Thomas Varghese

1 minute ago, Vaibhav said:

@Shaaz ShaAmazing drive. Loved every single bit of it.  everyone drove very well with very few refusal and good self recovery. 

@Ashok chaturvedivery good job with 2nd lead and informing the behind car of the terrain. 

@munkybizness excellent job with being the CF and guiding all the one with refusals 

@Thomas Vargheseless Action for you as a sweep as everyone drove well but you being in the convey is always fun. looking forward to the pictures

Pics are already in the gallery

Hi @Shaaz Sha and fellow desert offroaders,

I have a suggestion to make regarding the name of this drive. It should have been Dune, Dunes & More Dunes.

OMG what a drive. Right from the beginning to end it was only one dune after another. After climbing some dunes and then encountering more which looked so impressive as super bowl, iftar bowl, pink rock or big red I started to awe about the dunes in that particular area. Wherever you look there are more dunes beckoning us to climb them and @Shaaz Sha gave us our fill of dune bashing today. The best part is no one in the convoy shied away from the challenge and infact seemed to enjoy them and thirst for more as if its dunes for breakfast. I even liked the part when the lead @Shaaz Sha stopped his car and let us play the climbs under his watchful eyes. Man we had our fill of dune bashing today. 

After deflation and putting up our flags to start the drive @Ashok chaturvedi sir just eyed the dune next to us and jokingly commented let us start by climbing this mean looking dune. Shaaz who always prepares the recipe for his drive slowly and gives us the time for warm up just started the drive by climbing the mean looking dune next to us like he put all the chilli, onions, mustard and the remaining spices into the hot oil in one shot and just wroomed into the dune with Ashok trailing him as a good 2nd lead. None in the convoy hesitated and followed the lead and the 2nd lead without batting an eye lid. The tone of the drive was set from that time. Don't know how Shaaz got this amazing route. 1 dune, 2 dune, 3 dune, dunes after dunes followed. The convoy responded better than a Fewbie Plus level and elevated themselves to an IM level or sometimes even into an Extreme level when it came to climbing those dunes. @Stav,@Waqas Parvez, @Vaibhav, @Rsjiv Samuel, @MMansoor, @imranaasghar81, @Junaid120120 all drove extremely well considering the terrain with minimal refusals or stucks. 

Thank you Mayank @munkybizness for displaying your prowess in tugging out @Stav from the crested situation - I believe it was the only time the rope was needed. He displayed his worthiness as a true CF by ready with clear instructions when someone had a refusal which was rare today. I believe he will soon apply for his role as a support team member and will be a good team player. 

What should I comment for our 2nd lead @Ashok chaturvedi. I will not as he is a very senior member in @Carnity and executed the responsibility perfectly as per the wishes of the lead. 
 

In short we had enormous fun in the morning. Will join more of Shaaz drives in the future.         

On 1/17/2022 at 12:15 AM, Abdul Basit Khan said:

@varunmehndirattathanks buddy for assisting me to get rid of 4X4 blink when i disengaged 4X4. for X Terra 2010.

Tip for X Terra users: from 2006-2016. when you disengaged the 4X4, you will see the 4X4 sign blinking Don’t worry just drive around 200 Mtr, it will disappear automatically. 

Can’t wait to meet the desert again. 🏜

4 X 4 dashboard indicator disappearance in Xterra - Nissan Xterra Forum in UAE - Carnity.com

The reason for the 4X4 lights blinking is because of 2 reasons in Xterra. 1. The transfer case is still under stress and the car cannot disengage from 4X4 mode to 2X4 mode. Easiest way to stop the lights flashing and to re engage 2X4 is to reverse the car a car length. Powering the car with short bursts on the accelerator while going forward also helps but not as instant as reversing the car. If your lights stopped flashing and 2H engaged after driving 200 mts consider yourself lucky as its not very usual for the transfer case to release the built up stress with this run unless you gave the short bursts of power. 2. The second cause is more troublesome as sometimes the transfer case actuator motor solenoid becomes weak. Need to get it replaced as soon as you can. As you cannot get the solenoid separate you have to replace the motor.   

Hi @Shaaz Sha sorry I got to leave the drive for personal reasons. Give my spot to the next in the waitlist. 

@Islam Soliman due to a meeting which came up I have to withdraw from the drive. See you later in the sands. 

