[MAS]

That is quite an expedition.

This thread has re-kindled my urge to own a Fortuner. Many roads in Chennai as slippery and pot-holed like the ones i see in the pictures. Would be fun to drive the Fortuner through those.

Well narrated supported by beautiful pictures (or the other way around).

@ Monaro CV8 - please do post the videos.

OT: With 4 Fortuners, you guys could have rescued the whole fleet of damsels as they would have had more fun in the Fortuners than trekking down.

[Monaro CV8]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Great account saar! I liked the photos a lot, especially the donut ones.
Just a correction if I may. Monaro isnt a s/w engineer. He would request not to be tarred with this brush too.

Hey SD,
Maybe you've mistaken what HG is trying to be jovial about.
What he meant was that the damsel changed cars, like software professionals switching their jobs.

Guderian very well knows what I do for a living

Originally Posted by sajo

Nice pics and even better narration Herr Guderian!
Any pics of the stranded Safari and/or its rescue attempt ?

Hey Ojas,
The stranded Safari pics were not possible for a few reasons:
1. The terrain was utterly slippery and on a steep slope. Very difficult for a human to stand upright, leave alone pose with a camera to shoot a pic.
Guderian Sir almost fell on his rear twice.
2. We were trying to help the Safari guy and his distressed family. Imagine the look on their faces, while we are clicking pictures of their misery.
3. It was a situation full of cacophony; thanks to a few local trekker guys who were drunk, a few bikers who still wanted to pass in that kind of impossible terrain, helping hands - passing trekkers who were giving all sorts of suggestions to rescue the Mumbai registered Safari.

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

The Fortuners have all the slush and you guys are as clean as you just had a shower and change. Goes a long way in showing the drivers know the capability of their vehicles, otherwise there seemed enough instances to get down and check if the terrain is safe, thereby getting dirty.

LOL..mayank
I hope you are joking!
You should have seen the mess we were in, specially after the Safari Rescue. Of course, the pants & boots were full of muck. What, did you expect, for us to roll in the slush?!

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Maybe you've mistaken what HG is trying to be jovial about.
What he meant was that the damsel changed cars, like software professionals switching their jobs.

No, no Monaro, I very well know this but wanted confirmation. Now that it is here I have full license to rant and rave about it. @Guderian hasnt heard the last of it. We geeks shall have our revenge! And its only Monday yet, imagine what sort of misery we will be in for this week.

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

The stranded Safari pics were not possible for a few reasons:
1. The terrain was utterly slippery and on a steep slope. Very difficult for a human to stand upright, leave alone pose with a camera to shoot a pic.
Guderian Sir almost fell on his rear twice.
2. We were trying to help the Safari guy and his distressed family. Imagine the look on their faces, while we are clicking pictures of their misery.

which is why you should take some shameless paparazzi type leeches (in this case only in terms of boot grip) like me along. I am good at 'offroading' for pictures.
And to be honest, Ojas is only being modest in asking about Safari pics. His intentions run deep.

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

You should have seen the mess we were in, specially after the Safari Rescue. Of course, the pants & boots were full of muck. What, did you expect, for us to roll in the slush?!

Ahem sorry, but I did hope so. A little bit, I admit.

[neil.jericho]

Good pictures and an even better writeup! Good to see the Fortuners getting their hands dirty. Any videos of the donuts? That would be a royal treat!

[noopster]

Wow, this is the sort of stuff that makes me rue having no 4X4 in the garage! Excellent narration by HG (as usual) and Monaro. I can't believe you invited me to this and I declined

The pics are excellent, especially the one of the 4 behemoths lined up menacingly.

I must admit, the combination of old and facelifted Fortuners, that too spanning the spectrum of colours (a black one would've been icing on the cake!) looks gorgeous.

[siddheshb]

Missed this :( Couldn't have made it even if the Forts were OK having an Endy-outsider in their midst... was driving back from Goa, hoping for the rains (which never came)... although the waterfalls at Amboli were a lot of fun!

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

LOL..mayank
I hope you are joking!
You should have seen the mess we were in, specially after the Safari Rescue. Of course, the pants & boots were full of muck. What, did you expect, for us to roll in the slush?!

As a matter of fact, i was not.

I have helped pull multiple Jeeps out of slush, and whenever I get into the thing with a shovel to put some hard material under the wheels to get some traction invaribly the top part of my body also gets really dirty.

You guys did it cleanly, i must say (Its a compliment) . Looks like i am more messy.

