[Vishbull_6157]

Disclaimer - this is my first brief write up on this forum. Please feel free to share feedback and suggestions.

So here we go, Me and two close friends ( 1 muscle man and 1 expert cameraman) decided to start from Mumbai the previous night itself, the plan was to camp somewhere in lonavla and the idea was to be among the first vehicles in the line up. And we did , we were the first 4*4 jeep to reach the venue.
We reached the venue around 6 am . The officials were setting up booths and registration counters. As we had nothing much to do and we were carrying a small stove and some groceries, I offered to make some coffee which some of them had. The officials were quiet friendly.

At the registration counter , as we had already registered online, We just had to fill the indemnity forms and sign some lists. They gave us a roll of stickers, the number we got was 68 , since we were first, I dint want the number 68 and started checking through the bags for another number, I was looking for number 1 and found it as well but unfortunately number 1 -35 was reserved for the trophy trail guys. So I took the next best number in my dictionary " 69 " .

They also gave a bag with a medical kit, 2 bottles of water, some snacks and coupons for breakfast and lunch. After finishing stickering we headed for breakfast. The second car to reach the venue was the well known Mahindra thar numbered 521 . It was occupied by some interesting men from Mahindra who good became friends as went into the trail together.

Slowly the venue started getting busy as the jeeps started to trickle in, the 4*4 section had close to 50 -60 jeeps. After breakfast, people were just loitering around , clicking pictures with the jeeps, i came across many participants appreciating each others vehicles. Quiet a few asked me more details of my jeep as well. The trophy trail guys came in some very hot looking jeeps with serious capabilities.

Then around 11 the officials gave a short briefing. Our pilot was this cheerful guy " ninad". He assured us to be calm,no matter what, spoke a little about the trail. He stated that the trail was not very difficult but since it was raining continuously from previous night, it may get a bit difficult for some. And here we go, the event has started. I felt a gush of excitement in anticipation of what's going to come next. We were the 3rd jeep in the line up after the pilot and his brother participant who was allowed to go second.

Just a few meters after flag off and we were into the trail and 4 low was the only way to drive down a very steep, slushy slope. It was amazing to see how the jeep performs, bow down to the engineers who built this master piece .

Broadly what i liked?
There were sign boards showing MGE directions right from lonavla to aamby valley
The venue was well organized The staff was courteous
The arrangements were good
The food was nice
The trail was interesting.

What I dint like?
nothing specific

Wish list?
A car wash facility post event probably would have made it even better for some. Now, I will let' the pictures do the talking .

[sharc_biker]

Wonderful pictures Vishbull.

Can you please shed more light on how the 521 Thar performed?

[Vishbull_6157]

Originally Posted by sharc_biker

Wonderful pictures Vishbull.

Can you please shed more light on how the 521 Thar performed?

Thanks Sharc.

The Thar numbered 521 performed pretty well indeed. They were there only to have some pure fun, it was a free event for them (Everything was sponsored vehicle ,tyres from Maxxis etc). They cleared all the obstacles effortlessly. I enjoyed their company. We have clicked couple of their photos as well, I will upload them later today. The irony is, i dont think they knew they were driving a special vehicle.

[Sudarshan]

Originally Posted by sharc_biker

Wonderful pictures Vishbull.

Can you please shed more light on how the 521 Thar performed?

AFAIK

The 'original' 521 was scraped recently , it was to be, as the Man left the field. Sad, thats all, it was the fate.

Its another Thar that holds the legendary plates .

Sudarshan

[Vishbull_6157]

Some pics of 521 in action and some more

[speedy]

Good to see quite a few Tbhpians participate for the event. I reached late as i had to tow a friends jeep back to his parking due to some mechanical failure. We won the best moified Jeep award as well as the fourth place for the trophy challange and have been invited for the finals. This being my first MGE, made getting my work aknowledged brighten my day further. Mahindra did a great job putting the event together and also taking care of the minor details. I had a blast and so did my friends who participated and others who came as spectators. Looking forward to many more such events by Mahindra.

[fazalaliadil]

VishBull,

Congratulations on your first OTR.

The weather and terrain there at this time of the year is just fantastic.
MGE sponsored events are well organized and safe, did they have two tracks, for beginners and seniors or was it the same for both?

