Jump to content

Damien Ranjit

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    55

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Country

    United Arab Emirates

  • Carnity Points

    0 [ Donate ]

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Damien Ranjit

  8. Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Big Red - Sharjah - 01 Oct 2021

    in Offroad Drives

    Posted

    33 minutes ago, Zixuan Huang - Charlie said:

    @Damien Ranjit

    Make sure you replace with GCC original radiator or the aftermarket one with the same/larger thickness, I believe it's 32mm or 36. I had slight overheating issue with the thinner one.

    I have been using 10mm aluminum skid plate, so far so good, with no obvious dmg yet. And it's my confidence to drive aggressively

    But perhaps You should consider lifting the car a bit. R51 ground clearance is horrible. I spent 500 AED got a full set of suspension spacer on eBay. The lift is obviously helping, and not affecting onroad driving experience, but there is a slight imbalance of tire consumption 

    Thanks for the feedback. Will definitely consider it. 

  9. Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Big Red - Sharjah - 01 Oct 2021

    in Offroad Drives

    Posted

    On 10/1/2021 at 10:14 PM, JamesThorn said:

    @Luca Palanca Falsini thank you for an eventful drive that was full of incidents but also a great experience for us all. 

    @Damien Ranjit hope that your car didn't suffer too much from the rad issues

     

    On 10/2/2021 at 10:02 AM, Luca Palanca Falsini said:

    Hi everyone,
    First of all, thank you to everybody for joining yesterday’s trip. I was amazed by the enthusiasm and the patience that everybody showed during our trip.

    We started with a froggy morning and from the starting point we went directly to Big Red. Had fun with some really nice climbs even if @Enrico Biscaro had some strange beeps on the car then had to switch the car off and on multiple times.

    We played all around the big dune until I decided to continue to the next one. The drive was not smooth  (two nasty stuk, a poput between the others)  but I enjoyed it a lot watching everybody happy. The main issue we had was  during the climb on the dune just next to BR,  @Damien Ranjit damaged the car. During the impact the front skid plate got deformed and broke the radiator. 

    In the meanwhile Shaaz led the rest of the convoy down to the dune, I pulled the Pathfinder out with @Aisha S support.

    Assured that everything was fine I reached the convoy. At that time it was really too late to continue with the original plan. We decided, then, to keep playing around Big Red and exit from the same place we went.
    In 15 minutes @Damien Ranjit assured us that everything was fine.

    I Wanna thank @Aisha S for the great support (next time it will be harder I promise :) ),  @Shaaz Sha for our super sweep, @Archibald Jurdi for the SL  and all of you!

     

    Thank you for joining the drive and I hope to see you very soon on the sand! 
     

     

    20 hours ago, Enrico Biscaro said:

    Yes very annoying, but not effecting the performance of the car. As for the driver the massive distraction did not help when driving. Car back to the mechanic ...In any case here the pluses of the drive

    1. I had the car chip tuned and the observations are
      1. The engine is more silent on the highway 
      2. The Engine revs much more quickly accelerates faster with obvious benefits
      3. Gear shifts are snappier which helps on the dune. A couple of times I felt I'd had a refusal previously because of the slow downshifting 
      4. I was able to climb big red in 1st gear without the car downshifting. (previous week I could not make it half way) 
      5. In all I do feel the HP improvement 
    2. I also installed a cold air intake. 
      1. Not sure if that help, but I can decently see the temperature Gause is visibly lower than befroe
      2. Will monitor the consumption now.
    3. I installed a larger transmission fluid coolant with a fan.
      1. No problem during the drive even after a refusal where I had to use 4Low and rear diff lock 
      2. Hopefully this is sorted for now :-)
    4. I could also see the benefits of the kill switch with the car not trying to manage the wheels and no traction control at all.

    In all I believe the car is at its best now the driver must improve a lot! 

    I fund the sand very soft at times and I had my refusal always when driving too close to the second lead not leaving me room to gain momentum. I said this last week too so now I definitely need to focus on the distance especially when ridging or climbing. 

    Great fun and I hope @Damien Ranjitcar can be fixed without too much trouble 

    Grazie Luca!

     

    What an eventful drive. An all in one package. Thank you @Luca Palanca Falsini  for the roller coaster tug. 

    Have dropped of the car at the garage. Yet to get an update from them. The radiator will need to be replaced. Will go for a thicker skid plate.

    I had gone for 6mm skid plate plus radiator support. But the support was too close to the radiator and instead of saving it killed it. 

    Will miss one or two drives. 😔

    • Thanks (+1) 1

  10. Morning Fewbie Desert Drive - Pac-Man Dunes (Nahel) - Abu Dhabi - 24 Sep 2021

    in Offroad Drives

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Gaurav said:

    Thanks everyone for wonderful drive today, we were really blessed with a great convoy strength and cars to really had such an amazing drive with bare minimum interruptions or delays.

