Not so quick, ever been to Dubai? Sand capital of the world, LOTS of petrol rigs.
- In Dubai, diesel is mostly seen as something for work trucks/lorries, used by laborers. So it's also a status issue.
- Very little "overlanding" in Dubai but a lot of off-roading. Most people play in the sand aka trying to run their SUVs and trucks up as high as possible on the dunes. They want low weight, high speed and large desert tires with low pressure. Never heard of anyone using low gearing in the sand. That's for the wadis and the mountains.
- My best off-roading in Dubai, Abu Dhabi (the real sand capital of the UAE) and Oman was in a 1999 Toyota RAV4. 2 liter 5-gear stick shift.It would beat the big Landcruisers at the traffic lights and did great in the mountains and the sand. The only downsides were small tires (held it back in the sand) and the all-wheel drive meant I always needed to engage the center Dif lock to get traction.
- The RAV4 wouldn't make it high up the big dunes, but when "overlanding", you usually go around them anyways.
- The big USA pick up trucks are getting more popular here, though. (Especially the Raptor)