Maintaining the present format, it is high time MGE graduated to tougher events like privately organized ones.

Can you post more pics of the obstacles please.
Regards,

[Ddrive]

Nice photos and great jeeping.
The rains make it look even more wonderful.
Looking for more pictures. Thanks.

[Vishbull_6157]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

VishBull,

Congratulations on your first OTR.

MGE sponsored events are well organized and safe, did they have two tracks, for beginners and seniors or was it the same for both?

Can you post more pics of the obstacles please.
Regards,

Thanks Fazal, there were three different tracks, one for the 2wd participants, 4wd participants and the third difficult one for the trophy trail participants.

The 4wd dint have any major hurdle as such other than steep uphill and downhill slopes, water puddles and slush etc. There was some parts of the trail which was common to both the trophy trail and 4wd participants. Many jeeps including our pilot's jeep tilted dangerously and came on two wheels there.

Do we have privately organized events this year?

[vinod_nookala]

Great to hear the good time participants had at the Lonavala Great Escape.

I myself could not get enough of the fun and excitement being amongst other 4X4 enthusiasts. Heavy rains could not stop us from trying out slush field for trophy participants. However, had to abandon it after first 4 vehicles couldn’t get through even with 33 inch MT tyres. Difficulty levels can be judged by this factor alone. Over flowing water bodies made the track memorable. There were 80+ vehicles out of which only 18 vehicles were 4x2- surely a sign of things to come! We have come a long way in past 2+ years be it in terms of participation, terrain difficulty and even different tracks of 4x2 and 4x4. I am glad to say most of our Great Escapes today are 4x4 only events Icing on the cake?- every Great Escape looks like a Thar festival nowJ.

On the whole It was a great event and many people turned up to put their vehicles to task. Here are few images for you to view.

[Ddrive]

Whoa, the Scorpios too in the Frey ?
Simply amazing and the pictures are candid.
Kudos to the photographer too .

[davids4x4mm550]

Good to see you guys having a blast Vish.
And good to have another jeeper in the IC colony jeep group.

Thanks Vinod and team for putting this together it was fun.

Few pics of my jeep. Tyres saw mud for the first time and boy did they do well.

[Vishbull_6157]

Originally Posted by davids4x4mm550

Good to see you guys having a blast Vish.
And good to have another jeeper in the IC colony jeep group.

Thanks Vinod and team for putting this together it was fun.

Thanks David, glad to be around experienced jeeper like yourself.

Thanks Vinod and team, the event was super fun. Enjoyed it to the core.

While we were waiting at some parts in trail for the guys ahead of us to finish, i saw many utilizing that time to bond with other participants, I dint come across anyone cribbing about long waits etc. Some fun pics of making bread toast while waiting in the trail, we also proclaimed ourselves the winners for having a great time.

[Shubhendra]

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

Great to hear the good time participants had at the Lonavala Great Escape.

Attachment 1108086

Vinod Ji,
you was correct, we couldn't clear that slush and rock filled incline with 235, 31 inches and even with 35 inches tyres and had to winch them. Yes but we tried.
one suggestion, we need more obstacles in future MGEs. Trophy event had only 3 obstacles out of that one got cancelled that left us with two obstacles only.Two obstacles in a day left us hungry for more.....

Shubhendra Singh

Jeeps lineup from our group from Poona. One important point i noticed, 80% of old timers were absent from Bombay or Poona. I dont know why, but i have seen lately that old timers are parting ways from MGE whereas now event is filled up with newcomers and Thars..
No more good old souped up jeeps and enthusiastic owners :(



Shubhendra Singh

[fazalaliadil]

Originally Posted by Shubhendra

I dont know why, but i have seen lately that old timers are parting ways from MGE whereas now event is filled up with newcomers and Thars..
No more good old souped up jeeps and enthusiastic owners :(

Shubhendra,

I feel the reason is that, MGE's are very tame events, as Vinod himself stated on this thread "been there, done that" kind.

MGE is more or less for beginners and also for new entrants to this sport, a good introduction.

With old timers come Jeeps that are 'builds' than 'boughts'. Half the fun is the man's interaction with their machine and how they together perform.
Regards,