[Samurai]

Originally Posted by fine69

If no vehicle is able to do a terrain then does it not mean that organizers made a wrong decision?

This often happens in local OTR events. After a hard rain, many carefully selected trails become impossible to tackle. Same thing happened in Twilight Zone. You can't really blame the organizers for mother nature's moods.

[mac187]

RFC guys updated the day end photos each day, some clicks were really good. But a good write up with pictures and video gives us the virtual feel of the event.

Thanks Samurai for a detailed write up. Request Dr. Tejas to share his experience as well.

[whitemm550]

as usual, fantastic report from one of my favorite writers. i tell you guys, it was the first time i met Samurai, and it was like i knew him all through, thanks to T-BHP. for me the highlight of this entire event, other then we being able to pull off a seemingly impossible task, ( the govt permissions came a day before the event) , along with the immaculately organised Ashish Gupta and his team, was the fact that i could for the first time catch up with some of the Off road greats of India, obviously, Samurai, Khan_Sultan, UBS sir, Prithvi, Viji, Biju bhai, all the greats had overnight become my best buddies.

[Samurai]

Ashesh, we did meet in Coorg MGE 2008 as strangers. I spoke to many Goa Jeepers then. See this from the 2008 report, you must have been one of the guy in 4WD. Did you have a winch then?

Originally Posted by Samurai

As I moved on, I met some Jeeps from Goa, they were mostly 2WD Jeeps. I learnt that their 2WDs completed Goa Great Escape successfully. One of them later told me that they have never seen so many 4x4 vehicles in one place, Goa rarely has 4x4 vehicles. But this is Coorg, guys! Yeah, he admitted he rarely saw any 2WD Jeep in Coorg. Later the Mahindra team and marshals had hell of a time pulling out these 2WD Jeeps late into night. The Goa guys I spoke to had a winch (I think they were 4WD too), they actually returned back to rescue their friends after finishing the trail.

[Desmosedici]

Thanks for the superb report Samurai San. The photos looks amazing, The vehicles looks mind blowing. One could never think that these things can happen in our country. Always thought these monster looking vehicles were made only in the west.

[ampere]

I think this is the first report on 4x4 excursions I ever read. Have no idea about these, but the sheer promos of the event within and out side our forum, made me go through it. I saw all the videos too! Great report. esp SS22/23. Could not initially believe that the driver came out; for running up the winch cable.

[sudev]

reporting. Net time TBHP need more people on ground to cover all sections. I was caught iin another event professionally so dropped all plans to be there and I am regretting it.

[arvind71181]

Great report Samurai. Felt like saw the event in itself. Dont know anything about off roading but it sure looks very very tough

[v1kram]

Excellent effort and a great report Samurai, special thanks for the videos.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Originally Posted by Samurai

As the first Rain Forest Challenge comes to an end, it raises a lot of questions in the mind of an off-roader, especially those who attended this event in any capacity.

How does this affect other OTR events in the country?
Will the difficult level remain the same, or will they start raising the stakes?
What happens when these RFC-prepared off-road vehicles show up at local OTR events?
The mindset changes forced by RFC, will they percolate to local OTRs?
RFC fueled a cottage industry of extreme modding for 4WD vehicles. Off-road kits designed for foreign models were adapted/modified to fit the local Jeep/Gypsies. Most of them are very experimental mods, and would eventually mature if proper engineering expertise is provided. Will that happen?
Did the budget to enter the sport of off-roading just go up?
India motor vehicle act forbids any kind of vehicle modification. Therefore, most current modifications are done within reason, to pass any routine scrutiny by the RTO. But RFC type modification won’t pass even the lightest of scrutiny. RTO could have rightfully seized every competition vehicle while driving on Goan roads. How will this be regularised?
One thing is clear for all attendees, RFC has clearly changed how we look at off-roading in India. By how much, only the future can tell.

Dear Sharath - first of all, thank you for your wonderful report, I actually lived the event by reading it! In my opinion, all the above questions have only one answer.