[nitinbose]

Not to spoil your spirit but the stretches shown do not seem like an offroading track. My understanding of proper offroading is something like this:

Jeep Rubicon and Toyota FJ Cruiser Off-Road in Hawaii - YouTube

OR

Subaru Off-Road - YouTube

The terrain shown can be easily passed by an ordinary two-wheel drive car.

[Monaro CV8]

Originally Posted by nitinbose

Not to spoil your spirit but the stretches shown do not seem like an offroading track. My understanding of proper offroading is something like this:

The terrain shown can be easily passed by an ordinary two-wheel drive car.

I hope you do realize that those stints are done with hugely modified cars andby professional drivers.

What we were able to achieve is with stock cars and with soft-road/ semi-off road conditions.

[bhp]

Lovely pictures and reports...

I am also very keen on taking my fortuner @Rajmachi trails since a long time. The only proper offroading experience i have had is the toyota fortuner boot camp last year.

Next time such a outing is planned i would love to join in the slush fun.

[GTO]

Great report, as always Guderian.

I've seen what the Fortuner can do with a set of proper offroad tyres and trust me, she can turn a mean wheel. People only credit the Pajero with offroad credentials in that segment but to me, the Fortuner is equally capable.

Thanks for sharing.

[Guderian]

Originally Posted by Off Roadie

Sob sob, missing the fun, thanks for the report sir, waiting for the rest.

Thanks Ro. Yeah this was an exclusive Fortuner event as we wanted to get down to discussing the vehicle's +ves and -ves which didn't happen as there was nothing to discuss really as we realised. But then yes - next time you shall be an honourable guest !

Originally Posted by BIBIN004

This an awesome treat for SUV lovers. Waiting for more snaps

Thanks BIBIN004 !

Originally Posted by narchennai

Needless to say that this was exactly running in my mind or should I say "Hero, Heroine, Story, Screenplay, Assisstants, Production Assisstants, Music, Cinematography, Dance, Director - Mr.Guderian" if the others dont join.

Errr...ahem...narchennai. It's not Mr Guderian but Generaloberst Heinz Wilhelm Guderian - if you please ! Civilians I tell you...

Originally Posted by Ahmed

Awesome ! Megalodon would have loved to be a part of this ! Please do count me in in the next slush fest

Thanks Ahmed. Next time sir !

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Great account saar! I liked the photos a lot, especially the donut ones.
Just a correction if I may. Monaro isnt a s/w engineer. He would request not to be tarred with this brush too...

Hi selfdrive, Thanks from all of us. That correction has been corrected by Monaro - so I guess nothing else remains to be recorrected.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Guderian Sir,

Awesome pics. Looks like T-Fort guys had a blast in the slush and the off roading besides rescuing the damsels and the Safari. Dont worry, with an SUV like the Fort you sure will get more damsels.

The scenic pics too were superb. BTW who was the official photographer for the trip? How much time was spent to remove the red clay from the Fortuner? Any pics of the stranded Safari?

Hi ghodlur,
Thanks ! Yes all of us had a blast...yes of clay and water too. Besides exploding bladders too !
Damsels ? More ? Damn ! To tell you the truth - here I was trying to bloody concentrate to prevent Admiral and rest of us plunging into the valley and here was the damsel, who seemed a few minutes ago in distress, chatting away merrily about her life and likes and expecting me to respond as well. During a tense moment or two of driving all I ask is sepulchral silence.
We were all officially taking the snaps - meaning no one was the official snapper.
About the time it took to remove the clay - a link below shows it all on my thread. And the red Safari ? We are trying hard to forget the nightmare - but yeah someone might still have a snap or two...waiting for abhayshanu or kedarwalke to open up here !

Originally Posted by dkaile

What an exciting run Herr' Generale' and co-patriots.

Thanks dkaile. Someday we shall have a mega-maha Fortuners meet somewhere !

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

...

Thanks Monaro for a super narration and snaps.
Say - you forgot to mention that the comely lass hopped in to your Fortuner for the last part of the journey from K'la to L'vla. A journey of mere 5 KMs which by your own admission took 1.5 hours yesterday. A case of... ummm... convenient amnesia sir ? Ha ha !

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

The Fortuners have all the slush and you guys are as clean as you just had a shower and change. Goes a long way in showing the drivers know the capability of their vehicles, otherwise there seemed enough instances to get down and check if the terrain is safe, thereby getting dirty.

