I have to admit, the only off-roading I have done till date is driving on the Western Express Highway wriggling my car through craters and potholes in the yearly Mumbai monsoon. Ok, jokes apart I have a bunch of friends who are into hardcore off-roading with their 4×4 SUVs and jeeps. Attending a couple of excursions, I developed an interest too. There is also another breed of people who own jeeps but have never attempted to get to the dirty side of things. Be it the fear of damaging the vehicle or plain lack of knowledge. So what do you do? Say hello to the Mahindra Adventure Off-Road Training Academy. Inaugurated three years ago, the Academy has since then been imparting professional off-roading training to 4×4 owners and enthusiasts alike. Mahindra Adventure invited Throttle-Blips to be part this training course, an offer we couldn’t refuse. What materialized was a fun filled weekend of learning, adventure and of course hardcore off-roading. Read on.
A rainy Saturday morning was the perfect start to an off-roading weekend. We drove 120 km on National Highway 3 through the Kasara Ghat to reach Igatpuri near Nashik, where the Academy is situated. It is spread over 28 acres of natural habitat surround by lush greenery. On reaching the venue we were welcomed by a lineup of Mahindra Thars, an army Mahindra jeep and the limited edition Legend. There are three courses on offer: ‘Getting Dirty’ which is the beginner’s course, ‘Trail Survivor’ (mid-level) and ‘Global Explorer’ (advanced). We participated in the intermediate ‘Trail Survivor’ course, which spans over the weekend.
We met up with Manish Sarser, our instructor for the course and who is a seasoned off-roader himself. Also present was veteran off-roading expert Mr. Naresh Bhosle, who would also be our guide for the duration of the course. He is a gentleman who has seen many a Great Escape and expeditions over the years. The knowledge we got from him was unimaginable. All of us, a batch of 12 from all walks of life, were all pumped for the amazing experience that lay ahead.
The afternoon began with a theory classroom session, the best part being there is no actual classroom. Gathering in an open playground over a hot cup of chai, surrounded by our toys for the weekend – the Mahindra Thars, Manish started off by giving us an in dept insight into the Thar, its construction and components. We were then familiarized with all 4×4 terminologies like 4H, 4L, differentials, diff locks, types of tyres etc. We learnt about the different angles as well: approach angle, breakover angle and depature angle. Even though we had heard these terms before from friends earlier, it was nice to finally know the meaning of this 4×4 lingo. A very important aspect off roading is to walk the obstacle before you tackle it. This alerts you of any surprises that you may encounter. The definition of off-roading in simple words according to Manish is, “Off-roading is about getting from point A to B in not the fastest, but the safest way possible, without damaging your vehicle.”
Torque is more important than speed in off-roading. Also it is important to let the vehicle do what it wants. Do otherwise and you will land up in trouble or even topple. Some Thars from the fleet at the Academy also had their own tales to tell, that were narrated by Manish and Mr. Bhosle during the theory session.
Continued…
