[GTO]

Good news is, the Bombay OTR gang is only expanding with each excursion. Sunday being the Malaysian GP, most of us wanted to be back in front of the tele by 1430. Thus, we followed the staple 0600 departure, 0800 Lonavla breakfast and 0830 4x4-engage Sunday schedule. It was fantastic to meet with a lot of new faces and 4x4 machines. Also appreciate everyone being on time.

I'm going to let the others plug in with details, but here is a small pictoral from my end.


Starting off:


The participants : Xtreme power in his Defender


Satan (Neville) in his 2008 Gypsy King


Steiger in his immaculate Classic. This has got to be the most original Classic on the road. 40,000 genuine kms, original (spotless) wire wheels, original soft-top, original tyres.....heck, even the rubber on the pedals is the factory fit.


4wdrifter (Harshit) in his Forester. Due to low ground clearance & lack of low ratio box, he couldn't go any further than the start of the first climb. But gotta admire his spirit, he tried putting the Forester through everything that it could manage.


Continuing to make our own road






Me and Addy made it up in my Jeep and the rest are attacking this climb one by one. Large rocks & loose gravel made it a challenging climb.




Consider this and the next picture together. So, I'm standing in front and giving Satan directions (avoiding rocks). Dude floors the Gypsys throttle for the climb and comes straight at me!!


Look carefully at this blurred pic: You'll see the Gypsy on the left. I was on all fours...flat on the ground! LITERALLY.


We decided to leave the Forester here. You can't tell from the picture, but even the start of this climb required a 4x4. The Subaru had a wheel or two in the air right where it is parked.




The Lonavla Municipal Corporation has officially name this spot as the "Gogi Point". It is scheduled for inclusion in official Lonavla Darshans.For his heroic act of sitting in a certain black Jeep, at such a massive tilt that his face was a couple of inches away (sideways) from the ground. Most people thought my Jeep was going to topple out here. One of my Jeeps tyres was on the extreme left of the picture, and the other right where Gogi is standing. Imagine the tilt! T'was decided its not best for the others to come this way.


What a view: Taken from top of the hill, on top of the Jeep.




Defender in action. Mindboggling articulation and superb ground clearance.


These two machines are fast becoming best friends!


Thats Satan in the blue shirt, 53BHP in green, Steiger + wife right behind him and 4wdrifter on the right.


How to parallel park in a 4x4


How to take a picture of a 4x4




Once we completed the first section, the gang started moving on the next. Completely FORGETTING the Forester parked on the other side! Man, finding it had got to be more difficult than searching for your parking spot in a mall parking lot. I went with Harshit to go fetch his Subaru.


When we returned to where the rest were, I see the Defender stuck in knee deep mud, just at the start of a incline. Tow rope tied, the Classic pulled him now, but not before 2 - 3 failed attempts. Neville suggested that we tow him with a massive jerk.

The train of 4x4's proceeded to a different part. This drive was awesome. Lots of climbs and conquering obstacles that at first seemed very difficult to get through. Steigers son was getting cranky (it was too damn hot) and opted out of the second run. We had a lot of belly scraping, obstacle flattening, rock climbing and road making here. I don't have pictures of this stretch, will let the others fill in.

12 grand down the drain. The Landy went over some extremely sharp object which ruptured the tyre. Only at 20 kph!



Second entry into shaadi.com. Hopefully, this pic will fetch him a better response than the last one!!!

[amit V8]

nice pictures. great stuff.

[anujmishra]

Excellent pics and 4X4 outing GTO. You have included great detail in your posts.

Could you explain that blurred picture little more?

[Rudra Sen]

Great way to spend Sunday. Rush, who's that shooting How to take a picture of a 4x4 ? How hot was the weather?

[Aditya]

@ Rudra: That's Harshit aka Harry aka Subaru wale uncle.
It was very hot, but, unlike Bombay, it was not humid. So, we didn't feel fagged out. The Landy getting stuck in the mud was awesome. I had to get out in the mud. Discarded my shoes this morning. BTW, Rush and I thought it would be great to have you on an offroad adventure.
That blurred picture was the result of something absolutely funny. Unfortunately Gogi couldn't get his camera ready in time. Otherwise, we would have a great picture called GTO@shaadi.com
Gogi Point will go down in history as the most aptly named point ever. What happened there cannot be described in words.
Gogibhai, hope to have your Jeep up and running soon.
All in all, a wonderful Sunday.

[Samurai]

Damn, you guys are having too much fun. And you guys are offroading with optimal number of people. The optimal number of people for an offroad event is when you finish the event getting to know each one of them.

That defender is an eye candy. I'll take that over 10 super cars any day.

[khan_sultan]

Wow man. That's one heck of a sunday outing. The pictures are amazing and the machines look solid.

@Gogo Paaji: So nice to see you on an OTR thread and I am sure this should now make you expedite your jeep restoration work.

@GTO: I can imagine how the tilt/angle would have been @ gogi point. That's scary man -- and it seems that that incline is not on/near level ground and if you roll over, you will not just turtle but keep tumbling down.

BTW, Seems like lots of new Gypsy's joining the party these days. Wonderful feeling.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Could you explain that blurred picture little more?

Gypsy coming straight at me on full throttle = I lose grip and fall down = Camera clicked

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

How to take a picture of a 4x4

4wdrifter

Originally Posted by Aditya

It was very hot, but, unlike Bombay, it was not humid.

Taking that Bisleri carton was a great idea. And it was nice to see lemon juice bottles floating around from other Jeeps. What was the red coloured drink from Steiger's Jeep? And man, it was CHILLED! Gotta get a portable electric cooler for the Jeep. It was a God-send.

BTW, Rush and I thought it would be great to have you on an offroad adventure.

