020 Friday. Meeting time: 5:00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: Al Qudra - https://goo.gl/maps/ZgS2Gqam9PcsxWR48 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), face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 09:00 AM End Point: Qudra Parking - https://goo.gl/maps/eV6UEio13s97pKSp8 LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: Limited to 15 cars only. RSVP will close on Thursday - 5PM. 1 Lead Marshal + 2 Senior Members + 12 Members. 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. PLEASE RSVP ON THE CALENDAR

Drive Report: The first drive of the year where I had to wake up at 3:00. Luckily I was not the only one in the house that had to wake up so that made it a bit easier. Arrived around 04:40 and Rajeevan was already there, eagerly waiting to hit the sand with the big blue Wrangler. Syed Salman could not make it due to technical issues on the TJ. @Incognitoes was incognito today.. As we had a strong convoy I decided to brush the newbie+ level to see how our friends were doing and i wasn’t disappointed. Having seen some people grow this much in a matter of weeks makes me really happy. Things went so well that we reached Fossil Rock in around 90 mins although we played around a lot on the way there. After a chat with my sweep team @Wrangeld and @Jeepie we both decided nothing was gonna hold us back today and we would head out to Faya. We took the easy track to make sure we had enough play time in Faya and came across @Ale Vallecchi and @Vanessa8580 their convoy who was doing almost same route but in reverse direction. Upon reaching Faya we see another Carnity convoy, this time our Intermediate crew under the lead of @Javier M. They were putting tire tracks on every square meter of the area, and we decided to play on the side of Faya and do some small ridge riding on the smaller dunes towards the buggy rental exit point. It seems Carnity convoys are taking over the UAE deserts. To all newcomers, rest assured that Carnity has big future plans and that you have come to the right place for safe off-roading adrenaline ! @Jorge Stepniak Felippe was doing his first second lead and I was very impressed as he managed it brilliantly and was pro active in rerouting and communicating with the convoy. I thank all who joined and hope to meet you all soon again ! IMG_8094.MP4

Well done @asifk that’s one of the things we always preach to help out others and especially now you have obtained the skills to do so !

RSVP is now closed for this drive. @Jorge Stepniak Felippe will be our second lead tomorrow, as he has done quite some drives with us now and always possessed good control and communication. We will be having a good mix of Newbie and Fewbie level drivers, and according to the response we can slowly bump up the level and see what the Mahafiz Jungle has in store for us. @Wrangeld will be our flying sweep tomorrow, which means he can move around within the convoy and take in temporary positions within the convoy whenever required. He will also be your main line of support. Deflation is an important thing, and will make the difference between struggling and making it through the soft patches without issues. So please deflate to 12-13psi and double check again after +/- 2 hours. If you have 2 pressure gauges you can crosscheck them as we have seen sometimes big differences inbetween the different pressure gauges. As always we are strictly adhering to the COVID19 precautions, so please take note of this and keep things safe for everyone. This drive will start at 05:00. After deflation we will arrange the convoy numbering as above and head out immediately. Radio channel 2 will be used for all communication (446.03125 Mhz). Please make sure you have your radio programmed as per our Walkie Talkie tutorial. See you tomorrow !

Hi @Edgar Welcome to Carnity Offroad Club. This drive is a Newbie drive, as you are currently still Absolute Newbie within the club, we have a special drive for this level coming Friday in Al Qudra. Please sign out of this drive and sign up on the other drive as there is still available space.

Shoot that Mechanic.... I've heard the same excuse from incompetent mechanics so many times before. If they can't find it they just start throwing excuses around. There are many possible reason for sluggish behavior. Did you try with another MAF sensor, or just unplugging it to see if there is any difference ? It will throw a Check Engine Light when you unplug it, but should reset itself when you put it back. I do not believe his story about the transmission. You should try to find a guy who is willing to spend a day going through all possibilities. 0-100 in 23 seconds is indeed an issue. In my particular case of sluggish engine, it was the timing that was slightly off, which resulted in good mileage but horrible performance. Since i got that sorted the car has been fine and plenty powerful for a little 3.0 Other things that rob power is the AC or clutch fan if it's fully engaged, the CAT that might be blocked, faulty sensor throwing wrong data to the ECU, clogged injectors, faulty spark wires or coil pack....

Thanks. It shows now. See you on Friday !

@Incognitoes please formally acknowledge below post by clicking on the "totally agree" icon in the below post. Otherwise you will not be allowed to join in on the drive. Thanks.

