Ruan van den Heever

@Mehmet Volga an absolute perfectly executed drive in Sweihan this morning. And Mark for your lead during the latter part of the drive - thank you. It was exciting and some perfect lines. The pase was fast and continuous which meant that all drivers had to concentrate without interruption. I made two mistakes. Apologies @JeromeFJ for having had to quickly recover from 2 refusals which also had you break convoy and re-attempt. I had an absolute fabulous drive with @JeromeFJ at the back. Our CF were tremendous but unfortunately not too many people to dig out. Today you had an easy job with excellent drivers. Job well done. We had a few pop-outs...but that was to be expected as our leads drove like bats out of hell. Perfect! This however, was the good part of the day. Some angels looked over us today. @JeromeFJ and I were the last two cars to cross a ridge this morning with the rest of the convoy already cleared. As I was climbing the steep ridge, suddenly another well known convoy crossed the huge dune from the other side and drove directly infront of me. I immediately stopped, on a very difficult spot on the face of the dune. What is sad is that the other convoy did not even stop. The entire convoy crossed and kept in driving. @JeromeFJ can probably confirm better than me as he was seeing the incident from behind me, but the cars crosses probably 2 meters infront of my Jeep from the other side of the dune. It was a very close call. I am not a naturally scared person but this incident had me a little rattled for a few seconds. Alas, I made a loop and crossed the dune after waiting for the other convoy to clear. I dont think it was a fault of us or the other convoy.....no-one could see each other. But they could have stopped or slowed down. Keep your eyes open guys. Stay safe and have fun. Thumbs up and all my respect for the safety implemented by Carnity.

New location noted! Start your engines.

🚙🚙 Let's go Let's go Let's go.......pick up the pase. I cannot wait for this drive

@Lorenzo Candelpergher, my sincerest apologies. I am always excited about your drives. I have to unfortunately pull out from tomorrow's drive due to peraonal reasons. I hope you have a unforgettable morning drive. By the way, what was the result of your Jeep's problem during our last drive?

Thank you very much!

Will be my only drive for the week

Wish I could join this drive....

Congratulations to all in this drive. I cannot wait to get there...

This seems like a fun drive....well organized. Hope everyone enjoys the drive.

Hi, I see that only 9 people RSVP'd for the drive but that the RSVP limit has been reached. Is it possible to waitlist me for the drive please. Regards

.....and hoping for a lot of criss crossing.....

The fun is at the back I agree....but the snake is also slower at the back. Second lead gets to drive at a fast pase....😁 I will have to be very carefull with fishtailing tomorrow......no 2 wheel driving while I am being watched 🤪

The poor Jeep.....always in the back. We are experts in loose sand..I even took off the full roof to make it lighter in the sand 🤣

Push it Sri, push it. The Y62 has a lot of power

Good evening Frederic. I am terribly sorry to leave this event. I am still ill and will not be able to make the drive. Regards and Enjoy!

You see....we like to think we are clever engineers....but then....

I can agree with this!!! Feathering the throttle is quite tricky - Fuel consumption - 😆😆 - no one buys a Wrangler for its efficiency. Moving a building on wheels would probably have less air resistance than a Wrangler.

This will sound strange......however, when driving offroad I drive with both my feet. My right foot on the gas pedal and I brake with my left foot. I have learned how to control the gas pedal of the JK in such a way to keep my engine revolutions just on the right place to keep the gearbox from switching between 1st and 2nd when I need to do so. When I'm done climbing I simply release the gas or press it harder to force the gearbox to switch over. But this means that I have to listen to the sound of the engine also. It works well, and it also stops me from running into the ever irritating rev limiter which happens when the gearbox is forced into 1st on a uphill climb or long side slope.

I also very seldom need to use the tiptronic. Jeep runs in D most of the time 😁

This drive is going to be epic!

I would be hesitant to drive the Jeep in 4L on a drive like yesterday however, I dont have a manual box. I do however mostly on climbs shift manually to force the Jeep inside its torque band and keep it there. The gearbox oil on the (well on my) Jeep is circulated through its own oil cooler which is situated infront of the radiator. Apart from that there is also the condensor of the airconditioner. All of which is situated infront of the Jeep's radiator, quite a warm business all in one spot. So the air reaching the radiator is already being heated before even getting there. I noticed over time, and this is one of those small things which one at first notices and then say...."maybe Im seeing things that aren't there" .....but in summer when I drive the Jeep hard in a convoy my engine water temperature reaches a warmer temperature than what I expect. Now I know the Jeep runs hot. And when I say hot, the V6 likes to operate between 95 and 105 degree celcius. I mean the thermostat only starts to open at 95 and fully opens at 105. The thermostatic fan only comes on at around 95 on its slow speed and the fastest PWM control only kicks in at 120 degrees celcius. Ive driven with the ODB2 scanner in the Jeep a few times during a drive with Carnity and I average between 100 and 110 degree celcius on a good day whilst we push through the sand. I decided a while back to import an offroad 8 core full aluminium radiator for the Jeep, installed it (which was a "lady dog" to do as it is 25mm thicker than stock) and alas, I now am able to continuously push in the sand whilst being able to handle all the hot air through the transmission oil cooler and aircon condensor infront of the radiator and keep the water temp below 105 degrees at all times. But believe me....it is still pretty warm in that nose!

First of all....a thousand shout outs to @Lorenzo Candelpergher for a flawless lead, exciting and excellently executed. @Srikumar.....you have a serious challange picking up the pase. (Internal joke amongst the AD boys). Seriously, whether a F+ drive is supposed to touch on intermediate driving without sustaining it on a permanent basis or not..... @Lorenzo Candelpergher did not only pick up the pase during certain instances today, he redefined the entire damn meaning. Momentum of the convoy was key to keeping every driver concentrated and on the edge of their seats. Further, I have to correct myself. I did have a popout before. It was on a night drive with @Srikumar. The same evening that my front left swaybar linkage broke and I was left with limited steering due to a flipped swaybar. It was a @Tbone assisted fix. Thank you for assisting with the fix today @Lorenzo Candelpergher and @Gaurav Soni. Today was fun and most of all a teaching school. I love driving at the back of the convoy, it challanges car and driver. Untill next time. Safe driving!

We all win - some of us just win on big dunes and others on heaps of sand.......we like it when the Dubai drivers join in Abu Dhabi!

These Dubai boys are judging us lightly...🤫

I had to depart for South Africa unexpectedly for a while. Unforseen cirxumstances. As long as you bring with you the F en F+ drives....we are waiting. See you soon