    Apologies for not reaching, showing and highlighting the Pac-Man as that area is now being fenced with a dual layer of fencing. Internal (immediately next to pac-man, visible on sat maps) and external (not spotted on sat map, yet) that spans across 40-50 km. I believe its a new fence laid by Marmum dairy to protect the soil of crop/grass circle (animal feed) or plan to put more grass circles around. I hope people who have exited towards Sweihan side must have seen Marmum dairy on left hand side of Tarmac and just after that dairy there is two HUGE green patch of grass in circle shape is the Pac-Man area.

    Anyways, plan B always work in such situations and why wouldn't when we are in AD, where dunes are so welcoming that any plan will seem good plan in those amazing, clean, tall dunes. Everyone kept a good pace and rhythm to cover almost 50 kms in 3 hours in such amazing virgin dunes and we all managed to explore a wonderful new area for future drives - greater good.

    @Warren Flay you were absolutely amazing in second lead and while reading your above comment I was laughing that many will value the churned up sand, cross track, struggle and fight more than second lead. Its good to have all-round experience and Im glad you've enjoyed the newly tested SL position. Thanks for being very responsible second lead today.

    @S Jacob as I havent heard anything from you during the whole drive means you were simply amazing too and had a good time.

    @John Vanderbleek heartiest congratulations on seeing AD yummiest dunes on your very first fewbie drive. Although at few places it was tad above fewbie level, but you did great. That's how slowly and gently we keep pushing the level to test the drivers ability, sometimes I do it on purpose but today was totally situational. Very minor refusal you had that's part and parcel of this game and you shouldn't worry at all about them. You have a wonderful FJC, keep enjoying the drive, nature and your car.

    @Damien Ranjit you've taken this shape Pathfinder to great heights and I have seen your amazing drive at Iftar bowl too few weeks back. You just need to practice on self-recovery skills as controlling the gas pedal when you are stuck is the biggest job that will get you out faster. Secondly while someone is preparing for a tug, you ALWAYS need to make sure that you are in right gearing. You could've blown your transmission today while in D when Aisha was recovering you from the back.

    @munkybizness Mr. Yokohama supporter driving Geo's today as I haven't heard any refusal or stuck means you've been in complete sync with your beast (I mean Patrol). Nice to see your father on drive today, who is as cool as you when it comes to such sporting activity.

    @Christian Andras it was so good to see you today, after a very long time and that too with your boys to help you deflate, put-up flag and recover. Perfect father-son bonding activity. Hope they have enjoyed today and feeling fine after hitting the tarmac. You've been an amazing center support today considering that we are so tight in the morning. And my apology once again to not to give your rope chance to pull me, after so hard maneuver you did to position yourself. Now you believe too that my Pajero has soul, lolol. I rem something very similar happened last year with @Tbone. I was crested with all 3 wheels spinning, he positioned himself for recovery and soon before he can pull, rear diff-lock did some magic and I was out without a tug.

    @ShereenMK I see you enjoying LC100 it reminds me of my days when I had the same car. Difference was I never manage to learn how to drive off-road properly on that car and you've manage to do that and lot more perfectly. Hope your LC was smiling today that even after you challenge her to get stuck, she didn't gave you any chance and you manage the whole drive with zero stuck. Well done.

    @Santoso Marjuki it's been third drive so far with me and you are getting better after every drive, except the lesson - to not to fight the gravity. Maybe in your next drive you pay close attention to all other drivers doing the sidey, long slopes etc. before you to see how they manage their vehicle after the U-Turn or when momentum fades off - Steer down, steer down, steer down without a question and irrespective if you have 200 hp or 300 hp car. As a law of physics no one can fight gravity without momentum, so when gravity pulls you down, instead of fighting, we simply surrender and point our car nose down towards the gravity and come down slowly. You have a beautiful car and you know how to off-road safely, so just work on this issue with greater presence of mind, focus and attention to detail.

    @Josh T. its always pleasure to see you on any drive. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE your attitude and mindset toward offroading is to enjoy the nature, drive and meet new people - way to go. I keep on telling everyone that instead of racing through the number of drives to seek quick promotion ENJOY THE JOURNEY. And that's what I always see with your positive attitude and approach. Thanks for welcoming Dubai members to Abu Dhabi and enjoying the drive as one big family beyond any borders ;-)

    @Aisha S its the first we drove together and I must say I was impressed with your driving, confidence and steering control on tall climbs. You've been fantastic today with all the banter and keeping an entertaining company. Enjoy your next 3 drives.

    @Arman Thanks for wonderful sweep duties today, hope you have enjoyed the cross tracks and struggle more and it offered you a good breather from your regular convoy position. As always you've been fantastic and good support buddy.

    Have a nice weekend, see you all soon again.

    Definitely a wonderful drive. It was my first drive at AD and definitely worth the long drive from Dubai. The trip was fun as planned and had a lot to offer in terms of scenic and huge dunes. 

    Thanks @Aisha Sfor the rear tug and thanks @Gaurav for noticing the wheel spin and avoiding the Oops movement. Actually the car was not engaging in 4Lo and I had to move it R and D twice before I could get it engaged and it left me diverted. Also thanks for the tip on the self recovery. Will work on it. 