Just now, varunmehndiratta said:

Am i checking somewhere wrong ...the earliest I was able to find on SEHA app was at Dubai Parks for 29th, while checking on 26th. 

My experience with result has been good though, last 3 times got done always got it in 6-10hours...struggled always with appointment. 

As far as I understand with SEHA PCR appointments booking even if your appointment is some other day and time they will accept you once you show up with the appointment bar code. They want you to book the appointment because they need your payment online. This is what SEHA Khawaneej told me when I showed up without an appointment. They made me book an appointment for some other day and made me pay online and asked me to proceed for the PCR screening then and there.  

8 minutes ago, Sunil Mathew said:

Congrats @Looper...getting into some serious stuff ya 😉😉 ?? wish you less of looping around, more of tugging and digging 😄😀

Now he can't. He is brand ambassador for loops. Check out his car & jacket 

1 minute ago, Hisham Masaad said:

Good morning @Yesu Yarlagaddadepend where are you in Dubai, but most of the off-roaders shops they have, dragon mart, Ace hardware, and on line (which not sure you will get it before saturday) e.g. noon 😉

Speedex too in Sheikh Zayed Road. Dragon mart flags are cheaper compared to Ace & Speedex 

1 minute ago, ASAD. said:

anyone here who can provide feedback on the new Xterra btw? I dont like the shape though but it still looks high enough and robust offroader. 

its a 2.5 l turbo engine car. Off road capabilities? Probably you can do a newbie, fewbie drive. Not the above levels. Nothing like the XTERRA of yesteryears. Its like the Pathfinders which came after the classic Pathfinder. 

It was almost same story here. When I went to Arabian Auto to purchase my sedan in 2010 I had seen the Xterra in the showroom. I didn't like the shape of the car and didn't even bother to look inside to see what the car is all about. For me it looked like the ugliest SUV I have ever seen and made up my mind I will never even buy such a bad looking car. Fast forward to 2020, when I 1st drove the Xterra as it was forced on to me, the moment I took it out of the basement it was resting for 2 years and went for a spin in Deira I wanted to kick myself for not buying one of these as new in 2010. I fell in love with the car that moment. What a loss the company discontinued this model in 2015 and there is no way I could experience a new Xterra. 

1 minute ago, Zixuan Huang - Charlie said:

I hope I'm still qualified for this drive, at least somewhere on my car says Xterra

 Both share the same engine, same gear, probably the differentials too and of course the same suspension. Pathfinder is a more comfortable car than Xterra but I believe the weight is slightly more than the X.  

3 minutes ago, M.Seidam said:

May be we should do an Xterra drive day , what say you Xterrians ? 😅 we can have a supersonic 🚆 ,  🤣

I'm in. 

13 minutes ago, Foxtrot Oscar said:

100% 

I had the Montero Sport and started my off road adventures in that , loved it , very comfortable but doesn’t have the power of the X.

 

The Xterra is just a dream, look after it well and you can drive the hell out of it in the sand . 
 

it’s also my daily commute car . The only upgrades I have are a skid plate and apple car play system .  
 

ps nice pic of the Rebelle X @Thomas Varghese

Its the best picture I shot that day. The shot denotes power, about to sprint into the unknown but the best feeling I get seeing that pic is the car looks majestic. 

1 minute ago, Looper said:

Of course Xterras are huge demand now, with you @Thomas Varghese acting as as pro bono brand ambassador for them and promoting it, it’s no surprise @Gaurav Soniis struggling.

I love my car @Looper. More than that I love the red Xterra of @Shaaz Sha. Its a beauty to watch it scaling all the dunes available here. It just keeps on going and going. Never shies from a climb. Wish my car can do the same. My car does 90% of what that red Xterra does. 

Congrats Goutam @Looper for the well deserved promotion to support team. I had blessed you when you donated your kinetic rope to me when we drove last time. By the way the rope was helpful in my last drive. Thank you.

Does this promotion mean we will see you soon as a lead too? 

18 minutes ago, Rizwanm2 said:

@Immortal Cannot agree any less to what is said here.

  Xterra is serious hardcore offroader but doesn't mean its not good daily driver like other serious offroad cars.  I own my xterra for about 18 months now. Bought it as second car for offroad only. But now i hardly drive my other car. 

