[tsk1979]

Soft Roader... Or Off roader or just a pretender? Well in this thread I put up my experiences, with off roading on different terrains.
The Desert was just the start, and the Himalayas are waiting.

The Dune Buggy
Sand is the favorite destination of Soft-Roader class of vehicles. Why? The answer is simple, minimal panel damage.
Jeepers can climb up and down cliffs, in the jungles, in deep ruts, without worrying about a ding here or there.
But soft roaders have panels. Even the claddings are painted.
That makes sand an attractive proposition. Though the vegetation ensures that its not all rosy!

After a short offroading stint through dirt tracks near Panipat, this was the first major extended off road drive for the safari.
Initially the track was fairly simple. Loose dirt. Maintain speed, and a 2WD high GC vehicle will manage with some wheelspin.

But soon came sand. The key was momentum. The Jeeps just went without any fuss, as the NDMS tracks will tell you. Light weight means sinking is much less, inspute of skinny tires. Of course jeeps have better articulation etc., but in sand, its all weight and torque that matters.

Like a rookie I parked in sand, to click pictures. Well I am a rookie(Its been 8 years since I stopped offroading, ever since the gypsy was sold), what do you expect,


After that we got it, and vroom. The wheels spin. 4H does not have enough torque in idle to get her out, and I don't want to half clutch. I love my vehicles, infact thats why the indica's clutch lasted 1 lakh kms+ inspite of heavy mountain driving!
Luckily, help is a flick away. The knob goes into 4L, like some elephant getting up, she shakes herself out

After this there is stopping for pictures. I know I cannot stop till the next section.
My co driver(one of the hotel guys), mistakingly takes me to the wrong trail. Here even jeeps don't go, and on an uphill stretch I am bogged down.
Well what do do? Take pictures

Extraction is easy, since its downhill in reverse gear.
After that the key is speed.
The sand is deep, and my palms are sweaty, but 140 horses come to the rescue, as I roar down the trail in 4H first gear, wheels frantically fighting for traction, and the safari drifting all over the place.
Soon victory is mine, and I am one with the jeeps


Next morning its wife's job to turn around the safari. ITs not too difficult since sand is harder here
She looks at home in sand

And I look at home with her

The Camels go away, and its just me her and the desert
Time to go back to the village, through the sand.
So what to do?
Put camera in manual focus mode after prefocussing, and keep taking pictures of the drive after quick stops
The easier trail

The king of the desert

This time I only stopped on hard ground, before the nasty sand started. Good move, I needed all the speed I could carry

The jeeps have moved on, and Its just me

Soon I catch up

The jeep

I wait there for some time, and they tell me to come to village when I am free.
Its miles and miles of empty tracks. Time to drift and fly.


And soon, the village, comes! Here she is with unlikely company


-- The END for this one! --

[Steeroid]

Your tires dont seem to be deflated in any of the pics. Or is it only in the pics? Also guessing that you didnt have time to take pics in the really sandy parts, because the terrain in the pictures looks like fairly hard flat ground.

[Parm]

nice trip in the dunes. the photos are very high res, looks nice.

are you using a speed camera detector? cobra?

[smsrini]

TSK, Wonderful reading your 4x4 experience with the Safari.

The pic "She looks at home in the sand" is the best of the lot!

keep driving!

cheers!
Srini

[akshay4587]

@Tanveer Nice pics as always.

Sigh i need a 4X4

[nitrous]

Fantastic report,Tanveeer!
Your experiences would make for a good collective off-road test report of the Safari 4x4 .
Btw, have you started collecting off-roading accessories(necessities too) like non-elastic tow rope,air compressor for tyres,etc ?
OT&PS: 40+degreeC,off-roading,hard revving should have 7500km Oil Change Interval.

[suman]

Its beginning to sound like a cliche but - nice, very nice

She looks real good in that pic with the three jeeps - quite like a cousin who's being studying abroad & just returned home

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Your tires dont seem to be deflated in any of the pics. Or is it only in the pics? Also guessing that you didnt have time to take pics in the really sandy parts, because the terrain in the pictures looks like fairly hard flat ground.

Did not deflate the tires, since the track had many hard sections. Moreover
I had planned not to take any big risks. Of course if we had gotten stuck, then this would have been needed.
As for hard ground, pics are of course in hard ground.
Just one pic where you can see her sunk in is on soft ground.
For dune pics also parking was done on hard ground so that I could get enough momentum for sand
For example look at this pic. Parking is on hard ground, but deep sand all around. Once you stop there its difficult to get out. Even the jeeps avoid stopping there unless absolutely necessary

Originally Posted by Parm

nice trip in the dunes. the photos are very high res, looks nice.

are you using a speed camera detector? cobra?

