[Samba]

After the May day OTR at Harinkhola ( http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/4x4-ex...xperience.html )there were few more OTR's from Kolkata Offroaders but sadly i missed them. 28th August, i was fortunate enough to not miss the OTR. The place fixed was at Pandua. In this terrain we can expect sand, inclines on hard surface plus sand both & slush, all in one place.
As always special thanks to Adhiraj Singh, Anirban Ghosh, Hero Sen, Vivek Arora, Kaustav Roy, Sounak Basu, Gonu Singh, Suvendu Biswal and all other KO members. Sadly in this OTR we missed the presence of our legendary Uday Bhan Sing, whom we lovingly call as UBS Sir.

Weather reports suggested it will be raining. But on the 'D' day it turned out to be just the opposite and it was around 40 degree Celsius!

Our meeting point was at Dankuni toll booth at 7-30am. Me and Bhpian SouraC reached the toll booth along with other KO members just on time. From there to the OTR spot was a convoy drive. Every one was driving jeeps and Suv's and i was driving a Figo.

By 8-30am we reached Pandua & we were all set to roll for the roller coaster ride! Before reaching we stocked ourselves with enough drinking water and some food to munch.

The OTR was divided into two section's. From 9am to 11am it will be a trail drive. Then after an hour of rest from 12pm till 3pm it will be taking on the obstacles. There were few first timers too, who joined us for the OTR.

For the first trail drive i was driving Marengo (1100D's famous Scorpio 4x4). He and other KO members did the spotting for us in that heat. Just a simple thanks wont justify their efforts, so i refrain from doing so. The heat was practically terrible on the first half of the day.

On the second half i did one obstacle with the Scorpio and another one with a Jeep which belongs to KO. Thanks to Anirban da (1100D) and Adhiraj Da for trusting me with their rides.

Sharing the pics. I have not brought my Dslr for this OTR. I planned only to drive. 1100D brought his Dslr, so i clicked all the pics in this OTR from his camera, barring the first pic shared over here, which was from my mobile.

Sharing the pics from the first half. (The trail drive)









Taking a much needed break to cool off from the unbearable heat.




Even jeeps need to cool off!






One of the spectator.

[Samba]

More action pics from the second half-

























Got bottomed out, recovering this was a 2 minutes job.






















By 3pm it was pack up time. On the way back, we had a late lunch at Azadhind Dhaba & i was back home by 6pm. Yet another fun filled OTR day comes to an end. Looking forward for many more to come.

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the 4x4 Excursions Section. Thanks for sharing!

[tacho9000]

Many Many thanks samba da for sharing this OTR experience here. Looks like everybody had a gala time enjoying despite the heat. And you did one obstacle in what arguably is my second most favourite jeep after the legendary 8181. The 1620 is one heck of a brilliant machine which gets neglected due to it looking old. But underneath the skin it is one heck of a powerful machine almost standing toe to toe with the 8181. I missed this one due to personal reasons.

May the 4's be with us and allow us to enjoy many more OTR for many more days with the KO devils.

Regards,
Subhra

[1100D]

A very good pictorial report. Pictures, though from my camera, they were fabulously shot by you, way ahead of what I would have remotely managed, or even be interested in recent times!

Originally Posted by Samba

The OTR was divided into two section's. From 9am to 11am it will be a trail drive. Then after an hour of rest from 12pm till 3pm it will be taking on the obstacles. There were few first timers too, who joined us for the OTR.

For the first trail drive i was driving Marengo (1100D's famous Scorpio 4x4). He and other KO members did the spotting for us in that heat.

The trail drive that you have mentioned, did have some difficult/tricky/technical obstacles.

Posting a video of you taking this descent with my Rocky beige coloured Scorpio mHawk 4wd, where left tyre placement was absolutely essential. This video was received in the Kolkata Offroaders (KO) whatsapp group, belongs to Sumit and is being posted with permission!

https://youtu.be/4SXc1TppWfU

The convoy did back out from what was observed as too dangerous for the high-cg, closed body offroaders, from the behaviour of the lead vehicle being driven by bhpian @Senhero.

Anyway, posting two more video's of the mighty Pajero Sport (also received from the "KO" whatsapp group and being posted with permission). The sport is really turning out to be very capable.

https://youtu.be/y3fYNF_qiLQ

https://youtu.be/YGk59UzCk3E

It was a Gruelling Sunday.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Thanks for putting this thread up Samba ! Unfortunately I was down with a back injury and had to refrain from attending this OTR. In fact, I have been 3 times unlucky which is an exception on my part. Eagerly looking forward to attending the next OTR if I am not travelling.

Originally Posted by Samba

The place fixed was at Pandua. In this terrain we can expect sand, inclines on hard surface plus sand both & slush, all in one place.
Sadly in this OTR we missed the presence of our legendary Uday Bhan Sing, whom we lovingly call as UBS Sir.

