An awesome reporting and a fabulous depiction of events, people who know, will appreciate how difficult it is to convey the challenges of an offroad event through photographs, but you seem to have done that straight out, naturally. What's interesting is that, I cannot guarantee you that it will get better!! Because with time, you'll want to spend more time behind the wheel and watching the terrain!
Anyways, one thing that I was wanting to point out, since I had the privilege of seeing the pics straight from your camera, they looked fabulous as well as natural and I cannot really say why, the pictures somehow are not striking the same punch to me now.
Anyway voted "Snickers" to the thread, as I prefer that over "5 star"
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Originally Posted by gearhead_mait Anirban da - A quick question here.
In your opinion, what you think about the Scorpio Vs Thar, in terms of offroad capability. Is the Ground Clearance an issue here? There is no doubt over Scorpio's capability (Marengo proved it many times before this).
But when Marengo got stuck in the slush, did anytime a thought like "A Thar could have done it" came to your mind? |
From a pure offroading perspective the answer would be Thar anyday anytime. Lighter body and shorter wheelbase. Besides the 2.5 engine has more usable torque low down the rev-range than the 2.2 which is incomparison a little more rev-happy.
However, Marengo's MLD helps, provided the driver is reminded of its presence and he revs the slipping wheel to activate it!
Regarding getting stuck, its not such a big deal on the OTR's. The point where Marengo got stuck, a 550 was stuck before, right beside it, on the logically more easier path. However, for Marengo, I was sure it would get stuck. There were many odds against it, will come to that later.
But yes, The rest of the vehicles, circumvented the water through a dry but slippery path.
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Originally Posted by psurelia I would like to attempt to answer this question. Anirban da, please correct me if I go wrong anywhere.
In the stock form, it's definitely the Scorpio which rules over Thar because of the more advanced transfer case. So, on slippery grounds Scorpio scores over Thar. When it comes to climbing sandy slopes, Thar has an 850 kg weight advantage (lighter) over Scorpio.
The bottom line is there is no absolute winner. But, if driven carefully, Scorpio can do more because of its more sophisticated and comparatively easier to use equipments. |
The transfer case is same. The advantage Thar has, is that, it has a manual shifter versus the electric shifter in the scorpio, which is sensitive to wading.
Offroad Thar is better. But the Scorpio is a better all-rounder, given that it can do many other tasks with elan.
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Originally Posted by cr4nkshaft nice pics as always samba!
one thing that I do not get is how Marengo was rescued? Was it towed out, or was it something else (like planks under wheels or something)...
Please excuse the n00bness of the query.. |
No query is stupid! Marengo was winched from the back by a legendary jeep named 8181. Besides, since its nose had cleared the sand embankment, it was easier for a few folks to give it a push simultaneously. Infact after the vehicle moved back about 3 inches, it gained grip on 4 wheels and was able to self extract.
Thankfully, as Samba mentioned, it took a surprisingly less time, 5 minutes to come out, given the huge time the 550, beside it, took.
But I guess, it was a pact made by Marengo and the 550 to spend time together, as they held each others hands while coming back from the OTR spot to the main road!
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Originally Posted by gearhead_mait I beg to differ in this point. But, I will let others, with more practical experience, explain it for me. I am sure there would be a lot of people to explain.
Bring it on! I can foresee a real battle shaping up. |
No battle, you are right.
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Originally Posted by avrendu One thing new this OTR saw was Marengo getting stuck. From my memory, I cannot recollect any such incident. I think Anirban will be the best person to analyse the reasons. But I think, in this particular spot, the Thar would have had the same fate. |
Yes Marengo was finally done for. I did have a scare at Gangani, where I realised, while the winch was almost being readied, that I forgot to switch to 4wd, once engaged, Marengo was out in a jiffy.
And another situation, on this OTR itself, without me realising that I had the handbrake on.
But having said that, this OTR was also the one where Marengo was most likely to get stuck. There were various reasons.
1> Marengo was fully loaded with 5 passengers. As it was raining and the rest of the vehicles being open, Marengo was a shelter.
2> Low approach speed :- there were passengers, the approach speed wasn't as much as I would have preferred
3> The tyres :- The rear tyres are almost at 45k and have lost tread, of the front tyres, one tyre is a H/T tyre. Marengo has never fought for grip as much as it did throughout this OTR, even on the dry sections.
4> Very bad spotting. It was raining heavily, and from the approach, there was a small hump rendering the waterless part of the track somewhat invisible from the drivers seat. The guy wearing white shirt and a turban, guided us into the water, while to him, the better track could be visible.
5> The driver wasn't too concerned about getting stuck at this point! But now I know that the rear carpet is spoilt with soil.
But frankly, I was always curious about the extractability of the 2.5 ton wagon, so it was good to have the experience. However, would not have preferred the incident to occur at the fag end of the day with receding daylight and frequent showers, rendering the terrain slippery to even walk on.
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Originally Posted by avrendu We can well see there is also a MM 550 right beside Marengo which was also stuck.
This was one of those spots which any offroader will always want to avoid.
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Ha! Ha! Trust me, its plain adrenaline rush, I am not sure if you could have also resisted.
But yes, if I took the pain to stop, look around in the rain and take the better path, I would have deprived myself of the experience!
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Originally Posted by lovecars21 Great shots Samba.
Guys please let me know in advance if any such event takes place in near future.
Will bring in my MM 550 XD 4x4
Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP |
Will be great if you join us next time. One will be held soon enough.