  19. COVID19 Compliant - Newbie Desert Drive - Murquab - Dubai - 30 Jul 2021

    in Offroad Drives

    Posted

    Really an eventful day and lots of fun as promised by @Wrangeld.  

    The second phase was a lot more fun as it was a fast tracked section and hence could feel the shift of pace. It was a totally different desert experience.

    Wonderfull support by @Veedooshee and @Lorenzo Candelpergher Especially in towing a dead car out of the desert. 


    Really happy to see the leadership and to see that @Carnity no-one is left behind. 

    • Like (+1) 2

  20. Skid plate

    in Offroad Drives

    Posted

    Hello everyone, 

    I am planning to get below skid plate installed on my pathfinder R51. Can anyone pls advice if the holes as shown for cooling will be sufficient or do I need to add more holes or enlarge some of them. 

    73AAB70D-B89C-423A-8D60-C28D56BE02C8.jpeg

  22. COVID19 Compliant - Absolute Newbie Morning Desert Drive - Al Qudra - Dubai - 16 Jul 2021

    in Offroad Drives

    Posted

    10 hours ago, Srikumar said:

    Trip Report

    An amazing morning with lovely weather. Also, the presence of more than a few drivers that were driving in the sand for the first time made the challenge all the more exciting.  

    Almost everyone reached the meeting point before time which is much appreciated as we have limited cool hours in the summer months. Just as we were about to leave one of the vehicles had a leaking valve stem and as there was one remaining car that had to deflate we decided to help change the tyre with the spare one. 

    After a proper briefing we ventured on our offroad adventure. The advantage of driving in summer is that there are just a handful of offroad clubs that are active and hence we were greeted by absolute virgin sand. However, the high winds of the past couple of days had altered some of the dune formations in the area resulting in a more cautions approach on some of the dunes. While it seemed we had hard sand, once the top surface was disturbed it brought out the soft sand which resulted in more than a fair share of refusals, but nothing that couldn't be handled. The majority of refusals was because of one of the two reasons :

    1. Stopping in the wrong place. Always stop on a flat surface or with the car pointing downwards

    2. Donot fight gravity as you can never beat mother nature.

    My second lead was @munkybizness who was in his Super Safari and did quite a good job of listening to the instructions and more important acknowledging them regularly. There were places that you were a bit close to my car resulting in refusals, but that is all a part of the learning. For me, the highlight was your self recovery during the second half of the drive. Well done.

    @Damien Ranjit was honestly the car I was kinda worried about prior to the start of the drive, but you managed the entire drive extremely well with minimal refusals. Bravo

    @jerzen provided us with the scare moment of the drive, but even then you managed the situation in those split seconds extremely well to get out of that tricky spot. Also, if you plan to make this a weekend hobby I wouldn't bother worrying about a bit of sand inside your car. 😄

    @ASHFAQ HUSSAIN . @eldose babyand @Alexanderrr demonstrated some very nice skills with minimum refusals. Nicely done guys.

    @Pieter Potgieter while struggled in the beginning with his wrangler, but once w e reduced the pressure a bit further he had a smooth sailing in the remainder of the drive. Just to show the importance of the right tyre pressure which can vary from vehicle to vehicle. 

    @Ramandbx had a beautiful SWB Wrangler and drove it quite well. That is a fun ride to have in the sand, especially once you have mastered the right technique. So keep practicing.

    @AlexM was probably the guy with zero refusals through the drive while being at the end of the convoy. Your previous experience in snow did show and you did extremely well. Well done.

    Finally, a big shout out to @Nivin for supporting not only this AN drive, but so many of my earlier drives when you were just a Fewbie. It was great to drive with you after a long time and look forward to catching up soon once again. 

     

    Moving forward you all will be joining the Newbie drives and not an Absolute Newbie drive. Drives are announced every Sunday at 11 am, and they go live on Sunday at 7:00 pm. Due to the high demand, these drives get full in about 10 minutes, so please be online at 7 pm to book your spot. If you miss a spot, put your name on the waitlist asap. Generally, by Thursday with dropouts everyone does get a spot if they have waitlisted. 

    For the next drives, please bring along a deflator, pressure gauge, flag, compressor and radio as a minimum. 

    • Learn to deflate your tires and checking them precisely
    • Learn to fix a flag on your car
    • Learn to program and fully charge your radio

    Also like I mentioned during the debriefing, join the Carnity Whatsapp Drive Notification to get the latest updates on the drives, so that you can RSVP on time for the next weekend's drive.

    Please have a look at below topic which describes the tools needed for every level. There is a separate tutorial inside which explains which radio we recommend and how to program them: (Please do not buy the Baofeng 888S spare radio we gave you, as these cannot be programmed without a special cable and software).

     

    Please have a look at below grading structure that explains various off-road levels:

     

    See you guys soon on the sand. Take care. 

    First off all I would like to thank both @Sreekumar and @Navin to help me change the tyre and to rest of the team to keep their patience. It was indeed a wonderful trip and i did enjoy every bit. 
     There was a great team spirit and the whole thing went very well. Looking forward to the next trip with Carnity. 

    • Like (+1) 1
    • Totally Agree (+2) 1
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of use

  I accept