Tyre Testing Drive on Fossil Rock to Saddle point Route.

You have already tested more than enough tyres…did not even post a report!!!

Jessil? Imran? Sam? Saif? Salim?
Where is everybody?

Sand Cruisers on the Land Cruiser!!!
Total 20 cars!!! with a couple of fewbies as well!!!
Special Thanks to Jessil, our chief Marshal for giving backup support from the sweep position to keep the convoy moving!!!
Sand being the most favorite off-Road driving surface for most members of Dubai Offroaders a good sand tyre with some civilised on road behaviour is what we have all been looking for, for a number of years.
The key word in sand is floatation.
One would be able to drive on soft sand with a tyre of almost any pattern with a low enough tyre pressure, depending on the terrain and the vehicle weight.
The softer the sand and the higher the vehicle weight…the lower one has to go…and with our propensity for Liwa in a Land Cruiser/ Nissan Patrols / Prados/ FJ Cruisers & X-terras…not to forget the Pathfinders!!! a tyre that allows us a to achieve those low PSIs while still remaining true to the Rim i.e. not getting the dreaded pop out is boon second to none except perhaps the 4WD & the differential lock!!!

We had the oppurtunity to test out the latest offering from Apollo Tyres…The Sand Cruisers!!!
Apollo Tyres, as we are aware, are one of the Largest & most advanced regional tyre manufacturers with origins in India and manufactring facilities in Malaysia, India and South Africa.
These tyres have not yet been launched in the Middle East & these were the first Sand Cruisers to taste the Arabian Sand 🙂
As communicated in the earlier post, the tyres are very nice looking & give a very meaningful stance to the Land Cruiser.
The choice of terrain was specifically to test out the manners of the tyre in Soft Loose sand and in high Dunes.
Those who are familiar with the terrain of fossil Rock to Saddle point route will agree that these are some of the most challenging Dunes close to Dubai/ Sharjah.

We started by deflating at the 3rd underpass near Fossil Rock, bringing the tyre down to 15psi initially, the drive in the Rock strewn soft sandy terrain was impeccable & the climb upto the top of the Fossil Rock adjacent to the pass was faultless.

After the steep drop on the devil’s plunge, we proceeded to the still finer & softer sand of the Camel Rock area & specifically dropped the pressure to 12psi to see if the tyre will stand upto the lower pressure & the rigors of sand drifting!!!
The tyre performed effortlessly & we found ourselves standing on top of the saddle point looking down on a multitude of vehicles trying to climb the saddle point…it was a sight to behold!!!

Last but not the least, I had some doubt about how the tyre would perform once it is re-inflated again, on the road.
The tyre takes a longer time than conventional tyres to re-inflate, obviously, due to the higher volume of air that it holds & all four tyres were re-inflaetd to 40psi.
There was initially some wobbling on the tyre for the first couple of hundred meters, but that too settled down quickly & subsequently the vehicle had a smooth, quiet ride.

Special Thanks to Mr. Jameel Asghar of Tyresales International for the support provided during the run & for monitoring the various performance parameters.
I am glad to say that Sand Cruiser will be my tyre of choice for all my future sand driving excursions incuding one to Liwa & another one to Wahiba Sands which are scheduled in the very near future.