[Samba]

After the awesome monsoon Otr at Harinkhola it was time for another winter Otr before the winter bids adieu to us! In between both these there was another Otr held in Pandua but i missed that one. :(

The date fixed was on 14th February, as no other date can be as good as this date specially for the jeep lovers.

The event started at morning 7am from UBS sir's house at Liluah followed by a 70kms drive to the Otr spot at Harinkhola. The Otr was held from 10am to 2pm. As it was 14th February many had other commitments with there near and dear ones so had to wrap up a bit early.

On contrary to the last monsoon OTR this time there was not much slush. So the lose sand on the Damodar river bed played the spoil sport on the steep climbs which made the Otr more thrilling, exciting and challenging ! There were few stuck up , few recoveries, few successful attempts , few unsuccessful attempts but at the end all was well and it was total fun!

So rather than writing more am straight going to the pics to show what 4L and 4H can do.

[mr.sinha]

Nice photos as always, Samba. Thank you. Hope you and Anirban had lot of fun. Missed this one too.

[Samba]

History did repeat itself! Like last year, this year we again went for dating with jeeps/suv's on 14th February! This time the venue was at Pandua instead of Harinkhola. The meeting time to meet all the Kolkata Off-roaders members were at 8am sharp at Azadhind dhaba. From there we proceeded to the OTR spot at Pandua. We had all the fun from 10am to 2pm. It was wrapped up early as most of us had our commitments to our near and dear one's.

Its all about actions so sharing the pics-

Mr.Sayantan Mondal (Team Bhp handle-Ghostrider28) trying out the obstacles in his Duster Awd.





Mr.Sumitro Chakravorty aka BlackPearl in his White Tusker!



That's me trying my hand in one of UBS Sir's jeep. Special thanks to 1100D for the spotting and UBS sir and Adhiraj Singh for their help.





Mr.Anirban Ghosh aka 1100D in his Marengo!



Mr.Pawan Bajpai (Team Bhp handle- Papabravo in his Duster AWD)





One of the members from Kolkata Offroaders driving a Jeep.



Mr Souradeep Chaudhury (TeamBhp handle- Sourac) had a fair bit of fun in his Honda Unicorn.



When all were having fun with there jeeps and suv's me and Arav Jalan (Aj-Got-Bhp) decided to have some small fun in our Etios ! Why should Suv's/Jeeps have all the fun!

Me in my Etios.










Aj-Got-Bhp having his share of fun & our legendary UBS Sir is doing the spotting for him.





The whole group with UBS sir in center. Aj-Got-Bhp, Black Pearl and Ghostrider28 missing in the group pics as they left early.





Last but not the least no fun without such incidents in an OTR!

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Samba

Its all about actions so sharing the pics-

Thanks a lot Samba for the wonderful pics. It was great meet today and met UBS Sir after a long time. We should be having such meets more often, though it is a pity that winter is over here. The highlight of today's meet was surely the performance of the Duster AWDs in the sand pits. It was super impressive the way the Dusters handled it, no drama whatsoever.

A few pics from my side as well taken in my One Plus 2 -

On NH2, waiting for Ghostrider28, before proceeding to Pandua
From left to right: AJ-got-BHP, PapaBravo, Samba, 1100D, mr.sinha


White Tusker posing with UBS Sir's Jeep!










These have been to Sandakphu 6 times between them


Master of all he surveys or contemplating whether to take the plunge!!




























These twins were super impressive!






Samba and AJ-got-BHP's Etioses were hell bent on putting the 4x4s to shame.

[PapaBravo]

It was a great day. Thanks Blackpearl for the information & pics. Samba's clicks, as usual, are amazing. Met UBS sir for the first time. Learned a lot about off-roading & most importantly my vehicle. Thanks 1100D for the expert tips.

