Ilya

Hi @Emmanuel and team, just want to post this video here (subscribed to this guy on Instagram) - how would you rate the difficulty of this dunes and drive? Also - can you recognize the place where it was taken in Abu Dabi? (could be a destination for one of the future extreme drives)

Short memories from the drive

17 hours ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

ready to go (i.e. already deflated and flagged) by no later 

Would be great to incorporate this wording into the standard meeting's announcement template

1 hour ago, Mohamed Seidam said:

Please bring the toy with you tomorrow please in @Lorenzo Candelpergher drive 🙏🏻

I borrowed this one for a weekend only. Mine will come by next weekends only 😬

5 hours ago, Srikumar said:

Trip Report

It's been a while since I have been so satisfied after a drive. With a last minute back out of my previous IM drive, when @Foxtrot Oscar mentioned that she might not be able to do the drive, I immediately jumped on it with both hands. Thanks Angela for letting me lead this drive.

The adrenaline is still racing a bit when I reminisce the events of yesterday, and the full credit goes to the entire convoy for keeping up the pace thought the drive. Honestly, at one point I stopped looking at the rear view mirror and kept driving as I was quite confident that everyone would make it through.

What is even more commendable is that we had a lot of first time IMs with us, and they also matched up the pace. And also wherever it was not possible to scale the full height they would exit out early and then reroute to rejoin the convoy. This is an important lesson for all Intermedtae drivers that it's important to understand your car limitation and keep continuously driving so that the convoy doesn't stop. Well done.

@MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQQ was my second lead and he did a fantastic job of keeping the right distance, stopping when he noticed me struggling and following instructions to reroute the convoy.

We had @Ahab Shamaa

and @Abu Muhammad who provide a lot of support in helping recover the stuck cars when needed. Unfortunately the drive did have it's fair share of casualties with @Yasas Dharmadasa radiator pipe coming loose and his car overheating in one bowl, followed by a busted radiator for @Athula Dharmadada at Super bowl. It again stresses the importance of having well maintained cars (probably more maintenance than what you do with a road driven car) while doing fast paced IM drives. Since we were only half way into the drive when Yasas car had overheated, we decided to leave it behind and continue with the drive, and come back after an hour to pick it up. We then had the second incident with Athula's car, just after he scaled Super Bowl. While it was clear that Athula's car would need a mechanic to get it repaired, we were still hopeful that we could go back and get Yasas's car out. That's when we started a night drive session. Unfortunately, with some crank noise coming from his engine it was best to leave it and to get a mechanic the following day. Hope you guys are able to sort out the issue. 

Fantastic driving by the entire convoy of @MUHAMMAD Kashif RAZZAQ @Rizwan Waheed@Athula Dharmadada @Yasas Dharmadasa@Abu Muhammad @Ilya Golubinsky @Ashok chaturvedi @siddharth maheshwari @Jack Thomas @Ahab Shamaa . You all did really really well and I hope you enjoyed the ride. As for myself, I hope that I would be able to drive with you guys in the near future on the same route and traverse some of the dunes that we missed yesterday. Till then, take care and drive safe.

Thanks @Srikumar and team, it was one of the best intermediate drive. A short video is on youtube

I've recently got this one as a second tripod. Surprisingly robust and strong for 18 AED(!!!), keeps good my Sony A7 with the lens. Extremely good for trips when you limited with weight and space, and when you unsure whether you will need a tripod or not

https://www.amazon.ae/Flexible-Tripod-Octopus-Spider-Holder/dp/B07MJ3FHMC/ref=sr_1_4?crid=WNUQIUCII8OZ&dchild=1&keywords=tripod+flexible&qid=1613644812&sprefix=tripod+flex%2Caps%2C262&sr=8-4

Hi @sertac, please add my to the WL, 2nd drive

Hi @Emmanuel, sure, after promotion to IM I've done 4 intermediate and one Fewbie as a second lead, so 5 in total but 4 in IM

2 hours ago, Mohamed Seidam said:

 

Great video, thanks Mohamed

We are in a unique situation here, in Carnity in the UAE. We have plenty of Jeeps - stock and lifted, with 285/70 and 315/70, we have many high sand dunes - so we can run a proper set of tests and even film it  The aim of the test is ONLY to test the car's adherence to sand. It can be a dedicated drive - why not?
The disadvantages of having big tires are clear and not questioning (however, it sims that with 285/70 has nearly none of  them), people who go for big tires usually understand it and accept it as a price for a nice look

I put 315/70 on my Sahara just recently (made it for a great look only, actually wanted to go to 305/70, but it was impossible to find them in the UAE).
I had a strong feeling that the car easier drives on the sand (I am only talking about the adherence).  BUT I can't exclude the placebo effect, that's why I am open to doing a comparison

20 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Did you had to get the tyres balanced after installation?

Yes, wheels must be disassembled for installation, and these parts are quite heavy - so for sure

Installed these Fast Deflation tire vales - absolutely love it. In Formula Tires got them at 550AED with the installation

Deflating the tire in 15 sec (I normally do 2 meausures to catch the correct pressure, but in any case it takes another 5 sec per tire)

@Rahimdad, I am not questioning the importance of skills (skills are much much more important than anything else), I believe this is why many of us here, to learn
What I am saying is, that with equal skills in the equal conditions 35'' might be better than the stock ones for Wranglers. Because there are arguments supporting this and not, I proposed doing a test  

Also, big tires don't come alone,  you normally do new suspension, shocks, etc.. so you can drive faster on bumpy areas, so you can get more momentum for the place you need it.. but this is one more time about driving technics and skills. I think the original topic was more about traction and adherence itself

1 hour ago, Rahimdad said:

@Ilya Golubinsky thank you for your kind suggestion. This exercise is not something which we can take care off in an hour or a drive. It should be personal responsibility and commitment over several drives in different terrain to know what best suits you and your car.

As physics/theory of the phenomenon was described, the most correct and reliable way of the experiment would be exactly a set of short "laboratory" experiments, to eliminate the impact of driver's skills, etc. 

On the other side, conducting a real scientific experiment will not be easy, as usually with widens you also get a bigger overall diameter. So we actually don't know what factor's impact is growing faster, and in practice, we can only do a comparison between standard and large (wight + diameter) wheels. 

It seems to me that at least Wranglers perform better on upgraded 33", rather than on stock. On 35" without regearing you losing power significantly (I feel it very clear), so by default 33 can be better than 35, easily. But after regearing - not sure. 

Would be great to have a clear experiment. We have a lot of Wranglers, with both stock and and upgraded tires. So we can shoose hill with no bumps (so driver can just drive), soft sand, same starting point, manual gear... Happy to be part of this excersise!

Please add me to the wl, second drive this week

A little bit of ridge riding shots here

A short video from the drive. Thanks to @Goutam and @Francois Germishuys, their shots where also used here

We are pumping, will be 10 min late based on the google maps. Is it still ok to join? If not - it will be of course well accepted

Hi @Foxtrot Oscar, is in not too late to join the drive?

Hi @Emmanuel

I've done probably less than 5, but during last monthes I did a few serious drives + lifted my JLU + added larger wheels. Any chance to get into the drive?

Thanks @Emmanuel, @Kalahari for a great ride that was on the edge of my skills
A short video, mostly featuring @Yousef Alimadadi

Congratulations, @Chaitanya D!!!

Hi @Ale Vallecchi, yes, confirmed. Thanks and see you tomorrow!