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Old 12th July 2009, 20:32   #1
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Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009

Okay : Let me start by making one thing amply clear. This was NOT a 4x2 event, it was PURE 4x4 country. Heck, even 4x4 Scorpios & Getaways were struggling on some patches. Congrats Mahindra for giving the Great Escape the terrain that it deserves Let me know where to send my application for the next one!

5 of our Jeeps left about the same time from Bombay. Not exactly in a convoy but within a couple of minutes from each other. Me & my brothers in the Classic, Allan in a souped up SPoA 550, Ferdi in his Classic, ditto for Stigger and Sabareesh in his CL500.

The flagoff took place around 1030ish, about an hour later than planned. But who's complaining. The weather was beautiful, lush greenery washed by rain every 45 minutes and a whole bunch of petrolheads for company. The drive was unbelievably scenic. 13 kms from the start point and it's 4x4 time.

The first 200 meter patch itself caught many people out. A 4x4 Scorpio right ahead of us bumped, scraped and changed angles several times. The 4x4 Getaway right behind us got stuck, nearly toppled (close shave) and took all of 45 minutes to rescue out. They say, first impressions are the ones that count. I knew that the next 40 kms had a lot of goodies (read = tough terrain) in store for us and was starting to get impatient. Unfortunately, as is the case in any large 4x4 convoy, the waiting time was too long. We waited for about an hour fifteen (after clearing the first spot), that was simply no place for a 4x2 to venture out on. Our starting position was fifth (though badge was no.8). Even after waiting for over an hour, no one was sure how much longer we'd be stationary. This is when we decided to:

Go through the terrain alone. We had the tulips with us, instructions were easy to read and well laid out. In the event that we got stuck or suffered a breakdown, the gang would anyways catch up. We asked the other Jeeps with us if they wanted to join in, but no one was comfortable with the idea.

Off we went. The terrain was perfect, well chosen. It had full throttle wet field crossings, some amount of rock crawling, deep (read = real deep) muck and second low climbs. We completed the entire route - alone - by about 1330.

Unfortunately, Allan, Ferdi & Stigger were stuck in the middlepack and had to wait for rescue operations to clear out every vehicle ahead of them. I just got off the phone with 53BHP (riding with stigger). They completed the route at 1800 hours and are on the way home as I type.

It was raining and we didn't want to get the camera wet. So not too many pictures, though am sure others have caught some good shots. Here's some pictures and signing off. Buttttttttttttttttt not without saying : Bombay offroaders, when are we going back to this spot?

See where we are headed? Neither could we. Right after the rocks was a sharp drop.
Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02838.jpg

Astounding beauty all around:
Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02807.jpg

Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02809.jpg

Getting warmed up:
Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02812.jpg

One's a 4x4 Mahindra used to make in '97. And the other 4x4 is what they've been making since '07. Lets sign a petition and bring the good ol' days back:
Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02819.jpg

Starting off:
Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02825.jpg

Not a car ahead or behind. In the middle of nowhere. Alone:
Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02829.jpg


Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02831.jpg

Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02835.jpg

Mahindra Great Escape - Shahapur 2009-dsc02830.jpg

Last edited by GTO : 12th July 2009 at 20:36.
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Old 12th July 2009, 20:34   #2
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Additional pics received from Mahindra

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Last edited by GTO : 28th July 2009 at 13:35.
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Old 12th July 2009, 21:30   #3
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@ GTO,
is there a Mahindra Legend behind Scorpio Getaway ??
Please try for some of its pics & also during it is doing off-roading !!
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Old 12th July 2009, 21:55   #4
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Wow, this comes as a breath of fresh air. Was the terrain planned that way or did the rain change the 4x2 event to a 4x4 one? I hope the Goa/Coorg events have similarly difficult terrain.

Nice terrain, I see similar stuff everyday though. GTO, you did the event almost alone, how far behind was the next vehicle?

dhrishikesh, that Mahindra Legend shows up in every MGE event, I have lots of shots of it in previous event threads.