All pictures are from phone camera & hence not so great

The initial brief :



Marengo (1100D) with Girgiti(Ghostrider28) & HULK (PapaBravo)



Marengo dismissing incllines



The old & the new



Samba trying the one wheel up trick



Arav doing the same in his Etios



Up



And down



The playing ground



Arav (AJ-got-bhp) trying to capture every frame.



BHPian Samba inspecting the Ground clearance



Under-body inspection



Atop the hill


With the oldies



I was sitting shotgun in this when this happened. No place to get pout



Meanwhile HULK completed 10k in style



PS : AJ. Please update your set fast.

Regards,

Pawan

[DriveTrain]

Seems that all of you had a great fun filled meet & a great start to Valentines day - Congrats !

Question to Pawan and Sayantan - as Hulk seems to be shod with the OEM MRF Wanderers and Girgiti is shod with the Conti Cross Contact A/T - what was the actual difference in handling of the two AWDs in this terrain , if any ?

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by DriveTrain

Seems that all of you had a great fun filled meet & a great start to Valentines day - Congrats !

Question to Pawan and Sayantan - as Hulk seems to be shod with the OEM MRF Wanderers and Girgiti is shod with the Conti Cross Contact A/T - what was the actual difference in handling of the two AWDs in this terrain , if any ?

I did not drive Sayantan's car but from observations from outside, CCs were giving better grip as compared to MRF Wanderers but the difference was not substantial. The case may not be the same in Slush. But in Sand the MRFs performed almost as good as CCs. I would also mention that electronics (ESP) helped a lot in avoiding wheelspins.

Regards,

Pawan

[DriveTrain]

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

The case may not be the same in Slush. But in Sand the MRFs performed almost as good as CCs.

The MRFs handle slush pretty well. I have first hand experience last summer during my drive to Shelapani and Chansal . Did not have much problem in deep slush filled inclines (moderate) amidst heavy rain. Obviously the electronics have a big role to play. It seems that the OEM MRF Wanderers can hold their own in slush and sand !

[AJ-got-BHP]

What a way to celebrate Valentine's Day !! I got a call from BHPian Samba mentioning if I was interested in attending the impromptu OTR planned by Kolkata Offroaders for the 14th of February 2016. The event was up on their facebook homepage and got the invite from Mr. Adhiraaj Singh as well. It was a "No Saying No" scenario for me and I ought to attend this one.

I was blessed and opportune enough to have met Sir Uday Bhan Singh (for the first time) and it was indeed a very pleasurable experience with lots to learn from him. However, the sad part is that I myself do not own a 4x4 as of now; although the desire is there to grab one soon.

Sharing some pictures of the Event which took place at Pandua, very close to the Boinchi Raliway Station :



Sir Uday Bhan Singh sharing a moment with his son Adhiraaj :



The Venue :





The famous 8181 with the Singhs on board :



Some pictures of the action by other participants :









Make Way :


The dog must be thinking "mere ilaake mein yeh kya ho raha hai" :






Adhiraaj Singh in Action :



Under the hood of the 1942 Machine :










UBS Sir's Jeep in Action :















Winching it out :

[AJ-got-BHP]

BHPian 1100D aka Anirban Ghosh Joining the Action with Marengo - His Scorpio 4x4 :









BHPian BlackPearl aka Sumitro in Action with the White Tusker - His Bolero 4x4 :













BHPian Abhijeet with his 4x4 Scorpio :







Brothers in Arms : The Duster AWD of PapaBravo & Ghostrider :



BHPian GhostRider aka Sayantan Dusting Away with "GIRGITI aka Chameleon" - his Duster AWD :













BHPian PapaBravo aka Pawan unleashing the "HULK" - his Duster AWD too :

[AJ-got-BHP]

Amidst all this, myself and BHPian Samba thought - Why should the SUV(s) have all the fun ? Let's get our ETIOS(s) for some action !!

