Benjamin

Thank you @GauravSoni! Hope to drive with you soon  

Thank you @Mark B I will see you on the next one mate! 
 

@M.Seidamthank you for your kind words I will look forward to driving with you again soon  

@Davie Chase thanks mate I will see you soon! 
 

@Gary F Golden shovels sound expensive… maybe we can split the bill somehow 😂

@Sunil Mathew thank you mate I will see you on the next one  

@Simon D I’m ready for the shoveling. They call me the ace of spades! 😂thank you! 
 

@DP1011 thank you mate  I will see you soon for sure! 

@Gaurav thank you! I’m glad I could make the cut for team carnity it wouldn’t have happened without the help of you and the rest of @CarnityIm looking forward to further improve my skills and aiding new off-roaders how to safely drive in the desert.

@Frederic thank you! I’m definitely considering that golden shovel now 😂 

thank you @Imteeaz I hope to see you soon in a drive!  

Thank you @Looper  

Congrats @Marketa Dobesova well deserved enjoy the faster pace in FB+! 

Great Newbie drive @Ale Vallecchi it has been awhile since I’ve attended this level drive. But they always have their own charm to them, from meeting new faces to testing the limits of different cars it’s always great to share great hobbies with other people (welcome @Aser and @Faraz94 you both did amazing!) 

@DP1011 as per usual great support will look forward to the next one together  

@PETELCZYC PAJERO - luke brilliant second lead! 
 

@essam ibrahim it was very nice seeing your car on the dunes both an off-roader and a luxury experience on road. 
 

@Theo09 thanks for joining me in the back  enjoyed the drive, you did well will see you on the next one 
 

This is a great question @DP1011 I was actually thinking of putting down the same post here for advice. 
 

because I was thinking that if I got a service every 5000kms the service provider would know me by name at that stage 😂 

Personally atleast at my house myself and @Gary F service at 10,000kms  more convenient and better costs in the end of the day. 
 

however I still unscrew the intake  cover and take the filter out of the intake giving it a tap to remove any large amounts of dust or sand, also vacuum out the intake before placing the filter back into the intake.

Hi @Varun Mehndiratta I’ve added myself to your drive  saw some last min dropouts so wanted to wait to make sure someone else got priority before me 

Hi all, the short movie of yesterdays drive can be found here  

https://youtu.be/NX62fjbebeY

It was an amazing drive @Ale Vallecchi I really enjoyed Faqa with very few refusals it was a great experience to revisit these longer range dunes. 
 

I’ll have a video edited shortly @Tom V and @PETELCZYC PAJERO - luke you guys will have appearances in the final edit! 
 

great support from the back @Chris Wing and as always @DP1011 I’ll see you guys soon  

@Pavel Pashkovskiy always a pleasure to meet, your definitely taming the gladiator now with little to no issues, always there with the coffee at the right time  thanks again. 
 

@george charbel great to finally meet you, your doing amazing in 2nd lead, congrats again on your promotion. 
 

@Marketa Dobesova always good to see you out in the dunes, till next time  

@Looper also always good to see you on the drives always gives a good mix between experienced and learning will see you soon. 
 

I hope I didn’t miss out on anyone, but if I did remember that usually means you did so well I didn’t even notice 😂

@Marketa Dobesova I’m coming from Dubai and the petrol station that I could locate (which I’ll be pumping at) is around 20 mins away located here 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/DgifML2kVDN97v9H6?g_st=ic

1 minute ago, Benjamin said:

@Marketa Dobesova I’m coming from Dubai and the petrol station that I could locate (which I’ll be pumping at) is around 20 mins away located here 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/DgifML2kVDN97v9H6?g_st=ic

There is also another one if you head into Dubai industrial city as you pass it but the price rates are a little higher there 

3 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

@Marketa Dobesova I’m coming from Dubai and the petrol station that I could locate (which I’ll be pumping at) is around 20 mins away located here 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/DgifML2kVDN97v9H6?g_st=ic

There is also another one if you head into Dubai industrial city as you pass it but the price rates are a little higher there 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XZLa42fHr6HCBpPz5?g_st=ic Located here 

Hey @Ale Vallecchi I’m available I will see you tomorrow afternoon  

Hey @Ale Vallecchi I’ve added myself to your waitlist to ensure everyone has a fair chance of getting a drive this week. Thanks  

22 minutes ago, george charbel said:

Thank you DP! im sure im gonna need your support more in fewbie plus lol

Thank you Benjamin!, Do i need to get a 392 for faster pace ?

@george charbel nope not at all! I have the V6 pentistar engine! My model is even the sport no issues whatsoever doing anything all the way up to intermediate . Just if you have the same model as mine watch out for your temperature gauge the sport trim and I believe Sahara too have a smaller grille and radiator fans. I had some issues with vvl seals, low battery voltage, crankshaft seal and timing chain gasket seals. Presumably because I was running too hot 😂

@Looper This was an incredible drive! Just managed to get on the list within an hour of drive start which I couldn’t be happier about! Loved the fast paced driving around an area I was familiar with which also showed the great improvement that everyone made from their first few drives in this terrain. 
 