Last edited by Samurai : 12th July 2009 at 21:56.
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Old 12th July 2009, 22:32   #5
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WOW!!! is all I can say!!!

I would love to do something like this but the problem that the rains are playing hide and seek in NCR!!! Actually its more of a hide than seek...

I think that we'd have to come to Mumbai for getting action of this kind



Would love to see more pics, so if anyone has them please upload them
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Old 12th July 2009, 23:06   #6
 
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Dear GTO and all - Behram Dhabhar here - so you enjoyed! Good. By the way, was it possible to "have a feel of a lot of reserve power" up the climbs or just maintain the drive? I say it should be possible to actually increase speed up the trails. Need I say more?

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar
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Old 12th July 2009, 23:20   #7
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[quote=GTO;1380922]Okay : ,
Quote:
it was PURE 4x4 country. Heck, even 4x4 Scorpios & Getaways were struggling on some patches. ....

The first 200 meter patch itself caught many people out. A 4x4 Scorpio right ahead of us bumped, scraped and changed angles several times. The 4x4 Getaway right behind us got stuck, nearly toppled (close shave) and took all of 45 minutes to rescue out............


So not too many pictures
GTO,

so, You guys had good monson fun. Good to know Mahindra is still holding a pure 4x4 event in this side of the country. You said it was only a 4wd event then how come theres a 2wd Bolero white slx standing behind?

The leaning angles of scorpio hetaway and scorpio through some really rough patch would have been nice.

Hope some one else posts ample pictures here.

Last edited by GTO : 13th July 2009 at 11:11. Reason: Please avoid typing in all BOLD
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Old 12th July 2009, 23:24   #8
 
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@GTO, cyrus here..... I saw the trail on Friday. how was the River crossing amd the downhill trail woth the big rock on the left hand side.

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Old 13th July 2009, 00:06   #9
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Seem the mumbai offroaders had an awesome time.

looking forward to more pics.

cheers!!!!!!!!
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Old 13th July 2009, 00:25   #10
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Good Off roading event and that too exclusive to Mahindra.Great pics.
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Old 13th July 2009, 02:40   #11
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great report GTO, wish i could come along but had a convention which i was organizing which finished on the 11th. Sunday was a day for me to crash. Now to get back on the forum, check whats happening with my Jeep and perhaps plan an OTR in about 10-15 days time...the weather should have gotten better by then and the terrain tougher.
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Old 13th July 2009, 11:23   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dhrishikesh View Post
@ GTO,
is there a Mahindra Legend behind Scorpio Getaway ??
Please try for some of its pics & also during it is doing off-roading !!
Sure was. Unfortunately, like I mentioned earlier, it was raining. The camera was safely wrapped away in a plastic container to keep from getting wet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samurai View Post
Wow, this comes as a breath of fresh air. Was the terrain planned that way or did the rain change the 4x2 event to a 4x4 one?
Definitely the rain. There was a particularly long climb which was impossible with limited diesel revvs. Needed more grunt there. Somehow, we managed in the second attempt by gaining momemtum and then climbing. No traction at all on the deep muck.

There was no ways that a 4x2 could have completed those patches without assistance.

Quote:
I hope the Goa/Coorg events have similarly difficult terrain.
I'm sure the 4x2 entrants had a tough time. Either the MGE is made 4x4 only (doubtful), or Goa / Coorg are simpler than yesterdays drive. You can't have 4x2's in such conditions.

Quote:
GTO, you did the event almost alone, how far behind was the next vehicle?
Except the first patch, yup, did the rest of the drive alone (about 50 kms). I don't know how far back was the next vehicle, but I presume it was probably 2 - 3 hours differential.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyrus43 View Post
[b]By the way, was it possible to "have a feel of a lot of reserve power" up the climbs
Was tough for the diesel on some climbs. Lack of outright power + grunt.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vinod_nookala View Post
Good to know Mahindra is still holding a pure 4x4 event in this side of the country. You said it was only a 4wd event then how come theres a 2wd Bolero white slx standing behind?
More than half the entrants were 4x2. It's the rains that made the terrain a pure 4x4 drive.

