Member Since: 28 Feb 2008
Location: Dubai
Posts: 490
"Newbie" trip in Dubai (pics)
Went out on a "newbie" trip with a local offroad club that was just formed...newbie my ! Scared the hell out of me: after FOUR stucks in the same place, we ended up having to go back to civilization in complete darkness! Not sure I'll be going out with them again. On the bright side, even though I'm a beginner, the D3 took it all with ease and I didn't get stuck (only had one missed attempt where I misjudged the track and slipped sideways down a dune, but was able to try again and get through).
Lost a heavily-modded Jeep Wrangler because the clutch gave out, and had a very interesting episode with a brand-new 2008 Hummer H2: on the first steep descent, the curtain airbags went off! No crash or impact of any sort. The theory was that the tilt sensor thought the car was rolling over. The guy kept driving 'curtains down' for the rest of the outing and the Hummer did great otherwise. Apparently this is not uncommon behavior for the car, according to people who were involved with the Middle East launch of it - they say the same thing happened to 15 demo cars!! What a stupid thing to happen to an "offroad" car.
Other than that, a guy in a Toyota Fortuner came along and had to be recovered at least 3 or 4 times throughout the trip. Deep sand was too much for it to handle.
Member Since: 23 Nov 2007
Location: Cutting the grass
Posts: 1254
Re: "Newbie" trip in Dubai (pics)
hernan1304 wrote:
the curtain airbags went off! .... guy kept driving 'curtains down' for the rest of the outing
Is that the new Hummer privacy setting ?
4th May 2008 6:43 am
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50934
Great pics there Hernan Must be great to have such a large playground on your doorstep 21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
4th May 2008 7:42 am
paynetec
Member Since: 10 Apr 2008
Location: Dubai
Posts: 55
Hi Hernan great photos!
I know that place well and have done the night withdrawl a few times. If you get stuck after dark again on the south side of Fossil Rock head East-SouthEast untill you hit the pylons, there is a gravel track under them that will take you all the way back to the Kalba Rd. Much safer that a desert treck! Lost the front bumper on both my Prado and my wifes SWB Pajero up there (not me driving ) so know it well!!
Happy Days
CP
4th May 2008 11:15 am
hernan1304
Member Since: 28 Feb 2008
Location: Dubai
Posts: 490
Thanks! Thankfully no lost bumpers for me - I've never actually hit anything more than the odd bit of desert vegetation. The D3, especially in off road height, has great angles.
We did end up on a gravel track after getting out of the desert, so it's possible that we went the direction that you mention. We were following along the sand tracks but in the dark they are pretty frightening, especially when you find yourself driving along ridges. I wish I could have taken some video, it was pretty intense for me - I looked like this when I was done
Aside the rubbish left behind , at least all sign of you visit will be removed by the wind.
Lovely colour to the sand.
G
6th May 2008 6:40 pm
paynetec
Member Since: 10 Apr 2008
Location: Dubai
Posts: 55
Gazzer what does that mean? Most people (everyone but locals!!) take everything away with them! If your point is that the desert is full of crap I agree with you but I dont really get where you're coming from??
7th May 2008 2:38 am
hernan1304
Member Since: 28 Feb 2008
Location: Dubai
Posts: 490
Gazzer - don't understand what you mean... as far as I can tell "aside the rubbish left behind" doesn't follow gramatically after anything that was said above, so not sure what you are responding to.
As far as rubbish left behind goes, there's no more or less chance of leaving behind garbage in the desert than there is when offroading anywhere. I try to take all my garbage with me. The burned Land Cruiser was a bit too large to take with us unfortunately, but it's been there for AGES, and it's not often that people burn their Land Cruiser in the desert, so I would think the effect on the environment is limited
Member Since: 28 Feb 2008
Location: Dubai
Posts: 490
Ahh ok sorry for overreacting !!
Yeah there's a bit of trash around in this area, although there really isn't that much in the desert around here as a general rule. The reason for the trash in this area is probably that this is actually quite a high-traffic location because it's where tourists are brought on "desert safaris" by the tour companies. They load you up on a Land Cruiser and take you offroading, then take you to a desert camp for belly dancing and dinner. Huge convoys.
Offroad clubs around here usually organize desert cleanups in areas like this, so that reduces the impact a bit.
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! Scared the hell out of me: after FOUR stucks in the same place, we ended up having to go back to civilization in complete darkness! Not sure I'll be going out with them again. On the bright side, even though I'm a beginner, the D3 took it all with ease and I didn't get stuck (only had one missed attempt where I misjudged the track and slipped sideways down a dune, but was able to try again and get through).
What a stupid thing to happen to an "offroad" car.
Must be great to have such a large playground on your doorstep 
) so know it well!!
, at least all sign of you visit will be removed by the wind.