Thanks mayankjha1806 ! No, but I was pretty mucky and covered in red clay - trousers etc thanks to all that digging for that infernal Safari...took me sometime to get rid of it from my boots this morning.

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

Wow! wow!!!

Nice pics and write up.
Good to see the pictures of Suvs doing what they are designed for.

Damsel!! hmmmm!!!

Thanks Ashish. You were saying something about the damsel ? Pray do continue.

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

NICE!!!
What a lovely day the Forts had! Lovely pics, great narration.

Im sure you guys had a ball of a time. The Forts did what they are built to do.
I loove the pics where the Forts are all dirty with muck and clay. True character, I say.

Any pics of the distressed Safari and damsel (not in that particular order though ).

Thanks SI. A nice time was had by all to say the least. I am sure some one has a snap or two of the Safari and the D-i-D. Infact one of the snaps after the hillock has a ghostly outline of the lady sitting in the Admiral. And yes she took a snap...of all of us:

Originally Posted by the VTEC guy

Nice outing you guys had. Looks like only 4 men and there machines enjoyed. No passengers?

Hi VTEC guy,
Yes no passengers. No one was sure about our capabilities to get them back safe.

Originally Posted by MAS

OT: With 4 Fortuners, you guys could have rescued the whole fleet of damsels as they would have had more fun in the Fortuners than trekking down.

Thanks MAS.
D-i-Ds can be quite a distraction when you are sliding and gliding down to your doom. And to top it some morons who came up the trail in their 4X2s (remember the silver XUV 500 Monaro and team ?) suddenly realised they couldn't make up a particular slope turned around and parked it right there on the narrow trail. And when we came down, slid and slammed into it almost. And on top of this more D-i-Ds ? No thanks. We prefer them when on firm ground !

Originally Posted by Monaro CV8

Guderian very well knows what I do for a living

Monaro, You sure about that ?

Originally Posted by selfdrive

No, no Monaro, I very well know this but wanted confirmation. Now that it is here I have full license to rant and rave about it. @Guderian hasnt heard the last of it.

Aha...so that's it eh selfdrive ! A quiet poke.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Good pictures and an even better writeup! Good to see the Fortuners getting their hands dirty. Any videos of the donuts? That would be a royal treat!

Thanks neil.jericho (walls of !).
Will try and put up a few videos. Meaning Monaro will.

Originally Posted by noopster

Wow, this is the sort of stuff that makes me rue having no 4X4 in the garage! Excellent narration by HG (as usual) and Monaro. I can't believe you invited me to this and I declined

Hi Noops,
Thanks.
Pity that decline. You sure don't know what's good for you eh ? But anyway the next time perhaps ?!!

Originally Posted by siddheshb

Missed this :( Couldn't have made it even if the Forts were OK having an Endy-outsider in their midst...

This outing was inspired partly by your trip there sid !

Originally Posted by bhp

Lovely pictures and reports...

I am also very keen on taking my fortuner @Rajmachi trails since a long time. The only proper offroading experience i have had is the toyota fortuner boot camp last year.

Next time such a outing is planned i would love to join in the slush fun.

Thanks bhp. Sorry to have missed you. Next time around for sure !

Originally Posted by GTO

Great report, as always Guderian.

I've seen what the Fortuner can do with a set of proper offroad tyres and trust me, she can turn a mean wheel. People only credit the Pajero with offroad credentials in that segment but to me, the Fortuner is equally capable.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks GTO.
In fact the one thing we were crying for on the slippery slopes was a good set of M/T tyres. Especially when we felt the Earth shift beneath our vehicles.


And finally - I had to do this today to clean up.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...sails-109.html

[Guderian]

And here is the first of the videos.

The one and only one from me. Taken by me with my sweaty fingers just before the first water (and only) water crossing. A minor affair though - but required the HL range.

MOV00784 - YouTube

[the VTEC guy]

Originally Posted by Guderian

And here is the first of the videos.

The one and only one from me. Taken by me with my sweaty fingers just before the first water (and only) water crossing. A minor affair though - but required the HL range.

The water crossing gets almost waist deep(experienced that few years back) at some places with more rain. And that is actually the Ulhas river (atleast thats what I was told while trekking)

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Guderian

And here is the first of the videos.

Guderian, Monaro and Team

How did the Stock Dunlop tyres perform. Was there any cause for complaint or is it recommended to upgrade to shoes like Michelin Lattitude or Yokohama Geolandars?

Thoughts Please