Quote:
The leaning angles of scorpio hetaway and scorpio through some really rough patch would have been nice.
I'm not at all impressed by the Getaways performance off the road.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyrus43 View Post
how was the River crossing amd the downhill trail woth the big rock on the left hand side.
The step bar on the LHS of my Jeep exchanged kisses with that rock! And the river we had to find a way around. It was 5 feet deep at the time that we got to it, the villagers said it rose in the past 24 hours. They also mentioned a particularly interesting Mahindra that crossed it two days earlier when the depth was 2 feet

Quote:
Originally Posted by V-16 View Post
whats happening with my Jeep and perhaps plan an OTR in about 10-15 days time
Your Jeep's ready in two weeks? Done. We head back here this month for sure. I've got the map saved
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Old 13th July 2009, 11:35   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
Okay : Let me start by making one thing amply clear. This was NOT a 4x2 event, it was PURE 4x4 country. Heck, even 4x4 Scorpios & Getaways were struggling on some patches. Congrats Mahindra for giving the Great Escape the terrain that it deserves Let me know where to send my application for the next one!
Absolutely. This terrain was a pure 4x4 territory, most of the 4x4 Scorpios and Getaways would have hurt themselves badly during the 1st and 2nd stage. Thanks Mahindra for giving us such a marvelous experience.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
5 of our Jeeps left about the same time from Bombay. Not exactly in a convoy but within a couple of minutes from each other. Me & my brothers in the Classic, Allan in a souped up SPoA 550, Ferdi in his Classic, ditto for Stigger and Sabareesh in his CL500.
I was the last to reach the venue out of the 5 JEEPs, met GTO, Allan, Ferdi and Stigger at the venue. We didn't get much time to chat as the briefing was about to start.

Mr. Arif Rizwy started the briefing followed by Mr. Madhav Nene. Then Mr. Hari Singh (5 times National Rally Champion) who was representing JK Tyres took the center stage, the briefing was concluded by Mr. Naresh Bhosle who was heading the Red team.

8 - 9 vehicles including my CJ500 and Allan's 550 lost the route as we took a wrong turn. Finally, after driving here and there for some 15 - 20 odd kms we got the correct route along with Mahindra's official vehicle assistance and headed towards the marked trail. Hence we were the last bunch of vehicles in the 90 odd convoy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post
The first 200 meter patch itself caught many people out. A 4x4 Scorpio right ahead of us bumped, scraped and changed angles several times. The 4x4 Getaway right behind us got stuck, nearly toppled (close shave) and took all of 45 minutes to rescue out.
Unfortunately, I was in the last bunch of vehicles and lost almost 2 hours before reaching this spot. I parked my vehicle and walked up to the 1st stage to see what was in store. This place proved to be the most time consuming patch. Most of the 4x4 Scorpios and Getaways got hit badly, their claddings and foot boards got ripped off. It was a slippery descend with boulders underneath where the driver had to use 1st Low and maneuver the vehicle towards right to avoid a crevice.

I decided to advice the Scorpio owners but it backfired. Most of them simply refused to listen to us and tackled it as per their expertize. The 2WDs had a tough time here and almost all of them got stuck. They had to be pushed or Winched out. The average time per vehicle was 15 - 20 minutes.

To be continued....
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Old 13th July 2009, 11:43   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO View Post

They also mentioned a particularly interesting Mahindra that crossed it two days earlier when the depth was 2 feet
When I was chatting with the red team and some Mahindra employees from Nashik, they were talking about, and praising Mr. Behram Dhabhar for driving some 4x4 vehicle on that terrain in a magnificent way. Despite of all the coaxing and cajoling, no one was willing to tell me which vehicle was it.

Behram sir, please break this suspense, your sentences like "Lets see, maybe next time with..." are killing us.
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Old 13th July 2009, 11:53   #15
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GTO,

its good that mahindra did not fool everyone this time and a real 4*4 trail was given

Can we get some more action pictures..
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