Frederic

DRIVE DESCRIPTION Conveniently located on the border of Dubai and Abu-Dhabi, Faqa has lots to offer to practice your offroading skills. We will be starting off with some open dunes, venture into some smaller technical dunes, and top it off in an area called Little Sweihan, all while keeping a good pace. READY SET GO ! MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Off-road Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquette's Emergency details for all off-roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 23 Nov 2025 Meeting time: 07.00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TKNuqusSdH7bkrzc9 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, smiles, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 10.00-10.30am Mandatory off-road gears: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit, and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: This drive is limited to 10 cars only. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy 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 below calendar

This was indeed a blessed morning out with such a nice group of people! The sunset on the way to the drive, emerging from behind the Oman mountains, was already a first glimpse into what we could expect today: a drive in a more deserted area where we could all feel "out of this world" for a couple of hours. The first elevated group of dunes was indeed interesting, as the dune formations were very irregular, which meant we needed to drive carefully, had a lot of steep drops, but this was perfect practice terrain. Not just for Fewbies, but for every off-roader. Here we came across the deserted Jimney that we also noticed the last time we were there with @J-P L in March i believe. Once we reached the fence of the military base, we looped back and started moving southwards towards the second elevated areas. During this southward crossing, we encountered a few strange things: first a couple of teenagers sitting next to their Landcruiser that got themselves stuck with so much plastic litter around them i can only assume they spent the night next to the car and ate all their snacks their mom gave them 😆 A bit further a second desert Landcruiser, where the driver even left his slippers behind 🤣 and two dunes further away a deserted Y62 Patrol. For a moment if felt like we were in a kind of dystopian post-apocalyptic UAE.... The last part consisted out of smaller dunes but as the terrain was quite regular, we could "flow" over it and like Thomas mentioned, the radio silence said it all. I think all of us enjoyed this last part, even though this drive was not a "dunebashing" kind of drive, more like a soul-cleansing one We found a nice scenic tree close to the exit where we did a small debriefing, and it was so nice to see the positive reactions on this kind of drive and terrain. It proves that off-roading has many faces, and that every terrain has something to offer. We just need to dip our toes into it and observe to see what it can bring us. There was an ADNOC nearby but needed a bit of a detour to reach. The fence that was open the last time i was there was now closed, so we had to reroute a bit. Will take this into account for next drive. Thank you all for joining, and @Zed for the help and keeping the convoy flowing. See you all in the sands soon!

Congrats @Michael asir !! Start polishing your shovel 😁

RSVP IS NOW CLOSED @nithish468@Thomas54675@Steffi@Abdullah A.@Zahid Sharif@Danie@saumik1989@Suneedh Wrangler@Zed Thank you all for joining! We will be using Channel 4 tomorrow: 446.081Mhz. Please try to arrive by 6.45AM so you have time to deflate and set up the flag. I'd like to get the convoy moving by 7.15 latest, so we can enjoy the marvelous weather. See you all in the morning!

Hi @Heavenkepper! You are lucky: A Nissan Xterra does not need much as it's very capable in stock condition. There are however a few points to consider: 1. Technical condition. Get it checked completely and serviced before taking it on the sand. Breaking down in the desert is not fun. 2. The stock tow points/recovery points (front and back) can be a bit weak. Many Xterra owners upgrade these. If yours still look OK and are not entirely rusted they will do fine, but if you plan to take it regularly into the desert, it is highly recommended. 3. A custom made bash-plate is a good addition if you start off-roading regularly. It will protect your radiator. 4. A flag holder will be necessary if you drive with the club. Suction cup is a good alternative. The reason you don't have a VDC switch is because the basecamp model did not come with traction control. At least that's one less thing to worry about You will however need to turn off the ABS. This can be done by pulling the ABS fuse inside the electrical fuse box of the engine bay. If you don't like pulling this ABS fuse every time, you can get a killswitch installed, which is a small switch located underneath the dashboard that allows you to turn off the ABS instantly without having to pull any fuses.

Congrats @Carl Stanley!!

DRIVE DESCRIPTION In an attempt to find better off-roading pastures, we are heading to Al Hayer, an area often overlooked by off-roaders due to the vicinity to Sweihan. Last time we had some good fun in this area. Hopefully another great morning out with exploration-minded people MUST READ AND COMPLY Environmental Policy Off-road Flag Guideline Two Way Radio Guideline Off road Driving Etiquette's Emergency details for all off-roaders Off Road Driving - Roles & Responsibilities DRIVE DETAILS Level: Fewbie and above When: 15 Nov 2025 Meeting time: 07.00 AM (SHARP - Without any exceptions) Meeting Point: https://maps.app.goo.gl/aTs1HUh6yH9wBabL6 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, smiles, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. Approximate finish time: 10.00-10.30am Mandatory off-road gears: Tire deflator, tire pressure gauge, compressor, walkie-talkie radio, off-road flag, shovel, first-aid kit, and fire extinguisher. LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE: This drive is limited to 10 cars only. If the RSVP is full, you can add your name to the waitlist, once anyone drops, you will be moved to the RSVP list. RSVP will close a day prior to preparing a convoy 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 below calendar

Amazing tip ! Never realized this !

Thank you all for joining again! With such a long train, i was expecting some struggles along the way, as we combined farm tracks with some technical passages in the dunes. But all of you really drove fantastic today! The weather was an absolute bliss, and i look forward to more drives like this coming winter, including full day drives, perhaps a 7 Emirates drive again, and definitely some drives in the mountains Fantastic support by @Aser, @J-P L, and @Mehmet Volga. Without your help i would have never taken the risk of a 20 car convoy, so thank you so much for stepping in. See you soon in the sand again! Photo gallery can be found here: Newbie - Scenic Northern Trails - RAK - 08 Nov 2025 - Carnity.com