[Samurai]

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Do you need to get environmental clearance from the forest department for the event?

Any event of this scale requires permission from multiple departments. Otherwise authorities will step in and stop the event. Ashesh has confirmed that permission came in just a day before.

Originally Posted by whitemm550

the govt permissions came a day before the event

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

There could be many rare flora and fauna that could be damaged during the event. How do you prevent/minimise such incidents?

Event organizers generally have strong set of do and don'ts regarding how to take care of environment. It is usually part of the briefing and instructions that often sent ahead of time.

RFC had this in place:

Everyone at Force Gurkha RFC India, including the organizers, participants and media, will be required to sign an environment charter. The key elements of the environment charter include (though some of them are relevant only for the participants and not for the Press):

• No standing trees or plants will be cut or damaged
• Failure to use a tree trunk protector during winching operations will result in a DNS being recorded for the Special Stage
• Participants will drive to campsites in an organized convoy, within speed limits and only on marked tracks
• Participants will remove any fallen trees blocking the track and not drive around them
• Participants will ensure that they don’t endanger the lives of any birds and animals
• Any vehicle with excessive emissions will be disqualified from participation
• Campsites, assembly, holding and work areas will be left clean
• All participants will carry garbage bags and take all their garbage and dispose it in the municipal waste disposal bins. No garbage will be buried or left behind
• Where toilets are not available, participants will be required to dig a hole and bury ‘night soil’ at least 100 meters away from camp sites and watercourses.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

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?

Unfortunately, such incidences do happen sometimes. Not unlike most human activity, offroading is not a perfectly environmentally friendly activity. But keep in mind this was at a stone quarry, where the quarry activity destroys trees in huge numbers. If there were rare flora, I don't think they would have allowed a stone quarry there.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

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?

People very rarely lend offroad vehicles to others, it can be severely damaged in the hands of novice drivers. And I haven't heard of commercial 4WD rentals in India.

[BopsKA12]

Wonderful Report. I was reading about the RFC for the first time and is nothing like the Mahindra Adventure that I have read and seen about.
Beautiful pictures and Videos. Pure Eyegasm :-)

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Any vehicle with excessive emissions will be disqualified from participation

Interesting point. I'm curious, how do they determine if a vehicle has excessive emission, naked eye or they have some equipments as well?

Spike

[Samurai]

Don't know. People who were present during scrutiny can comment on it.

[Bump-Stop]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Let’s look at some of the modifications and technologies in the competition vehicles.

Was just wondering with that huge winch covering up almost the entire radiator area on the gypsy, how do they get some air over to the radiator, especially at crawl speeds?

[whitemm550]

Originally Posted by 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?

yes Sharath, we might have met at the Coorg event in 2008, i was in one of the 4wd vehicles, without the winch, and yes we did have a couple of 2wd vehicles too, but i still rate that track in coorg to be the game changer for us offroaders in Goa, thanks to you guys

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Samurai

After a long leisurely drive through the green hills and valleys of Goa, we finally reach the camp site for Twilight zone. This is a very different kind of trail...............
.....................on, 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?[/list]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.

The End.

Hello Samurai,
Hats off for that splendid piece ! No question about it - it certainly changed my world view as far as off-roading in our own country is concerned! Hair-raising, in one word!
And thanks for bringing me down to terra firma with all the complacence knocked out of the system!
It is one thing to discuss technicalities and something else to put one's money where one's mouth is.
It was great to see the Willy's line-up as well as the Thar, Gurkhas, Gypsies right up there with the best of them! And also the fact that the entrepreneurs in our country are carrying out these heavy mods that you've captured in your photos and videos. May their tribe thrive and multiply!
And kudos too to the organizers, officials, marshalls and most of all to the participants themselves. As you said, there was even someone with a 2WD!
Terrific coverage, Samurai - thank God for Team BHP - nothing else comes close !

[Rudra Sen]

Brilliantly formatted report with fantastic picture coverage. Like many said here already - it is almost like being there.

Originally Posted by Samurai

[list][*]Street friendly vehicles are not an option. Every modification has to maximise off-road advantage without giving any thought to on-road advantage.

Now what does this mean in reality? All these cars have horrible on-road behaviour?

Originally Posted by Samurai

While the rest of the media hid their cameras under the rain poncho, I could click away with my fully waterproof mirrorless camera in the fierce rain.

Talk about showing off!! OK, OK, we got the hint. Don't we?

[embee]

Interesting to find that Gerrari Offroaders also participated in this event..!!

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Now what does this mean in reality? All these cars have horrible on-road behaviour?

The handling is highly compromised due to increased articulation. The steering geometry is compromised because of suspension lift. The braking is compromised due to extreme mud tyres.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Talk about showing off!! OK, OK, we got the hint. Don't we?

It is not often that a long time Olympus user gets a chance to show off to the Canikon crowd.

Originally Posted by embee

Interesting to find that Gerrari Offroaders also participated in this event..!!

Not sure about the meaning of this comment. Why shouldn't they?

[embee]

Originally Posted by Samurai

The handling is highly compromised due to increased articulation. The steering geometry is compromised because of suspension lift. The braking is compromised due to extreme mud tyres.

It is not often that a long time Olympus user gets a chance to show off to the Canikon crowd.

Not sure about the meaning of this comment. Why shouldn't they?

You interpreted my post wrong.. i mean to say that i was happy to know that Gerrari's participated in this event.. I have participated with them in their 4x4 meets!!

[Twinn]

Some more videos.

Credits to deepak shivanna from YouTube

http://youtu.be/WLyD_ODIf5w

http://youtu.be/MwfUScVa6aE

http://youtu.be/V6mPCNzvRr4

http://youtu.be/dbxhHQoO0RQ

http://youtu.be/-YesSMvakGs

http://youtu.be/WLyD_ODIf5w

http://youtu.be/nE9R1WoDMls

[Jaggu]

Some pictures from my side of Day 1. With so much of action around, did not shoot afterwards

[VLOCT]

Fantastic Samurai. Really enjoyed the whole thread.

The vehicles looks astounding and the driving skills outta this world. Completely outside my realm of skills. Watching the videos honestly, I'm not sure I even want to try.

Great to see the Monsoon shots, as well. It's been years since, I've actually seen anything like a monsoon.

Thanks a lot for the detailed videos and photographs. Thoroughly enjoyable, indeed.

[PrideRed]

Fabulous photos Samurai. Its a visual treat. The extent of modifications that the vehicles have undergone is unheard of in other events so far.

Slightly off-topic: I was returning from my native to Bangalore and almost on approaching Bangalore spotted a vehicle participated in RFC(RFC 119). The way the driver was driving the vehicle was totally unacceptable. Was bullying almost everyone on road with the front flash light and jumping on road humps.

First of all driving with illegal accessories on road is wrong and bullying fellow drivers is very much unacceptable. I request to drive responsibly.