MCube 2012, pics and report

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Viji,

Nice pics and team from Banguluru.

Ravveendrra,

Thanks for the pics., that is a good representation of track A.

Love the Bobtail....actually Allan should name it MANX, its a cat with a short tail.

Regards,

Yes, since the BLR guys were on different sections from us all the time - they have a different set of pics and great pics at that.

Wow! You sure know the cats! I commend your suggestion to Allan.

BTW sir, I know you have more videos of the Lynx, for instance the one taken when you were testing it near Hyd in the summer. Please post them here so we can all enjoy them.

Originally Posted by V-16

Great pics Ravvenndrra, Viji Saar and Fazalbhai. As they say pictures speak a 1000 words.

The bobtail (Manx??!!) is a vehicle in a class on its own. I dont think anyone present did not look at it in awe..... and after it performed, that awestruck expression remained it just glided through the obstacles as if they were not there. Makes the tough challenges look so easy.

Great job Allan, you're truly an artist when it comes to Jeeps.

Thank you sir. I, for one cannot seem to get the Bob-tail out of my mind.

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

The BOB Tail has coil over suspension. Now that looks very interesting. Anybody know more about it?

These days I see the reg number and if it is UK( Uttara khand) registered, then by and large it is assumed to be Allans creation.

The coil-overs performed wonderfully and I managed to kneel down and peek underneath, the execution was excellent.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

I am not sure that Bobtail is a roadworthy Jeep, especially with it's exhaust that could kill a biker. And it is totally unbalanced with all the weight in the first 70% of the vehicle. Hope it was trucked to the OTR site.

P.S. I am not an experienced off roader.

The bob-tail is extremely trail worthy! I do not think it was even designed or meant to be used on a road.

Here are more pics of participants tackling Track 1:

The Gurkha













A Land Rover

























A Gypsy that won the overall prize for petrol vehicles

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

BTW sir, I know you have more videos of the Lynx, for instance the one taken when you were testing it near Hyd in the summer. Please post them here so we can all enjoy them.

Dear Ravveendrra,

I have posted that video on the Lynx thread, it would be OT here.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ve...cing-lynx.html (Introducing, The LYNX.)

As I see the pics of first obstacle on track 'A' and the LR, white Gypsy pics posted by you, it is completely flattened out. Ask me how difficult it was, as I was the first one to complete it that day.

The next boulder section on the same obstacle, where I was winched out too has settled flat.

This track 'A' is one obstacle track that defies the principle of getting tougher for the later participants.
Regards,

[BANDHAV]

Pardon my ignorance but what are these concrete slabs like things on the back of Bobtail and the Land Rover? Is this something which is used for helping the vehicle get out of tricky situation if stucked? Please enlighten!

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

Pardon my ignorance but what are these concrete slabs like things on the back of Bobtail and the Land Rover? Is this something which is used for helping the vehicle get out of tricky situation if stucked? Please enlighten!

They are called sand-ladders and yes, you are right they are used to give traction/prevent wheels from sinking.

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

.........

This track 'A' is one obstacle track that defies the principle of getting tougher for the later participants.
Regards,

True, here are more pics from Track A.


Track 1 when fresh


Track 1 later in the day

[garrett_t16]

@BANDHAV - they are called sand ladders , when you have no grip and you are spinning your wheels and u need grip in one specific tyre , remove that sand ladder ,place it under a wheel. and wolla ! u have grip

[smartcat]

How did the Tata Xenon perform? That long wheelbase must have hurt in boulder section, but it might have helped it sail through the ditches?

[V-16]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

As I see the pics of first obstacle on track 'A' and the LR, white Gypsy pics posted by you, it is completely flattened out. Ask me how difficult it was, as I was the first one to complete it that day.

This track 'A' is one obstacle track that defies the principle of getting tougher for the later participants.

I agree fully with Fazal Bhai here. He was amongst the first few Jeeps to take on Obstacle A, if not the first and the Lynx cleared the ditches fantastically well. All marks to the Driver of Lynx, you all know who....Fazal bhai.

With time, as i have mentioned above in my earlier posts, the Ditches became a fairly sail through task. Yes they had gone deeper slightly but all the slush had been smoothed and the rocks below had formed a nice firm bed making later vehicles a cake walk. The Rock bed however had gone worse or better with every other Vehicle passing by. As each vehicle muscled its way, it shifted some boulders around, thereby making it probably easier for the following vehicle and sometimes even more difficult. Was an interesting obstacle. But yes those who actually cleared the 3 ditches earlier deserve praise as drivers, amongst them Fazal bhai.

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

what are these concrete slabs like things on the back of Bobtail and the Land Rover? Is this something which is used for helping the vehicle get out of tricky situation if stucked? Please enlighten!

They are sand ladders as have been explained above. They look like concrete but are Aluminum, thus making them strong and light. They also come in Plastic (or some related compound)

Originally Posted by smartcat

How did the Tata Xenon perform? That long wheelbase must have hurt in boulder section, but it might have helped it sail through the ditches?

The Xenon was awesome. In fact it did not make it to the boulder section as it was embedded in the ditch. mainly due to its long overhang and its bumpers, i would presume, the ditch would still be a problem but the boulders should not. This one was a stock example and performed all other obstacles very very well. Again kudos to the driver Sunil Pawar for getting her in her stock avatar. I feel a shackle lift, some offroading bumpers and long travel shocks should make her a formidable offroading vehicle. Im in love with the Xenon simply for its looks. Again if that rear overhang (tail) could be chopped a little, it would add in its offroading finesse, not sure what it would do to its storage space and suspension dynamics though. See what the Bobtail did and imagine what the Xenon could do.

