The best driving roads in the world

We were in the United Arab Emirates doing an off road racing show for Jeep. On a day off, we all headed for our adventure of choice. The Americans went deep sea fishing, while a trio of us with a bit more of an international outlook headed for the border with Oman, and the Hatta mountains. In these mountains, in a wild desert, lie two deep, cool, pristine pools, a true oasis. Naturally, they are called the Hatta pools.

We headed out of Dubai in a Land Rover Discovery. While these things have traditionally had less than user-friendly dashboards and spotty reliability, off road they are superb. They continue the tradition of the original Land Rover, nicknamed the Drover by the many farmers, ranchers and shepherds around the world who use them as the ultimate utility vehicle. A few years ago my girlfriend and I were hiking along a rocky outcrop in Wales, and heard engine noises. Up a twisted track crawled an old blue Land Rover, a shepherd checking on his flock.

The key here is crawling. Unlike the Hollywood or advertising industry version, proper off-roading calls for the lowest possible speed and also for a very supple suspension, with lots of wheel travel. This certainly flies in the face of North American tradition. My Ford F250 is sprung so stiffly jumping on the rear bumper barely makes it quiver. Unloaded, in two-wheel drive, it can get stuck on the most mild of snow-covered hills. Throw a cord of firewood in back and it becomes a traction monster, but otherwise it, and all but a few of the latest generation of pickups, are crude world war two designs that have gone for a facelift and some fancy clothes.

Off-road racing pickups, such as those that compete in the Baja 1000 or the Paris-Dakar raid, are generally built on a tube frame racing chassis, with long, soft springs which permit huge suspension travel. That is why they land gently after being airborne, instead of bending like a paper clip, which is what would happen to a stock ladder frame pickup.

Another point about softer springs. In a wet weather race, we always soften the springs and anti-roll bars. More suspension movement makes for much better handling in rain or on snow or ice. You want body roll, well controlled, so load is progressively transferred to the outside tires, which will be doing most of the work. In these circumstances, overly stiff springing makes a vehicle feel like a go-kart on steroids with the steering disconnected.

Back in the Hatta Mountains,