[Technocrat]

Nice pics Tanveer, its good to see you using the 4X4 for what its meant to be

[DirtyDan]

This Safari will make a good Himalayas vehicle. 205 is good GC but of course more is better. There may be some times when you encounter a big truck coming the other way on a ledge when you will wish you had something smaller but you will manage. When 2 big trucks meet they manage it, somehow. You would appreciate the power steering for backing up and for negotiating the switchbacks. You will appreciate the plush seats and easy suspension on the bad roads. Nice to have a heater for the cold up high, too. Hmm....altitude, another reason to buy onboard air.

[sudev]

While trucks do "manage" negotiating on coming traffic it would be better to have more "manageable" vehicle. Not that Safari is incapable beast - very capable as tsk is showing - but best is still that lovely mountain goat aka Gypsy. AFAIK some people have done spring suspensions on the Gypsy and that has ironed one of the most problematic issue - hard on bumps and backside!!

@tsk1979: Lovely experience and I can just imagine being there the way you have conveyed your experience.

[tsk1979]

Agree with Sudev here. The Safari's abilities are not a patch on what the Gypsy can do.
However if you want some bare bones comfort, then Gypsy is out. On off road tracks, in atleast stock suspension mode, gypsy can break backs.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

...However if you want some bare bones comfort, then Gypsy is out. On off road tracks, in atleast stock suspension mode, gypsy can break backs.

He He He.. Very true.I have been doing all my off-roading in Gypsy and it can not only break backs, it can make you aware of bones that you never thought existed .

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

He He He.. Very true.I have been doing all my off-roading in Gypsy and it can not only break backs, it can make you aware of bones that you never thought existed .

Almost 10 years ago we had a soft top Gypsy King Carb 1.3L
It was for farm duty since there used to be no roads there except for path used by quarry trucks.
Every trip in our 800 meant suspension and underbody repair.
So the Gypsy was pressed into service, and much to my sorrow and despair, she was sold off once the road to farm was made. It was a tearful moment for me, and I will never forget that black Gypsy king. I resisted and resisted, but the whims of a college going guy were overruled then, and a maroon Indica V1 without power steering was brought into her place. I hated that noisy piece of junj.
In the Gypsyfor the back seat we sourced an old Padmini back seat, and fixed it in the rear, taking out the bench seats. Tires were 255 width goodyear tubleless
Due to height issue of the padmini seat, spirited driving meant head breaking for rear passengers.
During the gypsy days, I used to go drive in small rivulets in the farm, and also went up mountainsides, where even tractors failed to go.
One of these days, the Safari will go there, and will try to fill the shoes of the emperor.

[tsk1979]

Flashback :
A few days before the trip, I spent a lot of time in mails and on phone with Sudev, our resident Raid and Desert Storm expert.
He would be on the phone, as I zoomed in an out on google earth looking at offroad tracks in the area.
For this section, I had decided to tread where the Stormers had.
From Ramdeora, there is a small metalled road which turns into a dirt/sand track shortly, and goes to Bap, where there are salt fields.
So from Pokhran to Phalodi, instead of taking the direct expressway like NH15, we decided to hit the dirt track, visit salt fields, and then come to Phalodi.
The track started innocently. Narrow metalled road. Since this stretch involved milder driving, wife decided to try her hand at offroading, and I decided to man the camera.
The metalled track,

But mirages in the desert don't last.. Do they?

It was rough, rocky, and sandy all at the same time

Smooth sections invited speeding, but make no mistake, illusions do not last

Many times track would sort of vanish in the foliage, and GPS would be the only guide telling us that we are indeed going in the correct direction
Very soon, after a gruelling ride, the track turned to metalled again

But it was a short stretch, and we were back on the "trail"

It was very slippery, and my wife was literlly gunning it at the curves, tail swishing out at every smooth turn. Imagine rally esteems and gypsy's on full throttle racing here!
There were sandy sections also, where the danger of getting bogged down was very real. No wonder sudev told me, "Its doable by car.. err wait a minute, well I think you will need 4WD"

We spy the ship of the desert, a Mahindra jeep slowly truding away loaded with passengers

We crossed them in a jiffy, with the entire crew giving us weird looks, where did this thing come from. Soon the track turned into a sand trap again, and it was time for 140 horses to unleash their full fury. you never stop here, if you stop you can sink. In sand, you go without stopping

So many paths, which one is the best. Its a split second decision only the driver can take

Desert is a world of illusions, see the left side, looks like no sand hard ground, so she took it, only to find a trench in the middle well camauflaged.
Reverse and take alternate sandy route

Looks inviting.. eh? But in real there are hidden bumps, so if you speed be prepared to fly

Soon the dirt track ended, with a road construction going on. This meant even harder off roading, as the "makeshift" track was even bumpier and tougher.