@Rajeevan Vickneswaran @syed salman raza @sertac @Mehmet Volga @Incognitoes @marks @Leo Francis @Jorge Stepniak Felippe @Jun Zamora @George Francis @Febin Frederic @Yousef Alimadadi @Wrangeld Please acknowledge that you’ve read the COVID-19 precautions topic by clicking on “Totally Agree” in below topic: This topic will remain open, so once you’ve agreed for this weeks drive it will be saved for future drives. Thanks.

Due to the low weight the Koleos did quite well during the winter time. Now with the summer conditions and soft sand it would have had a very hard time i think.

With the tremendous increase in the number of COVID cases in the UAE, we all have to be responsible while off-roading. Failing to abide by any single precaution at any time during the drive, will result in an immediate ban from Carnity Off-road Club. ZERO TOLERANCE First offender - 1 Month Ban. Second offender - 3 Month Ban. Third offender - lifetime ban and report to authorities. COVID19 PRECAUTIONS 2.0 All Carnity off-road drives will be LIMITED to driving only: No Socializing and gathering allowed at any time. No break for taking photos, breakfast, smoking, etc. No exchanging of off-road or recovery gears. Wear a mask at all times, while outside your vehicle. For passengers restrictions, follow RTA or NCEMA guidelines. All passengers should be inside the car, at all times. Maintain a minimum of 2-meter social distance at all times. Sanitize your hands and recovery gear after use. PS1. If you and your passenger cannot sit inside your vehicle for 3-4 hours please DO NOT JOIN CARNITY DRIVES. PS2. A Member who has RSVP the drive is RESPONSIBLE and LIABLE for their passenger's compliance. PS3. The above precautions apply to everyone irrespective of their vaccination status or schedule. PS4. You can confidentially submit the photo of any offender by sending an email to [email protected]. How to comply Read the drive post before arriving at the meeting point, so that you know your convoy numbering and radio channel. Arrive at the meeting point and switch on your radio to the pre-set frequency of the drive. Stop your vehicle at least 10-20 meters away from each other. Deflate your tires, while wearing a mask, and then go back inside your car. All briefings will be done on the radio now, so pay full attention to a briefing for your own safety. After the briefing, fall in your convoy position just before the drive starts. While driving if you get stuck, announce on the radio and be inside your car at all times. Trip lead and/or support will guide you on the radio for self-recovery or tow-rope recovery. While there is a stuck or a refusal, everyone else supposed to be inside their car at all times. You can only take a bio-break during the drive, by requesting trip lead permission. Once the drive is over exit out to inflate by maintaining 10-20 meters distance from each other. While inflating, only the driver supposed to be out and with the face mask at all times. After the drive, you can talk on the radio for any feedback, suggestions or help you need.

Hi @Nabeel Ahmed welcome to Carnity. There have been indeed numerous issues with the Nissan CVT transmissions. From what i've heard from 2018 onwards they upgraded to a new engine and transmission but still issues were being reported. You can be lucky and be troublefree, and i think it also largely depends on the maintenance the previous owner has done. If the tranmissions fluids were not replaced in time, the CVT will definitely have a short life. The Corolla also has CVT transmission, but i hear little to no problems about them. Also the resale value of a Corolla is simply amazing, and is overall a bit boring but super reliable commuter car.

The wiring set looks like this. So you have the 2 wires (red and black) to hook up to your LED bar (the ones on the left of the photo). And then you have a red wire (the one with the copper ring) that you need to hook up to the + of your battery. The black wire with the copper ring you can also mount/bolt to your metal frame or chassis, as this is the ground wire.

They sell the cabling set also, so if you're a bit handy to mount the lightbar, the electrical work only involves connecting the red and black wire and you're good to go. (the cabling set comes with the button, relay, etc... already wired up).

If i remember correctly, that number describes the average number of drives you'll need to do before being upgraded to the next level. So in the case of a Newbie, he does on average 4-5 drives before being promoted to Fewbie, and a Fewbie does on average 10 drives (or 16 Newbie + Fewbie drives combined) to become eligible for the Intermediate level. This of course depends on a few other factors such as attitude, willingness to learn, online contribution, and if we have had the chance amongst the marshals to discuss the individual driver. Like mentioned, these are averages. We have in the past promoted people from Newbie to Fewbie sometimes faster because they had prior experience in other clubs, and their offroad experience clearly showed they were ready for that level.