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desertdudeshj wrote:Well in this country and desert driving is really not the optimal choice of fuel and you need speed and quick accelration to cover the dunes. Although in capable hands a diesel would not fair bad at all.

I am not goint to argue but in Tunisia I saw 2 million km. on ODO of many LC, that had done long safary raids deep inside Sahara. You probably understand w/o a hint which kind of engine they have.

1st of all you cannot get a million on any odo of any cars as they only go up to 999,999 then it will reset also not very uncommon in Oz for old land cruisers to trip over and reset an there are many example of high milage cars here I've see close to 900,000 myself.

You can cross any terrain in a diesel but to actually play on top peaks of high dunes. Do long insane climbs up a slip face you need a petrol or a V10 turbo charged diesel.

I've driven a 4 cyl diesel in the desert in a LWB Land Rover it can move around but have to be content with staying low down on the smaller dunes. And once it gets bogged down its really an effort to get yourself out.

I was actually going to buy a diesel Land Rover but the high price of diesel here put me off. the extra milage I would get would be evened out by the price of diesel fuel. Plus not enough oomph to really play to your hearts content out in the dunes

I know nothing about sand but if you make the same experiment on snow SUV will lie on belly but all wheels will rotate very quickly in air.

As for ODO I can make a mistake - it was 15 years ago, but mileage impressed me a lot. I have never seen such digits before and after.

As for cost of diesel in the UAE you are right -rather unusual situation compare to the rest of the world. In Russia diesel costs 10% less than 95th that together with rather high cost of fuel against UAE make them rather good choice for ling raids.

Totally offtopic question RC and not judging you or intented as an insult of anykind

Are you usuing somekind of online translator like google translator etc etc

Red Chief wrote:As for cost of diesel in the UAE you are right -rather unusual situation compare to the rest of the world. In Russia diesel costs 10% less than 95th that together with rather high cost of fuel against UAE make them rather good choice for ling raids.

Diesel is more expensive to refine than petrol. So it has to be more expensive to the consumer. Diesel is cheaper in many countries because it is on government subsidy. This extra cost of subsidy compensated by hiking price of petrol.

The reason for all these is diesel is the fuel for mass and goods transportation, agriculture and power generation.

Exactly, Dude. As far as I understand without google translator the guy in the OP asked advice about a SUV for regular routine and weekly picnic in RAK. Such a car is intertesting for me for the same purpose.

In the reply you started your rants about soccer mom. Is it absolutely necessary for you to jump in any thread with sign 4x4 and make long flame?

No was just curious, as sometimes its quite hard to understand you. Same kind of language I get when I sometimes use a translotor.

First post here, jsut found this forum by accident trying to find information on another subject.

desertdudeshj, Al Futaim will import a diesel LC if you go to the right people to ask for it. A Swedish friend of mine who works for the UN had one brought in for him (not for the UN) and eventually drove it back to Sweden during the summer when he was transfered to Rome.

Like most 4x4s of course it had to be modified after it came out of the box for real off roading. (unable to post a link or photo because I have not posted more than 15 times in this forum)

I have some friends driving diesel Defenders here that can outdrive any V8 LC ... a matter of knowing how to drive a diesel in sand

I was never an oil burner fan until I drove a diesel LR3 in S. Africa last year, but the new LR4 5L V8 has more appeal

I'm not talking about the 4.5 6 cyl diesel I'm talking about the V8 diesel, The regular 6cyl diesel is out and about and not a problem to aqquire.

As for Diesel Vs Petrol in the Sand Dunes The petrol will out class the diesel everytime. I've driven SWB TD5's but not in the same class as a gasoline engine.

As for outdriving anything that pretty much depends who is driving what. An offroad driven by a newbie will struggle while a experienced hand with a stock softroader will leave it inits trails.

Anyways Sears you seem like your an 4x4'sy offroader kind of guy if you are why not join our offroad clubs for weekends forrays into the unkown

www.emarat4x4.com and www.desertlions.com you can find in both clubs with the same nick ID

desertdudeshj,

I am talking about a V8 Diesel

Hopefully this photo can upload now ... maybe not perhaps in the next post

Duplicate entry

Only maxima

Yes your two words are SOOOO relavant to this thread which BTW died almost a month back until you brought it back with your pearls of wisdom.

Hey,

since my family is growing and we are owning only a well known 2 seater sports car along with a 3 door grand vitara I purchased a chevy tahoe today. To be frank I was never a fan of American cars (no offence really) and I never actually owned one but I totally fell in love with the looks of this SUV and the spacious interior. I bought the z71 off road edition with skid plates, modified suspension and locking differential bla bla.

Given the fact that this car is heavy as hell I was wondering about the real off road capabilities of this vehicle. Any comments?

Again, it's not a priority since I care more about the safety of my family and the space but since I have it I was just wondering what's possible.

Thanks

Depends on what you defenition of off road use is

This



or this



For the latter you could use a corrola and it wouldn't matter. For the first one you need to have a decent vehicle but much more important than that is driving skill.

As for the Tahoe. Its the a brilliant car The Vortec V8 has plenty of power. Although you wasted your money on the Offroad package which is local LMS hack job. You could have done better modification at a cheaper price outside.

Our company used the Tahoe for sometime, but Arabian Adventures being the biggest users of it. Its a bit big and heavy in the dunes but once you learn to handle it. Its a capable machine. I doubt your be doing any drifting on top of a high dune edge, but if you wanted to and knew how, you could with the Tahoe.



But keep in mind it doesn't liked to be abused too much, like the old cruisers and patrols

Fair enough. That's what I wanted to know. Would love to learn driving in the desert though. Thanks.

Season is out so it pretty slow. But join up any of these to learn. They are all free.

www.emarat4x4.net

http://desertlions.com/forum/index.php

www.arabianoffroad.com

www.me4x4.com

Alternatively, hook up with a bunch of people with some experience and lose your desert virginity with friends.

Don't tend to go out in summer too much, but autumn will find us out there every other weekend or so. Mostly Jeeps (Wranglers old and new, Grand Cherokees: V8 and straight 6) as well as Pajero's, Land Rover Defenders (awesome machine in the dunes!) the odd Lexus and even an occasional H3 (which we spit upon from on high!)

In fact, last time the Hummer came out, it went over a slight ridge and all the side impact airbags went off!! Apparently you have to pull a fuse under the bonnet before you even go over a pebble...

I have some mates who are also serious desert bikers and we have had a load of laughs on KTM's and Hondas. Mind you, its bloody hard work!



Knight

DK we really need to go out for a drive. Hopefully the weather will be decent in a few months

Agree on the H3 what a croc. The 5cyl is seriously under powered but decent on the torque. Even on the road I think a one legged man could out run it.

A dude got the H3 V8 later. The cooling system just couldn't take the beating in the desert. No matter what he did it would always overheat. Bigger rad, more power full fans. Finally he had to sign a waiver on his warranty to be able to do some heavy duty modification to the cooling system.

I think the mistake was that GM kept the same cooling components as for the 5 cyl and they just wern't up to task to handle a V8 in the desert

The H3 is based on an Isuzu truck chassis!

Might go better if they left the truck power plant in there.

Mind you, the H2 is a different beast...



Knight

desertdudeshj wrote:Although you wasted your money on the Offroad package which is local LMS hack job. You could have done better modification at a cheaper price outside.

Well if you buy a brand new car I doubt that it is a great idea to do modifications outside unless you don't care about the warranty which I do so there are no options to the off road package from chevy.