Lifestyle 4*4 is now mainstream in India. There is huge business for everybody, which includes manufacturers, tuners, organizers, sponsors and the support facility providers. It will finally benefit the customers who want to buy a CMVR compliant production vehicle with good 4*4 capability.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[khan_sultan]

Day 1 & 2 (Prologue) were spectator friendly and anybody could come in and watch the vehicles performing in the SS from close quarters. That allowed lots of normal folks to observe & see what the sport is all about and it was a carnival like atmosphere.







The whole prologue was in an empty land and it was mostly the natural ups & downs/pits/water accumulations/rock steps/gravel mounds on the ground that were used as natural obstacles for SS.

Both days, the SS's used almost the same ball park area for the SS's but very clever SS planning by David ensured that each SS was different from previous day on the same track. Some clever placement of cones/bunting ensured sharp angles & forced drivers/spotters to 'think' rather than just 'press-accelerator and power your way through'

From an offroad viewpoint, the SS were designed in a manner to esure that offroad driving skills, driving line, driver-spotter coordination and most importantly, effective use of offroad accessories -- like sand ladders, winches, ground anchors -- were key to the successful completion of the SS.

For example: see these videos from different teams doing part of the SS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiETEi-aEHk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OxQ83ycK_o

Notice the angles the vehicles have to take in some parts of the SS. You dislodge the cone and you incur a 10 point penalty. Different teams used different approaches and one vehicle even toppled here.





An example of using what was available in the ground for making parts of the SS. water accumulation plus metal pipes. Here you enter this pit and go over this pipe, take a turn and on the other side also you have a pipe that you need to go over. Again, different teams used different approaches.






May teams were using the ground anchor for the first time and it was evident though out the event that there is no substitute for practical experience -- however much of theory you may have read on the internet about usage of various tools/techniques.



A part of some SS. You had to remove the tyre, run around the vehicle and put it back and drive.


I think majority of the participants broke something or the other parts of the their vehicles in these 'deceptively simple' SS's and realized the importance of service teams/preserving the vehicle.

What i liked about prologue days: SS's were not a 'just press accelerator and go as fast as you can' usually seen in many offroad-autocross type of events these days.

NOTE: All pics in this post taken from facebook.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

It will finally benefit the customers who want to buy a CMVR compliant production vehicle with good 4*4 capability.[/b]

Thanks Behram, but the CMVR rules have to be turned on its head to legally allow these kind of customizations. There was only one Thar CDRe in the competition, and it has solid axle. There were 3 Force Gurkhas, again with solid axle. Not a single IFS vehicle. The Indian category podium was occupied by CJ3Bs and Gypsies.

How do you make a case for CMVR complaint vehicles as it stands now?

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Lifestyle 4*4

It will finally benefit the customers who want to buy a CMVR compliant production vehicle with good 4*4 capability.[/b]

Dear DB,

What you say will work ONLY for lifestyle, urban offroaders or the mild Mahindra GE type of events.

RFC type events, I don't think any CMVR etc compliant vehicle will survive even 1/2 a day.

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Dear Sharath and Shahnawaz - I never said that CMVR compliant vehicle will survive the RFC, of course it won't, it is never meant to. This event is like the WRC, see the WRC rally cars, except for looking similar to road cars, they are completely different beasts. I just said that this healthy trend will finally benefit the normal customer who wants to buy a normal 4*4 vehicle, which is a good thing to happen in our country where this latent desire, the buying power and customer assertion are increasing every day.

However, that "normal 4*4" vehicle must comply with CMVR, otherwise there is no business case, dammit!
.

As the 4*4 scene in India has exponentially matured, the next step is to make RFC India as a round of the 4*4 championship, therefore, what is happening is very nice, it should continue and benefit all stakeholders. I believe I have clarified.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[W.A.G.7]

Nice report and it feels good to see so many people now enthusiastically participating in such events. Super pictures as well, you guys had a lot of fun. Some noob questions here:

1. Do you need to get environmental clearance from the forest department for the event?
2. There could be many rare flora and fauna that could be damaged during the event. How do you prevent/minimise such incidents? For example, the challenging tree on the slope must have got some damage when the Gypsy stuck on it. How do you account for such incidences?
3. Is it mandatory to have an offroading vehicle, or do you also loan vehicles there on the spot to anyone who doesn't have one?