Used to have a cobra, do not use it now

Originally Posted by smsrini

TSK, Wonderful reading your 4x4 experience with the Safari.

The pic "She looks at home in the sand" is the best of the lot!

keep driving!

cheers!
Srini

Thanks srini

Originally Posted by akshay4587

@Tanveer Nice pics as always.

Sigh i need a 4X4

A 4x4 is always a blast!

Originally Posted by nitrous

Fantastic report,Tanveeer!
Your experiences would make for a good collective off-road test report of the Safari 4x4 .
Btw, have you started collecting off-roading accessories(necessities too) like non-elastic tow rope,air compressor for tyres,etc ?
OT&PS: 40+degreeC,off-roading,hard revving should have 7500km Oil Change Interval.

I have air compressor(but pretty slow in filling up). Need to get tow rope. Service will be done at 8K with oil change after one himachal trip

Originally Posted by suman

Its beginning to sound like a cliche but - nice, very nice

She looks real good in that pic with the three jeeps - quite like a cousin who's being studying abroad & just returned home

Yup, the contrast is striking. 1996 model jeep with 2008 model safari!

[mjothi]

Wow, wonderful location. Perfect for the Bull, the beast or the king
I loved the pictures with patterns on the sand. Excellent.

[hrag]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Soft Roader... Or Off roader or just a pretender?

Sand is the favorite destination of Soft-Roader class of vehicles. Why? The answer is simple, minimal panel damage.
Jeepers can climb up and down cliffs, in the jungles, in deep ruts, without worrying about a ding here or there.
But soft roaders have panels. Even the claddings are painted.
That makes sand an attractive proposition. Though the vegetation ensures that its not all rosy!

Nice, tsk1979.

The Safari is no pretender. Having said that, there are things it cannot do in stock form.

Not sure if you saw this thread:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-of...r-camping.html

It is sad that the EX 4x4 version comes with body coloured cladding these days. The 3.0 EX 4x4 that I took on this OTR was covered with scratches too - up to the top of the doors. Fortunately, Pearl White is a very forgiving colour. 2 good washes later (no wax polish done), the scratches are barely visible.

[sudev]

impressive sand conquering drives. Lovely pictures with such amazing clarity.

[Samurai]

Wonderful report and pics, I was expecting something along the line from this trip. Too bad I couldn't experience this in person.

[GTO]

Those Jeep dudes must have gotten green with envy...sweating it out in the sveltering heat only to see you comfortably cocooned in your air-conditioned cabin. How was your temp gauge?

Mindblowing pictures (as always).

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by mjothi

Wow, wonderful location. Perfect for the Bull, the beast or the king
I loved the pictures with patterns on the sand. Excellent.

Yup sand is one of the best terrains to run around in a 4x4 like the safari. Minimal chance of panel damage, except for some hairline scratches from bushes

Originally Posted by hrag

Nice, tsk1979.

The Safari is no pretender. Having said that, there are things it cannot do in stock form.

Not sure if you saw this thread:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-of...r-camping.html

It is sad that the EX 4x4 version comes with body coloured cladding these days. The 3.0 EX 4x4 that I took on this OTR was covered with scratches too - up to the top of the doors. Fortunately, Pearl White is a very forgiving colour. 2 good washes later (no wax polish done), the scratches are barely visible.

I am going to get Fucot Armor paint sealant, and if I can get it "3M scotchguard" or Armourfend like plastic/acrylic film.

Originally Posted by sudev

impressive sand conquering drives. Lovely pictures with such amazing clarity.

This was the first of the series. After this there are 3 more separate off road drives, and one where I almost got stuck due to an innova guy.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Wonderful report and pics, I was expecting something along the line from this trip. Too bad I couldn't experience this in person.

There is always a next time

Originally Posted by GTO

Those Jeep dudes must have gotten green with envy...sweating it out in the sveltering heat only to see you comfortably cocooned in your air-conditioned cabin. How was your temp gauge?
Mindblowing pictures (as always).

The temp guage was a whisker below half mark, where it always is on long highway drives. I ensured not going above 3000rpm, and always kept her around 2500rpm, because thats where max torque comes up

[bblost]

So nice to see someone use something in its natural habitat.