Yup, Rudra, we spoke of how interesting it'd be to have you taking pics of our beasts. Plus, Addy mentioned something about your style of giving directions!

Originally Posted by Samurai

The optimal number of people for an offroad event is when you finish the event getting to know each one of them.

Aptly put. The more focussed / tightly-knit an OTR gang, the better. Going out with a 100 4x4s is fun too but I much prefer a vehicle count of anywhere between 2 - 10 (max). Also, the larger the group, the longer it takes to cross each spot (navigation, getting stuck etc. etc.).

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

The pictures are amazing and the machines look solid.

Wait for the others to upload their share.

@Gogo Paaji: So nice to see you on an OTR thread and I am sure this should now make you expedite your jeep restoration work.

V-16 expects to have his Jeep up and running by the monsoons. Couldn't be any better timed, I say.

BTW, Seems like lots of new Gypsy's joining the party these days. Wonderful feeling.

All you Gypsy guys must get together and initiate a bulk purchase for beefier clutch systems. Satan was talking of his Gypsy 1.0 clutch being more robust than in his new 1.3.

[53BHP]

The red color cooler was Steiger's patented Rasberry drink. The lemon juice was my patented Rajasthani Nimbu Soda Masalawalla Lemon Juice. Steiger and I went searching for ice in the morning. Had to make do with cold water because the ice factory at Bandra is broken down

And Steiger's 'IMMACULATE' Jeep got washing under body even before it hit the expressway back home. When Extreme dropped me there to pick up my 53 BHP (bike) it looked like it had been parked in the garage and never done all the stuff we did in the morning. I guess thats why that Jeep is IMMACULATE and original

My account of the adventure in half an hour. As soon as I figure out how to post snaps

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Oh this is sooooooo good! I caaaaaan't wait.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[53BHP]

First of all I have to thank everyone in this OTR group for having me, a newbie and making me feel very welcome. Thanks especially to GTO. It was a great experience. And I am hooked now. So here come the photos from my cam:

This is Shane. Steiger+Blandin's son. Toughest 4 year old you will ever meet:


Fuel for the adventure:


All lined up and ready to go:


Luckily I got to ride in the Defender. Saved my bones from being rearranged at the back of Steiger's Classic whom I was riding with till Kalamboli


Easy peasy for Nev:


Another Shaadi.com:


One more Shaadi.com:


The brave 4wdrifter. What a car. The best 4x4 for rains, ice, slush and sand?:


Yet another shaadi.com:


That is one wild engine change.Under the hood of the Defender:

[Dippy]

Wonderful pictures everyone. Nice to see another great off roading trip. Gogi point will definately go down in history. A stone saying " Here stood Gogi" is needed

How did the Jeeps cope up with the heat guys? Keep the pics coming in.

[53BHP]

Here goes the 2nd installment. A third install is on the way. Extreme thanks for the guidance on putting up snaps:

We have reached the top. Where to now from here?



Inclines and declines are so easy for the classics. Sheer torque. Those 2.6 liter engines and beefy clutches make it a cinch:




2 of the best in the business. Side by side. Yummy:








That was some incline. Neville was sorely missing his old gypsy beefy clutch:


Another piece of cake for the Classic


The defender creamed this slope:


By far the scariest moment was GTO and Gogi trying to be mountain goats. The Jeep was tilted 35 degrees off vertical, tree on the left, downslope 50 feet on the right(good for atleast 20 tumble rolls) and only the brave aditya by the side of the Jeep to stop it with his bare hands, incase the worst happened. Everybody shouting out instructions to GTO.(thats why no snaps, i think). I am sure GTO has family jewels the size of melons and they are made of brass. Some skillfull moves levelled the tyres and the Jeep sailed out

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Nice pics. Sunday was truly a motoring day for all (bombay - lonavla - chennai - malaysia!)

[GTO]

Originally Posted by 53BHP

Had to make do with cold water because the ice factory at Bandra is broken down

How were the drinks still cold at 1100 hours? Has Steiger gotten a cooler in his Jeep? If so, I'm picking the same one up. Without a constant intake of liquids, the heat would have gotten to us bad.

I thought you had clicked a lot more pictures than only these, 53BHP? Don't see any of the second stint including my see-saw Classic. EDIT : Just saw your post. Keep 'em coming!

When Extreme dropped me there to pick up my 53 BHP (bike) it looked like it had been parked in the garage and never done all the stuff we did in the morning. I guess thats why that Jeep is IMMACULATE and original

Well, Nature left a love bite on the side of my Jeep yesterday. The sharp dent has taken the paint off too. Well, I like my Jeeps looking like this. Like a small momento to show for each OTR . Fitting souvenir, wot?


We bumped into this Jeep on our way back. He's a Lonavla localite (number saved). Hopefully, we can count on him to show us some more tracks.


Close up of the Defenders ruptured tyre.

Originally Posted by DHABHAR.BEHRAM

Oh this is sooooooo good! I caaaaaan't wait.

Dhabhar : Please feel free to join us any time that you wish. Either in a Jeep or as a passenger in my Jeep. You can even take over the driving wheel whenever you want. It'll be great to watch a Master at work.

Originally Posted by 53BHP

And I am hooked now.

Time to prioritise the Landcruiser 80 / Pajero search then?

Originally Posted by Dippy

How did the Jeeps cope up with the heat guys?

No overheating during the offroading at all, Jeeps were running extremely cool. But my Jeep climbs up to a 100 over high speed highway driving (not in the red though). Ferdi's working on solutions to keep her at 80.

The Classics performed superbly. The smaller dimension gives it an edge and most obstacles are literally point & shoot. The last patch where we decided to call it a day was an incline with rocks and a tree on one side (to stop us from tumbling down). The Landy tried to come through but was too big for the gap. We took a u-turn and headed back home from here.