[Cloud_Chaser]

Amazing photos. Great event.

Allan please add my name to the BOBTAIL Fan Club.

On a serious note it truly looks amazing. Some one kindly post pics of Rahuls Freelander.

[sankidude]

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[Ravveendrra]

Thank you. It was a pleasure meeting you at the event. Hope to run into each other again.

Before I move on to the other tracks, Fazal Saab's pictures reminded me that no one has mentioned anything about the nitty gritty - the arrangements that made it such a great event.

As soon as the vehicles entered the venue there was a scrutiny conducted and vehicles were checked whether the tyres were MT or not, vehicles with AT/NDMS were allowed but HT were strictly but politely told to park to one side. Vehicles were checked to ensure that they had working seat belts. It was also ensured that all vehicles had a 'B' pillar, roll cage or at least a roll bar. If vehicles met these safety conditions they were passed and issued a slip which entitled them to registration and a competitor number. Scrutiny process was quick and efficient.

Registration consisted largely of signing a form, collecting competitor no., a delegate badge and a bag of goodies. Since there were as many as 4 queues, 2 for drivers and 2 for passengers, registration was done in a jiffy and people trooped off to tuck into the b'fast that was hot, not just warm. In fact, we were pleasantly surprised to see endless cups of tea & coffee being poured and the b'fast being served (for 2nd, 3rd helpings etc) right up to lunch time.

After B'fast was a short briefing and participants trooped off to their vehicles which were lined up in front of the 4 different tracks right after scrutiny.

The format of the event was simple enough, there were a total of 4 tracks. The time taken on tracks 1, 2 & 3 was timed with the driver/passenger operating the stop watch by themselves, this was quite easy as the entry and exit points to each track were close to each other and a marshal with the stopwatch stood between the two, either the driver or the passenger hopped out before crossing the start line and activated the stop watch, he then ran back got into the vehicle, shut the door (if present) and only then the vehicle could move, similarly after completing the track, either the driver or the passenger hopped out after the vehicle came to a complete stop and stopped the stop watch, noted the time and had it entered onto a time sheet and countersigned the time sheet. The aggregate time for all tracks would determine the winners.

Simple? Well, to make life interesting there were a few twists

1. If any vehicle starts before the passenger is fully seated and door closed, it would get a 2 minute penalty.

2. If the passenger (or driver) gets out before the vehicle comes to a full stop after the finish line, the vehicles is given a 2 minute penalty.

3. The track was clearly defined with cones / ribbon / tyres, if any vehicle touches any of them it got a 30 second penalty each time it touched / hit / crossed the markers.

4. If the vehicle does not finish a track or is rescued, he gets a DNF (did not finish).

Now on to track 2:


A diagram showing the plan of track 2.


A birds eye view of Track 2. The entry is at top left of the pic.



Above and below Nice shiny Xenon (well relatively).









































Following is Sankidude in his Gurkha

[Ravveendrra]

We were one of the few who did tracks 1 to 4 in numerical sequence. By the time we finished track 2, lunch time had rolled around and an announcement was made that lunch was ready. The registration counters were now doing duty as lunch counters - one set of two counters for vegetarian and one set of two counters for non-veg. Lunch was handed out in a few seconds as it consisted of biryani veg/chicken as per preference and curd. What made it real quick was the method of packing - a little plastic bucket, with a catchy name. Now, I am one of those old-fashioned varieties who is wary of food or drink that comes packed in plastic. I also eyed the little bucket's small size and wondered whether it would be enough - the guy behind the counter smiled and said I could have another if I wanted.

I walked to the vehicle and opened the bucket, one spoonful of the veg. biryani and I was converted. The biryani was excellent! As my stomach became full, I understood the reason for the smile on the face of the guy behind the counter. The bucket was not just filled to the brim, they seemed to have really packed it in and most of us could not finish even one bucket. The curd was good and I did have another cup.

After lunch (and a short snooze in the back of the first available vehicle) we trooped off to Track 3.

Track 3 was the longest of the tracks. It consisted of going down a slope that veered to the right (slipping down by the afternoon), getting into a rice paddy that was waterlogged and slushy, driving along the edge of the field, negotiating a bund, jumping into another field, exiting that field and gunning along a path with two water filled dips. After the 2nd dip, one climbed up another slippery incline turned right first, turned left in something that resembled grease and screeched past the finish line.

Here is a diagram of Track 3.



A few pics of vehicles doing track 3










































One of my fav pics (not counting the one of the little chap making his own OTR), hence re-posted

[Ravveendrra]

Track 3 done it was time to get to track 4, the water ditch.

Here is a diagram of this obstacle (unfortunately no longitudinal section).



Not too many pics of attempts though:

[R32_GTR]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

Track 3 done it was time to get to track 4, the water ditch.

How did the petrol Jeeps and Gypsies fair in this water filled ditch?? I didn't put the Jonga through this when we there on Thursday setting up

Cheers..
Prasad

[paras211]

Everyone went through except the thar's w/o snorkels (4-5 didn't make it). My gypsy did it on Thursday.
I remember a low bonnet petrol jeep make it, it almost died and then came out.

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by R32_GTR

How did the petrol Jeeps and Gypsies fair in this water filled ditch?? I didn't put the Jonga through this when we there on Thursday setting up

Cheers..
Prasad

As Paras said, none of the vehicles except the Thars without snorkel had trouble in the ditch.

Now on with the beauty pageant:





















Cheers,