DESERT PRACTICE" - A guide "how to ride in the sands

Posted by Blog Post on April 8th, 2021

Driving on sands is a fascinating and exciting process that requires general principles of driving, high concentration of attention, the ability to pilot a car on soft ground and in different planes, and skills of orientation on the terrain - the so-called "reading the dunes".

Below we will present you with a sufficiently detailed guide on general principles and dune readings.

General principles

To drive on the sands, you will need an all-wheel-drive car with a sufficiently powerful gasoline engine, a de-multiplier (transfer case with a low range) and, better, with a manual gearbox (gearbox).

Consider why: Driving on soft terrain is always accompanied by wheel spin, as wheel traction is much less than on hard surfaces. The more powerful your car's engine is, the easier it will be to drive and the less risk of engine overheating.

A manual transmission is much more reliable than an automatic transmission, but you must take the risk of clutch disc wear into account. Driving a car with an automatic gearbox to start from a standstill is much easier. Still, with overheating, which happens very often in the sands due to high air temperatures and heavy loads when driving on sands, you will no longer be able to choose the right gear for movement. The automatic transmission will constantly switch to a higher row.

It is better to choose tires (tires) medium-aggressive, for example, marked A / T (All-Terrain - universal) or average between A / T and M / T (Mud-Terrain - mud). In this case, the tread edges should be chosen as rounded rather than sharp since a tire with sharp edges will cut through the upper more rigid layer of sand and will not provide good grip.

The classic sand tires used in the countries of Arabia (absolutely smooth with round edges) are not very good for fast driving, as they slip on long climbs. A sharp-edged tire will cut through the upper, more complex layer of sand and will not provide a good grip.

Dune reading

The dunes have two sides - windward (blown by the wind) and leeward (opposite). The sand on the windward sides is always harder and lighter because it is packed with the wind and has a higher top layer density.

The leeward sides are always softer - the sand just rolls over them and has a much lower density. It is better to plan trajectories on the windward side, which provides more rigid wheel traction and man oeuvre ability.

During the peak solstice (noon), the dunes have no shadows, and when driving at high speed, they merge into one flat space, which is dangerous.

Sunglasses will be required to more clearly define the intended trajectories of movement in the dunes and recognize the dunes’; the best option is with a brown filter, as it is the brown filter that provides the clearest daylight vision of the sand.

Do not forget about the tires under any circumstances. You should have the best SUV tireswhich are able to endure the heat and rough driving of sand.

It is glasses with a brown filter that will help you better recognize the shades of sand, the windward and leeward sides of the dunes, the shadow sides, as well as the brown ripples from the wind on the slopes of the dunes, which speaks of the windward side. And of course, the tires.