Weather reports suggested it will be raining. But on the 'D' day it turned out to be just the opposite and it was around 40 degree Celsius!

Pandua is indeed a fantastic place for an OTR with lots to offer. Alongwith UBS Sir, a lot of regular BHPians seemed to be missing out on this OTR as well. I guess, everyone has been up to something or the other over the weekend towards the month end (closing pressures)

40 degrees Celsius is bad for an OTR. I remember the May Day OTR which was scorching hot and to add to it, humid too. Had I been there, would have ensured that everyone could beat the heat with some refreshments which I usually carry in the Ice Box with me

Originally Posted by tacho9000

And you did one obstacle in what arguably is my second most favourite jeep after the legendary 8181. The 1620 is one heck of a brilliant machine which gets neglected due to it looking old. But underneath the skin it is one heck of a powerful machine almost standing toe to toe with the 8181.

I believe that more than the machine, it is the man who is behind the wheel of that machine. Anyways, this one is for you tacho9000 - With your beloved 1620 :


Hope to catch up soon at the next OTR !!

[Samba]

Since the 28th August OTR at Panuda there were few more OTR's in between but i had to give them a miss. On 9th April an OTR session was fixed at Pandua. When this was finalized, Jeep India was also interested to bring their vehicles and let us drive too, to test their offroad capabilities. But due to some last moment issues they couldn't keep their word, so it was Kolkata Offroaders with their jeeps and other KO members who own 4x4's have brought them for the OTR. The temperature out side was nearly 40c. So we decided to start early and wind up the OTR by 12pm.
All the vehicles assembled after the Dankuni toll booth by 6-30am and we reached the spot by 8am.
In the beginning it was the trail driving session followed by some obstacles. The heat was too much, but we were aware of it, so we carried lots of drinking water, which some how helped us to beat the heat to some extent.

Sharing the first set of pics from the trail driving session.
This time i decided to go black and white and even i do not know why!

[Samba]

The action pics from the obstacles-






















B'bye till the next Otr.

[1100D]

You have done a fabulous job Samba with these snaps. Not to mention the immense running you did, up and down the field in the heat. We remember how we were looking at the watch all the time with disbelief of the heat vs time expectation.

Posting the Horizon corrected versions of both the Pajero and My Scorpio on this slope.

The trickiest part of this was not just the slope, but the oblique hump on one side would change the vehicle direction and the narrow opening between the shrubs would make it critical to retain the direction of travel with very little apart from the sky visible from the drivers seat. You can see both drivers leaning forward for a better view.

[Sayata]

Heartfelt thanks to you Samba for introducing me to KO and gratitude 1100D for the off-road terrain drive in the legendary Marengo . It was a first time experience in OTR and words fall short to express my excitement. Uploading some frames from that day , hope you like them.

[BlackPearl]

Nice pics and report Samba, 1100D and Sayata. I have uploaded a video of one incline attempted by some of the vehicles. There were more, but I am not able to find them. I did not take any of these videos, just compiled them into one.

https://youtu.be/_fnA3QVUy1A

Here are two more videos taken at Pandua on 26th February -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmxzW0PS6xY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ig51TQOYgI

Here is one more video of a Range Rover Sport off-roading in Pandua -

https://youtu.be/G9y6tYOelHU

[Samba]

Monsoon has hit Bengal, so it was time for a monsoon OTR. Like most of the time, this time too the spot selected was Pandua. We assembled after Dankuni toll sharp at 7am and as a convey we headed till Pandua. All the participants of Kolkata Offroader were greeted with a khaki colored shirt on which the members can proudly flaunt the 'Kolkata Offroaders' logo which is embossed on the shirt. By the time the OTR started it was 9am. Apart from me other Bhpian's present were 1100D, Blackpearl, Senhero, Sayata & navsjab.

This time i took a separate Jeep from 'KO'. Since i was driving, the number of pics from my side are less. I will request Bhpian Blackpearl, 1100D and Sayata to share there awesome pics and video's which they took during the OTR.

DBhpian Blackpearls Bolero 4X4


Bhpian 1100D with his Scorpio 4x4


Pic courtesy- Bhpian 1100D. That's me behind the wheel.






























Group lunch after the OTR.

[Sheel]

How is the Continental Cross Contacts treating everyone? And about time, the Bolero 4X4 got an AT.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Samba

Monsoon has hit Bengal, so it was time for a monsoon OTR. Like most of the time, this time too the spot selected was Pandua......

Awesome pics Samba!

Originally Posted by Sheel

And about time, the Bolero 4X4 got an AT.

Agreed that it badly needs AT tyres. But, even with bald rear tyres the Bolero did all the obstacles in one shot, which very few vehicles could!

[Samba]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Awesome pics Samba!

Thanks a lot.
Finally able to upload two of my driving video's from the OTR in youtube. Thanks to you again for taking the video's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y05...ature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjXy...ature=youtu.be