Samba in Action with his Petrol Etios :







Lastly, myself in action with my Diesel Etios having some share of the fun :

Starting the Climb :




Samba's Etios lining up in the background :


Doing the decent :


UBS Sir providing the encouragement and doing the spotting :




Coming down the slope which the Etios climbed :


Strolling on the inclines :


Etios making a bit of history for itself amongst the SUV(s) - A Momentary Snap :


It was great catching up with folks and seniors; informative with a lots to learn !! As UBS Sir said "One can learn 50% of Off Roading just by coming to such events, the rest 50% is the tough part which takes a lot of time and only comes with continuous practice and application of one's skills"

[Sutripta]

Group photo shows complete lack of better halves! On 14th Feb! (Yes, I know it's an artificial import into India, but still ...)
Conclusion:- Some people are going to sleep in their cars/ with their cars very soon!

Regards
Sutripta

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Samba

Mr.Pawan Bajpai (Team Bhp handle- Papabravo in his Duster AWD)

Not only "Papabravo in his Duster AWD", I also know his state of mind at this moment! With each attempt at this longer slope, I am sure there must have been involuntary mental messaging of each of my ancestors. They must also have had some fun from the heaven's (or wherever they are) above.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Samba and AJ-got-BHP's Etioses were hell bent on putting the 4x4s to shame.

Lets just hope people dont take this statement from you too literally. Probably it will be better to add "between the obstacles" in your phrase!

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

BHPian Samba inspecting the Ground clearance
Pawan

And you were oblivious to the person bang in front of you!!

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Meanwhile HULK completed 10k in style
Pawan

Wishing HULK a wonderful journey ahead, his "Life" has now officially started!

Originally Posted by DriveTrain

Question to Pawan and Sayantan - as Hulk seems to be shod with the OEM MRF Wanderers and Girgiti is shod with the Conti Cross Contact A/T - what was the actual difference in handling of the two AWDs in this terrain , if any ?

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

I did not drive Sayantan's car but from observations from outside, CCs were giving better grip as compared to MRF Wanderers but the difference was not substantial. The case may not be the same in Slush. But in Sand the MRFs performed almost as good as CCs. I would also mention that electronics (ESP) helped a lot in avoiding wheelspins.

Regards,

Pawan

I probably answered this on FB. Was observing very keenly. Sayantan's Conti's had more grip on loose sand, but with traction-control on, as long as the surface was flat, Hulk was digging a little bit more, but still maintaining movement. But the difference really showed in the way these two handled the climb up from the sand pit, which was also sandy and slippery. The CC required much lesser momentum build up and cleared the slope one shot.

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Group photo shows complete lack of better halves! On 14th Feb! (Yes, I know it's an artificial import into India, but still ...)
Conclusion:- Some people are going to sleep in their cars/ with their cars very soon!

Regards
Sutripta

There were two sets of people there with two very different intentions

1> A set that constituted of people trying to increase the probability of finding a better half
2> The rest, that was running away from their better halves.

[Sheel]

ROFL 1100D

I was about to ask the question about different tires on the Duster AWD's but they have been answered.

Were the inclines conquered in 4H by Marengo and White Tusker?

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by 1100D

And you were oblivious to the person bang in front of you!!

Not at all. That person was guiding me all the time. Just don't have a photo to post it here.

Originally Posted by 1100D

Wishing HULK a wonderful journey ahead, his "Life" has now officially started!

Thanks !!

Originally Posted by 1100D

I probably answered this on FB. Was observing very keenly. Sayantan's Conti's had more grip on loose sand, but with traction-control on, as long as the surface was flat, Hulk was digging a little bit more, but still maintaining movement. But the difference really showed in the way these two handled the climb up from the sand pit, which was also sandy and slippery. The CC required much lesser momentum build up and cleared the slope one shot.

+1. Hulk required more momentum in almost all sandy climbs.

Adding two more pictures. - Pic courtesy - Samba

Hulk in one of the climbs.



Mr. Sinha's scorpio on a similar track



Regards,

Pawan