We spend a day off-roading with a gang of enthusiasts and a bunch of hardcore off-roaders.
Published On Jul 18, 2023 11:16:00 AM
An SUV is meant to tackle terrains that other cars cannot venture into, basically going off-road. However, most SUVs rarely see the rough terrains they’re built for, quite simply because owners have only purchased them for their image and perhaps to tackle the rough roads a little better. However, there are also some owners who would like to venture out into the wild but don’t know where to go or how to do so safely. This is where facilities like Learn Offroad come in. The centre provides a facility that can exploit the true nature of SUVs and 4x4s and all under the guidance of off-road experts. These academies also ensure that you don’t go around destroying nature as the land is especially earmarked for this purpose only, and you must keep this in mind when venturing off-road.
Kothari briefing the participants about the activities.
Learn Offroad is run by Dr Tejas Kothari, Asia’s only International 4WD Trainers’ Association (I4WDTA)-certified off-road instructor, and the facility was started in 2020 and is located in Bherav – 120km away from Mumbai. Learn Offroad recently celebrated its third anniversary and invited its students to experience the new Maruti Suzuki Jimny on a curated course and an off-road trail that had to be completed as a convoy and Autocar India was also a part of the celebration.
After being briefed about the activities and given some dos and don’ts, participants were divided into two groups. Before lunch, one was designated for the Jimny experience while the other group went on the trail in their personal vehicles and vice-versa post lunch. Participants had a chance to win various goodies that also included subscriptions to Autocar India magazine.
Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor at Autocar India, gave insights on SUVs and the industry.
We were part of the first group of people to experience the new Jimny on a set course. This course included a handful of ditches, mounds, rock crawling, a bunch of cement pipes and a steep hill. The course starts on a flat part of the mountains in Learn Offroad’s 65-acre property and heads directly into a steep ditch, followed by a small patch of crawling over rocks, cement pipes and a side descent. The last part allowed us to experience how hill descent control works, where it automatically applies the brake to maintain a steady pace downhill. As I was a bit inexperienced in off-roading driving, our resident off-road expert Rahul Kakar took the wheel for the last part of the experience – getting through a ditch which had the steepest climb out I have ever seen a car tackle.
The Jimny is surprisingly easy to take off-road even without much experience.
Post a hearty lunch, we headed for the trail drive that involved getting in a convoy of around 20 full-blown off-roaders that included the likes of a couple of Ford Endeavours as well as a handful of Mahindra Thars, Jeep Wranglers, Isuzu D-Max V-Cross and Mahindra Scorpio Ns. The trail was led by a Jeep Wrangler and it guided the whole convoy through steep inclines, a river bed, big ditches and a steep decline right before the river which ended the trail. Interestingly, as it was raining intermittently, much of the trail had now become slushy and unfortunately, the lead Wrangler got stuck at a point. As it failed to drive out on itself, we tried to push it out but in vain. Finally, Rahul, me and a spotter from Learn Offroad got onto the footboards of the Wrangler and rocked it until it freed itself. While this may be a regular occurrence off-roading, it was something I have never done but it was definitely one of the most exciting parts of the day.
The trail became tougher as it kept raining intermittently.
I am not much into off-roading as I prefer to go around corners as fast as possible, but after spending a day with a whole bunch of off-roading enthusiasts and getting dirty, I can now see the appeal of taking the path less trodden. I highly advise you that if you have a 4×4 or even a 2WD SUV and you want to explore the capability of the car and you as a driver, you should enrol in a training school. I plan to hone this skill and get behind the wheel on a muddy and nice tree-lined trail.
Also see:
5 most affordable off-roaders on sale in India
Reise TrailR Academy off-road school
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