[ManuMacher]

@BlackPearl Thanks for the response. Yes indeed it a good feat for Duster. IMHO such terrains should be done by a true blood only. Not sure the damage such terrains caused to Duster in short and long run.

[petrolhead_neel]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Yes Dry Ice, one of my friends, a veteran rally driver has taken his Gypsy 1.3 mpfi to Sandakphu. He was complaining about the huge turning radius, the lack of low end grunt and the horrible ride quality of the Gypsy.

Did he also complain about traction at the rear and the tight and thus cumbersome to use steering in slow, tight turns? I had spoken to a Gypsy driver once who had these remarks about a similar climb on the Gypsy, though much less difficult than S'phu.

Also, was it a stock Gypsy?

Regards,
Neel

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_neel

Did he also complain about traction at the rear and the tight and thus cumbersome to use steering in slow, tight turns? I had spoken to a Gypsy driver once who had these remarks about a similar climb on the Gypsy, though much less difficult than S'phu.

Also, was it a stock Gypsy?

Regards,
Neel

I did not understand the cumbersome steering feel being attributed to the traction at the rear of the Gypsy. Could you please explain a bit more?

It was not a bone stock Gypsy. It had headers and FFE installed.

[petrolhead_neel]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

I did not understand the cumbersome steering feel being attributed to the traction at the rear of the Gypsy. Could you please explain a bit more?


It was not a bone stock Gypsy. It had headers and FFE installed.

Thanks for digging into my query Sumitro Da.

Pardon my expressing skills, I didn't attribute the traction at the rear to the steering. What I meant was the tightness of the steering resulting to the cumbersome feel: "tight, and thus cumbersome". Traction at the rear is an entirely different point.

Guessed it was not stock. Rally Gypsies seldom are.

Hope I made my point clear.

Apologies,
Neel

P.S: Noticed the D-BHPian tag quite late. Congrats! Sorry for going off the topic.

[Dry Ice]

The thread has gone quiet.

Experts, can a Duster AWD scale Marisimik La? Alone, with a newbie driver.

[sudev]

I would reckon yes. But safe practice is to have two vehicles

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

The thread has gone quiet.

Experts, can a Duster AWD scale Marisimik La? Alone, with a newbie driver.

Depends on the track condition. Some parts get deep ruts after an army convoy passes. In that case you can damage vehicle. You can try it, but don't do anything stupid.

[Dry Ice]

Lol! No sir, just asking coz being a monocoque I assume it would suffer in rocky conditions due to the low hanging exhaust.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Depends on the track condition. Some parts get deep ruts after an army convoy passes. In that case you can damage vehicle. You can try it, but don't do anything stupid.

[sudev]

Monocoque or ladder chassis - both will suffer if driven without care. TSK's been there in his white elephant and knows what's likely to make you suffer

[sayakc]

Time to rekindle the thread (possibly) - but I am not speaking of a Duster/4X4 in this case.

Heard from a rider colleague of mine that the entire boulder strewn road from Manebhanjan to Tumling has been turned into a concrete one. He saw a hatchback climbing up the slopes. If any one has been to Sandakphu recent can comment? Should be a sea change indeed, if true.

Regards,
Sayak

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

So will the Duster scale Sandakphu? Yes, it will for sure at the hands of an able driver like BlackPearl.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

The point is to find out if an AWD Duster can scale the slopes of Sandakphu or not.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by sayakc

Time to rekindle the thread (possibly) - but I am not speaking of a Duster/4X4 in this case.

Heard from a rider colleague of mine that the entire boulder strewn road from Manebhanjan to Tumling has been turned into a concrete one. He saw a hatchback climbing up the slopes. If any one has been to Sandakphu recent can comment? Should be a sea change indeed, if true.

Regards,
Sayak

I was last there in 2016 March and about 5 kilometers of road till Tumling was concrete. Maruti vans were able to go till Tumling at that time. I am not aware of the latest development.

[PapaBravo]

Originally Posted by sayakc

Heard from a rider colleague of mine that the entire boulder strewn road from Manebhanjan to Tumling has been turned into a concrete one. He saw a hatchback climbing up the slopes.

Not only till Tumling, but till Garibas. The whole route from Maney Bhanjan till Garibas has been made of concrete. So hatchbacks have started going till Garibas and its a mess already. You would still need a 4x4 to go ahead of till Sandakhphu.

Cheers,

Pawan

[sayakc]

Thanks Pawan for sharing the info!

Some passing thoughts..
Good roads are good for development, tourism. But I really think about the sustainability of the environment and begin to worry.

In '99 I had trekked to Sandakphu for the first time and believe me even the Sandakphu top (which resembles a typical hill bustee now with all the hotels) was a piece of vacant land. In all these years that raw and virgin land has transformed a lot negatively - as far as ecology is concerned.

A few hidden gems like Samanden, Gorkhey exist in the trail which are approachable on foot and I recommend them!

Originally Posted by PapaBravo

Not only till Tumling, but till Garibas.
Cheers,
Pawan