Marek

@J-P L Jimny Power! @Mahesh_ good to see you after so long! Here's to add to your gallery: @Shaun J I somehow only saw you in my lens twice: @Faraz94 I think I have already told you how impressed I am with Haval? Not once? More in the gallery (although the quality of in-post pictures is much better than from the gallery).

I don't know how he does that... @Looper always shows up just in the right moment! this yellow car just looks so damn good in the sand!

I went to Jabal Yanas last week just to found out that the trail is permanently closed. Any other mountain trails you could recommend instead? On the way back I managed to find a route that blew my mind, so the trip wasn't a complete waste. Not sure if it has a name as the map was showing nothing. Accessible via old quarry site. Very demanding, but a stock Pajero made it, so I expect it's not as hardcore as I originally thought. \ And it's not a thru-and-thru type of drive, so many will disregard it. In my case - going both up and down was extremely pleasant and worth doing... Some snapshots for those who like less sandy and more "mountain'y" areas!

Guys having adjustable suspension: how do you select your drive settings when going on a fewbie desert drive where most of the time you are just cruising below 30km/h? I have seen a few times guys (and our leads) adjusting their shocks to the max stiffness when deflating tires (on coilovers with damping settings). How do you guys set it up? I did a few drives with different setup (max, min, couple in-between), and so far I lean towards as soft drive as possible unless the crew I am chasing is raptors and ranges and they plan on doing full baja cruise over flat lands.... But then the minute I dive into the ditches with max stiffness setup, there it's like getting into soft sand - you never know when it would dive in and get stuck. While when it was softer (20/30% of the scale), the ride is just smooth as butter and predictable (and spectacular as well, when you look at the recording of how nicely it picks up all the uneven terrain at medium speed). what's the general consensus for this? How would you set your suspension going on a technical drive with @Looper or @DP1011 vs going on a vertical hill climb with @Ale Vallecchi ?

you didn't tell which phone you have or what is the audio system... but in many cases the problem lays in the device configuration on your bluetooth setting - just click on it when connected (click on the list of connected devices on your phone), then you'll see a list of services allowed via this specific connection - one of them will be calls, another media playback (or similar). Check if this is not disabled/turned off.

@Ale Vallecchi, I'm out, sadly... ...who schedules business meetings in Abu Dhabi after 2PM on Fridays? 😕

I'm in only for Friday, unfortunately. edit: but of course, feel free to cancel it if we don't have a quorum.

Rise of the Jimnys! Congrats!

Nice drive! Low humidity made it for a really awesome morning weather! Something unusual this time of a year. Too bad there were not that many opportunities to snap high speed pics, because we were constantly on the move! @Frederic, awesome pace - 2:51m driving, 31mins of breaks (breaks only, not recoveries, which was awesome!). @Benjamin never disappoints to show at the right place at the right moment: One more snap of @Nizar Shawwa here: I'll update the thread if my passengers wake up and show what kind of photos they took! @Shaun J thanks for the hint on upgrades! Have a good weekend everyone! //edit: video made by my dear content-creating Passengers:

ah... just realized this bridge next to murquab mosque and roads leading to it are all two way... thanks! without that it would have to be another 30 mins of driving back and forth via al ain road...

...for those with small tanks (I know, me again, guy who refuses to get an FJ Cruiser with 150l tank and causing problems ), what would be the point of last refuel? I checked the map and it looks that unless I want to make double u-turns on Al Ain road going back and forth, the closest fuel is almost 100km away. Not the most optimal thing for a car with 200km range in the desert. Any ideas?

and the shovel... boy this pit was tricky...

boy, it was hot... and humid. Despite the early start. Not a lot of driving, but how about these recoveries! 2 hours of moving, 1h 38m being stuck and trying to get out. Super happy with the new rig! A-trac and how it digs itself out is just next level for me... humble Pajero driver Luckily by end of this week I'll have some more upgrades and new suspension, so will join you guys on some more advanced tracks!

last minute flag pole installation... new rig ready to (s)weep

having too much choice is not great... I decided to go with oversized setup of 285/70 R17... fits like a glove on my 3" lifted rig with 0 ET rims... I can imaging it would look identical on a Fortuner, since this is pretty much the same wheelwell setup. All that blabing about rubbing and fitment issues I read about on other forums is... frankly speaking BS. Also, I wish I could recommend a tire shop, but you guys don't allow, so I'll just tell this: never in my life before I was in a shop where guys tried on (!) for me 3 different wheels, put different rubber sizes and allowed me to try... and didn't rip me off in the end (prices in store lower than pitstoparabia). I am slowly recovering my faith in good service quality in Dubai. And since Michellin does not offer 285/70 R17... Geolandar 015 it is...

@JeromeFJ have to drop - check engine light came up... I guess need to break this thing in more before going to the desert. Hope it's nothing major, but I won't risk slowing you guys down...

any benefit of using some more hardcore AT tires, like Yokohama Geolandar MT G003, Geolandar G016 (instead of ever-popular 015s), or Kumhos AT52 for UAE offroad (sand and mountains). I am in the same boat here, but trying to avoid any compromises as I am preparing an offorad-only car... and I am surprised to see Michellins LTX as recommended tire. If you guys are saying it's smooth as butter (which is surprising for an A/T tire), I am beginning to wonder if not go this way instead and make my next project car more road-friendly...

signing up... either to test the new engine on my Pajj OR to test the new car (depending if I manage to get new wheels for 4R in time). Either way - excited to join!

well deserved @Luke K P, I hope the car will be ready soon!