Here the Safari got "Bush-whacked".
While climging a tough section, the road caved in and she slid towards the bush, and whack, hairline scratches on the fender!! Luckly not deep ones, and a good wash removed them.

___ CONT __

[sudev]

tsk1979 wrote: "There were sandy sections also, where the danger of getting bogged down was very real. No wonder sudev told me, "Its doable by car.. err wait a minute, well I think you will need 4WD"

Hey this was done by all the Xplore guys and gals last Storm. All 2W drives. So why were you afraid? 8(

Nice narrative and if your wife drives this way well she needs the invitation to be the "official" rather than you. ;-)

[Samurai]

After reading your reports on sand driving in this thread, I took GV to the beach for the first time yesterday. I must say I survived only because of the lessons I learnt in this thread. Report will follow once I tame CS4, may be I'll just use the CS2 for this one.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by sudev

tsk1979 wrote: "There were sandy sections also, where the danger of getting bogged down was very real. No wonder sudev told me, "Its doable by car.. err wait a minute, well I think you will need 4WD"

Hey this was done by all the Xplore guys and gals last Storm. All 2W drives. So why were you afraid? 8(

Nice narrative and if your wife drives this way well she needs the invitation to be the "official" rather than you. ;-)

First timers hesitation I would say. Esp when there is not a soul in site, except for some lamb and beef for miles around!
As for the Storm, keeping my fingers crossed, this is one thing we both don't want to miss.

Originally Posted by Samurai

After reading your reports on sand driving in this thread, I took GV to the beach for the first time yesterday. I must say I survived only because of the lessons I learnt in this thread. Report will follow once I tame CS4, may be I'll just use the CS2 for this one.

Whoa. slow down. Did you actually say that you learnt things from this thread I never expected I would be teaching a jeeper off roading!

[sudev]

Originally Posted by Samurai

After reading your reports on sand driving in this thread, I took GV to the beach for the first time yesterday. I must say I survived only because of the lessons I learnt in this thread. Report will follow once I tame CS4, may be I'll just use the CS2 for this one.

Wah wah. Looking forward to this interesting thread.

[sudev]

@ tsk1979: One of the perils and fun (depending on how you come out on two feet or four wheel) of desert driving in the remote areas is this feeling of isolation from the world. I have been on a track that was less than 500 meters from NH15 and still felt what you are describing.

@Samurai: Just rubbing some more salt on open sores...."are you not glad you missed this?"

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Whoa. slow down. Did you actually say that you learnt things from this thread I never expected I would be teaching a jeeper off roading!

Driving a heavier GV into loose beach sand is very different than driving a light SWB Jeep. Therefore, your lessons from Safari is more applicable to GV than my Jeep experience. Besides, the last time I drove on beach, the Baleno front tyres sunk like a stone. So I respect sand, I know what they can do.

[tsk1979]

Isolation....! Thats what what strikes you about the track.
Its hard to imagine hordes of rally cars barreling down here!

All around there is us.. And sand


After we get off this track, tarmac again comes for some time as we head to the BAP salt fields

Salt everywhere

I take over the wheel

Its slush, salt and sand mixed together. Not much danger of getting stuck here, but due to the nature of surface, its all slide mode

But after slush its dry mode

Even though its hard and dry, there are still some "sink holes", where one of the tire sinks. 4WD territory all the way

The landscape is almost martian

But soon the adventure comes to an end, and we touch NH15, Phalodi Ahoy!
If you are wondering about route here it is

__ END of ADVENTURE __

[Dragonov]

Real nice snaps of the King following the footsteps of the Emperor
BTW, is that polythene wrapped on your step board being shredded to pieces in some of the photos due to offloading and the bushes?