I agree that prado is very good choise for family use, offroad and for daily drive aswell. But with 70k budget your probably gona end up with high mileage 2010-2013 model. Instead if u decide for xterra you might probably spend max 50-55k for 2014-15 good condition car. Still you will have some spare cash to spend on mods if you wish or some camping gears. 

The major compromise would be xterra is 5 seater instead of 7 seat in prado. And 80l fuel tank in xterra instead of generous 150l in prado. Other than that everything else is almost similar for both cars even offroad performance.  

Sorry for stirring your thoughts, but this is my 2 cents opinion. 

Happy car hunting.😊

Same here @Rizwanm2. I have my Xterra since Jan 2020. I was driving a 2010 Altima till then. I was proud of my sedan and never thought I would abandon her for my new (old) car. This was actually thrust on me by one of my client so that I could go and repair his majlis inside the desert. I still remember the day I sat on Xterra. Fell in love instantly. My sedan is taking a good rest inside my office parking since almost an year. I only take it out to renew the registration and put it back in its parking. Same with @Shaaz Sha also. He has so many other cars but the only car I find him 90% of the time is his Xterra. There is something in the car which makes you love it. Its powerful, nimble as its light. The seat may not look that peppy and fashionable but I never have my back tiring even when I drive nonstop to Ruwais to see my daughter. 

1 minute ago, Gaurav said:

Thanks @Gaurav.

Just now, Gaurav said:

You can get Xterra from 5-10K to 40-50K depending on models and what you can live with.

2008 - High Mileage in off-season can go as low as 10K, now maybe 15-20K

As far as I know there is a high demand for Xterra's now and a friend had been looking for 1 since a month( @GauravSoni ) couldn't find 1. Other friends I know who purchased Xterra's had to shell out min 35k 

9 minutes ago, Immortal said:

Thanks Asad, TXL engine size is 2.7L or 4.0L?

this looks like ruler of the desert. I love to have one. thanks for the insights @Thomas Varghese

Of course Xterra is a powerful car. Ask Xterra owners in the club @Chaitanya D, @Asif Hussain, @Foxtrot Oscar, @M.Seidam, @Tbone, @Rizwanm2, @Shaaz Sha, @Charbel, @Xavier Treasurer, @Joji varghese, @Kalahari. I don't do any preparations which I go for the drives with club - all the off road gear is already in the boot plus there is enough space to take anything else I require. Just check the fluids, deflate, put up the flag and I'm offroading 

XTERRA is a serious offroader.

I'm proud of my Xterra. Its my daily drive and my offroader. Gives good gas mileage too and maintenance is cheap with all the sharjah and sajja 2nd hand spare parts shops having any part you want for dead cheap prices. Plus very basic technology. You have a 4Hi and 4Lo turn button, off-road versions have the additional advantage of the rear differential lock and some newer versions have hill assist too. That's all. Accelerator, brake, a steering wheel, a gear shift and head light, turn signals. That's it. Considerable boot space too. 

Forgot to mention the VQ 4.0L DE Nissan engine is one of the best engines since 15 or 16 years Produces 271 Hp in stock condition. Enough to vroom over any dune you can find here 

32 minutes ago, varunmehndiratta said:

Hi @Rawad i booked booster slot yesterday for 27th at Dubai Parks... Only element i am counting on is after effects (believe usually stay for 10-12 hours so should be good ). 

@varunmehndiratta the outcome of booster shot depends from person to person. I had my booster yesterday and all was fine till nightfall. Now the arm which took the shot is paining so much with the neck and the back. Too feverish, tired and very sleepy. 

On 1/19/2022 at 4:36 PM, Gaurav said:

50K - Prado for the road.

20K - Xterra for off-road.

Both will do full justice to the road comfort and off-road capability.

 

XTERRA for 20K? 

29 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

I just got my PCR done today, as some people last week experienced 2-3 days to get result.

With 14 days validity now, at least we can plan PCR couple of days in advance.

@Ilya you are right, if your second dose is less than 6 months then you wont get any booster, anyways.

I got my third Pfizer in Dec, so after this today's PCR, I should have green Al Hosn soon 🤞

GMC Hospital in Ajman gives PCR test result in less than 8 hours for a fee of 100 AED. I had taken the test last week after my Covid honeymoon. 

There are no Xterra's rotting in a bowl. Hence no Xterra bowl. 

@Gaurav Is Intermediate Plus a new category?