By Cheah Ui-Hoon

MUHAMMAD Alkhatib can't imagine why anyone would drive a swanky sports utility vehicle (SUV) in the safe and sedate city streets of Singapore.

For the managing director of Wiz Werx, a web solutions company he started about 10 years ago, the SUV is meant for the off-road experience - the harder, the better.

The 33-year-old got hooked on it only a year or so ago - so much so that he traded in his Nissan X-Trail for a tougher four-year-old Suzuki Grand Vitara. "The older ones have a hardier truck technology, as opposed to newer models with a monocoque body with independent chassis and are less 'robust'," he explains.

The active entrepreneur - he scuba dives, mountain bikes, golfs and recently picked up boxing - had originally bought his Nissan so he could load his mountain bike on it to go cycling. But then he met a member of Singapore-based Suvec (Sports Utility Vehicle Expedition Club) and soon, he was hitting the trails not to ride his bike, but to drive his SUV. "Eventually the terrain became the draw as it got more challenging and more technical!"

Muhammad is currently the president of Suvec - which was started two years ago but officially registered as a society only this year but already has over 800 members - and he loves the fact that it's very much an activity-based club compared with a few other car clubs.

"We meet up and we drive! We don't waste time," declares the guy with a penchant for souping up cars. He'd done up his Honda Civic before with the "typical fast bits"; but his Suzuki is fully rigged to withstand the rigours of driving in the wild, complete with an electric winch that has the pulling power of 9,000 pounds. Before heading out to the jungle, for instance, Muhammad has the tyres changed to 33-inch high mud terrain tyres.

"Many of my friends think I'm mad to thrash my car - because that's essentially what happens when you go off-roading." Muhammad Alkhatib

"The good thing about off-roading is that you can't do it alone. It's very much a team sport thing because you're always heading out in a convoy," he says, adding that Suvec has a short trip coming up this month end which will involve some 20 to 30 cars, for a three-day, two-night trip to Ulu Sedili, Johor.

Driving an SUV around town might have been a trend when oil prices were low but it's clearly tanked now. Instead, what's on the up in Singapore seems to be a thirst for adventuring, and it is SUV owners like Muhammad who're taking their cars to the terrain they were originally intended for.

The first official Suvec trip saw 30 cars heading to Mersing, the second one - called "The Need for Dirt" - saw about 60 on an adventure drive to Desaru. "For our next event, we're calling it 'Destination Unknown', Amazing Race style - sometime next year." The grand plan is to eventually do an overland trip to Europe at some point, envisions Muhammad.

"Our trips do accommodate quite a wide range of SUV drivers and our common bond is that we love the outdoors and are pretty active adventuring types," he says. "The problem with Singaporeans is that so many car owners see their car as an extension of their worth and success. Many of my friends think I'm mad to thrash my car - because that's essentially what happens when you go off-roading," he notes.

He now off-roads at least once a fortnight, although when he first got hooked on it - it was two to three times a week even! "It's good, clean dirty fun!" he quips. And it's not just all about fun. Suvec members have done their bit for the community by taking part in events like the International Coastal Cleanup at Tanah Merah as they have the cars that can make it to areas otherwise unreachable by ordinary cars.

It sounds cliched, admits Muhammad, but it's the "lure of the wilderness and the unknown" that draws him to off-roading. "I was once stuck in the river and the water had seeped in and was rising up to my knees, and no one was coming to my aid yet. It's addictive," claims the adrenaline junkie.

DO you have a similar passion in "thrashing" cars? Or do you think that SUVs should only be used for off-roading as well? Share your thoughts using the YourSay button or a1motor@sph.com.sg.

This article was first published in The Business Times on Nov 15, 2008.