As being part of the 2nd lead int convoy I recorded a series of videos capturing our time in the dunes, I’ve since then edited and called the mini movie “the climb” most of the video consists of a montage of @Varun Mehndirattadriving skills within some of our better climbs I managed to get on camera you can find the video here.

this was such a large convoy that it’s hard to remember the best qualities of the drivers out there. But what this really means is that everyone did amazing at getting through this track not only was it Loopers incredible leading skills but also everyone’s ability to climb more churned up track in the back end of the convoy. 
 

till next time everyone enjoy your week! 

congrats @george charbel  hope you enjoy the faster paced drives!

Hey @Looper I see your wrangler madness! If there is some exception I would love to tag along. If not no worries 😁

I’ve been pondering about all the things I could say about this drive, of course only good things can come to mind. @Hisham Masaad will always be a pleasure driving with you! Every drive you teach me something new even under the circumstances of “yalla push” 

@DP1011 always great to see you man I hope to see you soon on the next one 

@Krishna R thank you for the kind words! We have had many drives together and always will make the ultimate support team one day 💪 the mighty Xterra did some crazy stunts today and managed it through some of the roughest terrains including that airtime. Of course it all comes down to the driver behind the wheel you did amazing mate. 
 
@Marketa Dobesova I can see the practice is paying off in the desert seeing that yellow jeep conquer the dunes is always awesome to see. 
 

@Ignacio Quindós you drove amazingly in the back I’ll look forward to the next one together mate. I believe I managed to get a pic of you behind the sun (posted it in the gallery ) 

Congrats @Pacific on 100 drives you drove exceptionally well today as well  

@Mohamad Anwer always good to catch up man I look forward to the next one! 
 

@Pavel Pashkovskiy thank you again for the coffee it was much needed this morning with a very early start. Your gladiator sounded mint ☘️ climbing those dunes today will see you soon! 
 

please anyone I missed out you guys drove amazing especially if this was your FB drive you all pushed beyond expectations. 
 

Have a good weekend,

Ben 

@Hisham Masaad confirmed! Will look forward for tomorrow morning  

3 hours ago, Frederic said:

Actually you might find it hard to believe but there was an Isuzu Amigo on YOUR Absolute Newbie drive ! These are superb little offroad monsters, driven by a friend of mine @abms2ktrooper

 

@Frederic I love these little off-road cars; I think (could be wrong) that this car in the 90s was actually badged differently depending on the country it was being sold in. 
 

In America it was known as the Amigo, but in Europe it had the badging of Vauxhall 

Definitely a car that would look nice with some retro pinstripes

Congrats @Saverio Arena good job on getting to FB+ faster paced and a lot of fun! Enjoy your first in this level this weekend?  

Nice @Gary F (dad) you’ve caught up to me really quickly! Look forward to the next one together. Deserved int promotion 

Hi @Nilakantan Erode welcome to carnity

I definitely agree with @Krishna R to identify what your full needs are for your second car.

for example you mention this will be used for city driving and weekend off-roading, depending on how much you use the car or the person driving on it will make your decision much easier. 
 

In my case I have a jeep wrangler 2018 sport, I use this for off-roading and daily driving, for me this is perfect and I Don’t worry too much about the on-road experience although it will differ per person. 

34 minutes ago, SamMills1994 said:

Hi Guys,
This is my first post, and I'm brand new to the middle east (3 months) so please be gentle if I ask a silly question!!

I'm definitely keen on the idea of getting into desert driving, but am a complete beginner, I also need a car for day-to-day commuting. I've been looking at the Xterra as they seem to be much more reasonable than Armadas or Patrols.

What I want to know is is it worth looking at new models, e.g. 2022 Xterra 10,000km for 95k (within budget of 100k), or should I be looking at something a bit more rough and ready? 

Would also like to know where the best places to look are, I can only consider dealers, as I don't have cash up front to buy private yet and I don't want to get my pants pulled down.

 

Any and all advice is very welcome!

Thanks, Sam

Hey @SamMills1994 welcome to the Middle East! Off-road desert driving is one of the best experiences you can do in this region, perfect for the car enthusiast, shutterbug, social gatherings, Adrenalin junkie, or even time away from work. 
 

So I Don’t drive an Xterra so @Krishna R, @M.Seidam, @Rizwanm2 @Chaitanya D might be some of the people that might be more qualified in answering your question. 
 

however in my opinion if it’s in your budget a new car is a much better option especially if your planning to off-road. Only reason for this is because used off-road cars could have a list of issues you aren’t aware of, especially the chance of a bunch of third party modifications which you don’t need to enjoy the deserts of the UAE, this way you avoid the need of thoroughly checking and testing cars from previous owners, and you can get warranty for certain dealerships. 
 

Besides those minor inconveniences you can go ahead and check out used Xterra’s there is a bunch on the market if you look at carswitch or dubizzle even the Facebook marketplace might be a place to check, you’ll notice used cars will have a better price but don’t let them fool you, especially when buying from Sharjah, another big tip is to always check the VIN number of used cars this way you can see if it’s been in a accident in the past and determine if the previous accident is worth it for the integrity of the vehicle 

@Bravoecho good thing I always carry my gear with me 😄