[vinod_nookala]

Guys,
Iam yet to recover from the body pains through this OTR. Almost drove about 250 +kms on road in a single day, heavy rains plus two stages of offroad and numerous recoveries under pouring rain!!

Day started with a long drive to adventure zone and there by to the off roading spot. The usual entry points were blocked due to heavy rains and water was gushing!! Arka almost fell into the flowing water neck deep when he entered the water to check out the depth

Subsequently we were able to find out some other entry point did some special stages TPC style. Rescue of the green MM550 XD took almost 3 hours. By the time we headed out of the river bed it was 5.15 in the evening, had lunch by 5.30 p.m and gathered all the strength to drive back 100kms in the darkness and pouring rain. Crashed on the bed.

Pictures speak for itself. Will upload pictures onces my internet is up. On the whole a tiring OTR.

New Vehicle review-
TLC and Nissan Patrol were amazing for thier size. They were called on to rescue to take their weight advantage to pull powerless MM550 XD. To my surprise despite being heavy they did so well!! Both are extremely refined machines with amazing grip levels due to solid axles and coil set up. Though unfair to compare it with M&M vehicles, both didnt have grunt to pull in 2 low. Very surprising!! This was my observation even with LC 70 which i drove in kelambakkam quary. But need less to say the sense of control and comfort of land cruiser and patrol are matchless!!

[dwaraka]

Chennai offroaders,

You seem to have had one of the best OTR on this sunday. We in bangalore were engaged in similar activity near MP sreenivasan's farm in Avalakondu, off chikkaballapur.

[svsantosh]

Chennai Guys - Palar looks more beautiful with a cloud cover. I am sure many would have loved the wetness than the sweltering heat of summer TPC. Kudos to all. Wasnt there any 'Winch attached' vehicle along? MM550 looked like a challange to rescue.

[vinod_nookala]

Originally Posted by dwaraka

Chennai offroaders,

You seem to have had one of the best OTR on this sunday. We in bangalore were engaged in similar activity near MP sreenivasan's farm in Avalakondu, off chikkaballapur.

Yes dwaraka,
Though the off roading done wasnt much but the recovery fun was amazing. Took 3 hours to recover stalled and stuck MM550 XD which is considerably light. Wonder how you guys managed to pull Scorpio and Safari on that fateful night. Recovery minimal grip all around and no winch is tricky.

Iam keeping minute by minute watch on usual teaser thread by Mjothi

[headers]

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

New Vehicle review-
TLC and Nissan Patrol were amazing for thier size. They were called on to rescue to take their weight advantage to pull powerless MM550 XD. To my surprise despite being heavy they did so well!! Both are extremely refined machines with amazing grip levels due to solid axles and coil set up. Though unfair to compare it with M&M vehicles, both didnt have grunt to pull in 2 low. Very surprising!! This was my observation even with LC 70 which i drove in kelambakkam quary. But need less to say the sense of control and comfort of land cruiser and patrol are matchless!!

@V_N: The Statement "IMO the Mahindras are better than the Patrol and the TLC - Both these machines dont have the grunt of the 540 man" is missing dude.

@Redone and @4x4: Your comments please?

[vinod_nookala]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Chennai Guys - Palar looks more beautiful with a cloud cover. I am sure many would have loved the wetness than the sweltering heat of summer TPC. Kudos to all. Wasnt there any 'Winch attached' vehicle along? MM550 looked like a challange to rescue.

Santosh,
The weather was amazing. Never was palar so cool. There was no winch on any of the 16-17 vehicles that attended this OTR. . This made recovery ticky.

[vinod_nookala]

Originally Posted by headers

@V_N: The Statement "IMO the Mahindras are better than the Patrol and the TLC - Both these machines dont have the grunt of the 540 man" is missing dude.

@Redone and @4x4: Your comments please?

You are wicked headers- Quoting me out of context. so here it goes-

Headers- So, Vinod which one is better, TLC or Patrol? (Both red one and 4x4 addict looking on!)

Me: I dont know, this day i drove on Patrol, so cant comment on comparision

Headers: You are being diplomatic
Me: No, in my opinion 540 is better than both of them. MM540 has better grunt than both of them in 2nd low, both stall in 2nd low both climbing and pulling

Headers: So Arka , which one is better between the two other than his fav 540?

Arka: TLC, says it has better grunt and revability:-)

Both Red one and 4x4 addict feel like squeezing our throat and Headers enjoys the show.

[dwaraka]

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

Yes dwaraka,
Though the off roading done wasnt much but the recovery fun was amazing. Took 3 hours to recover stalled and stuck MM550 XD which is considerably light. Wonder how you guys managed to pull Scorpio and Safari on that fateful night. Recovery minimal grip all around and no winch is tricky.

Iam keeping minute by minute watch on usual teaser thread by Mjothi

Scorpio was recovered by winching out with snatch block to its left. That was an exhilirating experience. Safari in my IMHO would not have done this terrain. So are endeavours, TLC, patrol or any of the LWBs

This OTR was a memorable experience for all of us participated. This track was dangerous inclines of one way down only. I would bet on any body who can do upward. Hope you would imagine what I talk about here. Pictures when posted will speak of the terrain. A single unmindful mistake will only end up tragic.

Originally Posted by headers

@V_N: The Statement "IMO the Mahindras are better than the Patrol and the TLC - Both these machines dont have the grunt of the 540 man" is missing dude.

@Redone and @4x4: Your comments please?

True, Matchless is not an appropriate word. We aren't comparing with any offroader. They too are capable offroaders.

[headers]

You are wicked headers- Quoting me out of context.

Yes I am wicked : I Apologize too!



The Star of show

[4x4addict]

To add my two cents, the only reason, I took the Patrol was because my mm540 is still in the modification process and I didn't want to miss the OTR. Since Redone was bringing his TLC, it gave me some confidence as well as I figured, there is another beast in the crowd in case I needed to pulled out.

The problem is driving an import is that unless you are Vijay Malya you are always a bit worried about damages and potential expensive fixes if anything messes up. The 540 on the other hand you can go all out knowing that out of pocket expenses will be minimal. My patrol is the non Turbo version so it just about has enough power for it's weight. It could definitely use more grunt.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by vinod_nookala

... Wonder how you guys managed to pull Scorpio and Safari on that fateful night. Recovery minimal grip all around and no winch is tricky...

Originally Posted by dwaraka

Scorpio was recovered by winching out with snatch block to its left. That was an exhilirating experience. Safari in my IMHO would not have done this terrain. ...

Dwaraka sir, Vinod is talking about "that fateful night" when we were at the trail till 2.30 am and you are spilling the beans about yesterday's OTR adventures

[headers]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

The problem is driving an import is that unless you are Vijay Malya you are always a bit worried about damages and potential expensive fixes if anything messes up. The 540 on the other hand you can go all out knowing that out of pocket expenses will be minimal. My patrol is the non Turbo version so it just about has enough power for it's weight. It could definitely use more grunt.

This is a 5 star post by you, Tini. I really appreciate your modesty in accepting the truth!

[vinod_nookala]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Dwaraka sir, Vinod is talking about "that fateful night" when we were at the trail till 2.30 am and you are spilling the beans about yesterday's OTR adventures

Haha, true Khan, you got it right. Dwaraka you cut the long story short and spill the beans:-)). Now ask your boys to upload pics soon, we chennai guys are faster than you guys in this department atleast

[headers]

Hey this is getting interesting..What happened "that fateful night" Mr. KS, Mr. dwarak and others?

[ram.west]

Some more pictures of the second obstacle.