Lanun Darat Goes To Kuching
Lanun Darat, Ford’s 4WD Adventure Team, had it’s Off-Road Driving Clinic in Sarawak, otherwise known as the Land of the Hornbills recently. Sarawak is one of the two states that make up East Malaysia, a place where, if you are anybody, you will have a 4WD SUV or truck parked in your driveway. The rich towkays in the major cities like Kuching, and Miri would have their Mercedes-Benz’s and their BMW’s that they drive to official functions, but when the going gets tough, especially if they need to go inspect their plantations or building sites, it is the good old 4WD that is used. Although many of the roads in the two states are paved, there are still many rough patches and unsealed roads once you get out of the city areas.
Many owners of 4WD vehicles, have, not in any particular order, never engaged 4WD on their vehicles, don’t know how to engage 4WD, have never gone off-road, or have gone off-road, but still have no clue as to what are the do’s and don’t of off-roading. This makes the Lanun Darat Off-road Driving Clinic, a customer-oriented initiative by Ford Malaysia, a welcome and timely activity.
The Lanun Darat Adventure Club is open to all Ford Courier, Ranger and Everest owners, who are automatically registered at the point of sale. Lanun Darat activities cover treasure hunts, camping trips, day trips, excursions to interesting places, and for 2007, Off-road Driving clinics were introduced.
Twenty-seven Ford Ranger and Ford Everest customers registered for this first-ever event in Kuching, turning up with their families and friends to take part in the Ford Off-road Driving clinic organized by the Lanun Darat Adventure Team. The chosen site for the driving clinic was at Kota Padawan, ideally located only sixteen kilometres from the Kuching City centre, making it easily accessible to all.
To add spice to the event, the heavens had kind, (depending on how you would want to look at it), pouring a daily deluge, almost like clockwork for the last couple of weeks, making the training site a quagmire. Translated to the participants, it meant getting a little taller, due to the thick mud that sticks to your shoes when you walk over the muddy ground, and extra exercise dragging your two or three kilogram, mud-encased shoes, and constant practice in agility as you try to avoid stepping into patches of soft mud. Those who slip and fall on their faces get a free ‘mud facial’ beauty treatment.
On a prepared course a little over a kilometre long, the Ford owners had the opportunity to experience various driving conditions that could be dangerous under certain circumstances, but in this case, relatively safe, as these were in a controlled environment.
The one thing everybody learned on that day was that there is no shame in getting stuck in mud! No matter how good or experienced a driver one may be, it finally boils down to traction, or the lack of it. Four-wheel drive is a must in muddy conditions, with the tyres and the terrain being the other factors that determine the rest. Driving skill and experience come in handy when the trail hits the extremes, and draw the very thin line, under these circumstances, between getting through and becoming a ‘stick-in-the-mud’.
The Lanun Darat Off-road Driving Clinic was a ‘whole day’ affair, with Ford owners coming in at a time of their choice. It starts with a ‘theory’ stint, covering tips and hints on off-road driving, safety precautions, and all the do’s and don’ts of going off-road. The main message to all participants was basically to observe key safety rules, and learning how to respect the environment. A couple of points emphasized were, never to venture off-road without a ‘buddy’ vehicle, having at least basic recovery equipment, survival rations, plenty of drinking water, in addition to a host of safety precautions to take while on the road. Equally important was the use of engine braking on slippery slopes. On the subject of speed, it was emphasized that off-roading is not about bashing your vehicle in the rough, but rather about getting through hazards in safety, and without damage. Said Paul Si, the veteran instructor, “You go as slowly as possible, as fast as necessary!”
The course itself had three steep slopes of varying degrees for participants to try out slope climbing for themselves, after the instructors had taken them around, giving one-on-one instruction and demonstrating ‘live’ how it all is done. The wet conditions made it more interesting, and it demonstrated how, in some areas that one would slip and fall when walking, the vehicle could get through relatively easily.
The wet conditions also enabled the team to demonstrate over steer and under steer, and how to use the tail of the vehicle to ‘steer’ the vehicle under these ‘zero grip’ situations. Inevitably, some of the vehicles got stuck in the deep ruts, and this presented a great opportunity for the instructors to show participants how to ‘rock’ their vehicles out of deep ruts, and when all else fails, how to do a ‘snatch’ using a ‘snatch strap’, a tow rope that ‘stretches’ momentarily under pressure from the towing vehicle and multiplies the pulling torque, helping to extricate vehicles that are stuck.
At the end of the day, it was a bunch of very happy and smiling customers who enjoyed the Off-Road Driving Clinic, and are now better equipped to handle their vehicles in the rough!
