GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => General discussion => Topic started by: tinman on 22 February 2008, 00:59
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Ok people, the big question I am asking at the moment is what you like doing with your Golf. Driving it, polishing it or fiddling with it. Or whether you have a ban and aren't allowed to drive it.
The reason I ask is that we (StreetSafari) are doing a Pennine Run on March 15th, and the response from my own peers (I have a very rebuilt Mk2 GTI 16v Campaign in storage) is dreadful. I have posted it in the Events section and I am monitoring how many people are looking at the thread.
Now, to make you all feel bad, the GolfGTI Pennine thread has been running for 2 days now, and there have been 6 unique visits. Read it people - a whole 6 of you on the biggest Golf forum have looked at a thread about a free run round the Pennines.
To make you all feel worse, the Maestro & Montego Owners Club have 31 unique visits in 24 hours. Even the Rover 800 forum who have seen the thread for 4 hours have 13 unique visits.
The s197 forum (new shape retro Mustang of which I own one) - 21 unique visits in 2 days. There are only 500 s197s in the country and 21 owners have looked it up (of which 2 of them are now on the run)!
So come on people, do you drive, polish, or fiddle with your Golfs? ;)
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hmmm... that's a poser... I like doing all three in equal measure...
i love driving my golf as it's my daily driver... and polishing and fiddling are done together cause I am invariably taking bits off to detail it....
ummm... :undecided:
good luck with the Pennine Run... I am boarding on the 15th so won't be able to make it!
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As 1. I'm in Bristol, which is a long way from the Penines and 2. My Golf's on axle stands, as it's having some major surgery (involving neither fiddling, nor polishing) I'm not really looking at going to any 'events' at the moment.
a free run round the Pennines
Errrr, anyone can have a 'free run around the Penines' on any day of the week, provided they can read a map (unless you're offering to pay for the fuel). Also doing it on your own is less likely to attract interest from the authorities, so the last thing I'd be thinking about doing is going in a group of enthusiasts. Some of the best drives of my life have been driving across the country during work time, between appointments, on my own without loads of other people cramping my drive.
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i love doing all but you do two of those so you can drive (with a clean car lol). you just cant beat a good road and your right foot! nearly as good as sex....... well kind of lol :rolleyes: :tongue: :grin:
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The sort of event you mentioned is always a top laugh, used to go onthings like this with my mini. The thing is it doesn't really seem to be something golf woners are that inteested in. DOn't ask me why as I don't know, it's just the way it is.
Nick
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The sort of event you mentioned is always a top laugh, used to go onthings like this with my mini. The thing is it doesn't really seem to be something golf woners are that inteested in. DOn't ask me why as I don't know, it's just the way it is.
Nick
Agreed. Not many people on here seem to be what you might call old-fashioned motorists, who just enjoy driving.
Used to take my Mini on all sorts of road trips - drove it to Budapest once - but there doesn't seem to be much of that on here.
Maybe in the summer a few of us could find a campsite in the Lakes or some such place and go & play.
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i think its probs cos golfs wont make it anywhere without needing fixing on the way...ooooonly kidding! a mk2 might mkae it, but all the others will break.
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Clearly you have never owned a mini!
Nick
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Errrr, anyone can have a 'free run around the Penines' on any day of the week, provided they can read a map (unless you're offering to pay for the fuel). Also doing it on your own is less likely to attract interest from the authorities, so the last thing I'd be thinking about doing is going in a group of enthusiasts. Some of the best drives of my life have been driving across the country during work time, between appointments, on my own without loads of other people cramping my drive.
Ok, so meeting other driving enthusiasts isn't your thing. Gotcha!
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The sort of event you mentioned is always a top laugh, used to go onthings like this with my mini. The thing is it doesn't really seem to be something golf woners are that inteested in. DOn't ask me why as I don't know, it's just the way it is.
Nick
Agreed. Not many people on here seem to be what you might call old-fashioned motorists, who just enjoy driving.
Used to take my Mini on all sorts of road trips - drove it to Budapest once - but there doesn't seem to be much of that on here.
Moving this along a bit, are you saying that Golf ownership has become a bit of a fashion statement?
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maybe for some but i boubt it for others. i bought my golf because i love it and to thrape it found race tracks. i am happy to meet people and talk golf, cars, girls etc
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I think whatever car you own you are making a fashion statement. Just that Golf owners don't seem the "Have a weekend blasting round the country" type.
Nick
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Well I just been for a reet good thrash in my golf, :cool:
to pick up some Meguirs 3 stage polish to polish it, :wink:
but due to the fact I was driving like I should be on a BAN, :shocked:
I need to fiddle with a few things now too :grin:
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The sort of event you mentioned is always a top laugh, used to go onthings like this with my mini. The thing is it doesn't really seem to be something golf woners are that inteested in. DOn't ask me why as I don't know, it's just the way it is.
Nick
Agreed. Not many people on here seem to be what you might call old-fashioned motorists, who just enjoy driving.
Used to take my Mini on all sorts of road trips - drove it to Budapest once - but there doesn't seem to be much of that on here.
Maybe in the summer a few of us could find a campsite in the Lakes or some such place and go & play.
took my mk1 down to Lyon in France which is a fair treck with a tent, drove around spain/andorra and france in a BMW 1 series last summer, i love to drive (dont mind what car it is or lorry! its just the feeling of being in control/freedom that i love! i like to go on random trecks in the summer to find new place to go, its all good!
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Ok, so meeting other driving enthusiasts isn't your thing.
No, going driving on public roads, with a gang of people isn't my kind of thing, especially as it can attract attention from police.
Meeting other driving enthusiasts at a track, is a different matter entirely.
I think there is a section of the VW waterpumper community who are into 'cars as art' but it's not this forum.....
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ok, as you've been here for ages, although not always a frequent user of this site you must have realised a few things...
this site has its 'market' as such, you only have to look at the busiest sections of the site to see that track days etc do not feature highly whereas people wanting to maintain their mk2's on the cheap is very popular.
i personally love driving, but driving on these congested roads is a pain in the ass and having done alot of convoys to shows etc its almost impossible to keep together as much you'd like.
secondly, the penines is bloody miles from me, so even if i noticed the thread i probably wouldn't have bothered looking for that reason.
this site also has people who like their cars for different reasons, that doesn't mean that any one is any less of an owner because they don't want to drive round the pennines with people they don't know.
as for is owning a golf a fashion statement.. well for as long as vw have been around they have always had a cache and i doubt many people on this site have bought their car because its fashionable to.
i kinda understand where you're coming from but at the same time, who cares? it annoys me slightly that its aways the same faces at shows but if no-one else wants to come, so what? they may not be into the show aspect. what annoys me more are the people who are all talk "i'm going to build this car" "i'm going here there and everywhere" then they never do. i'd rather not be cloggin up threads with useless rubbish and save them for the genuine people.
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Ok, so meeting other driving enthusiasts isn't your thing.
No, going driving on public roads, with a gang of people isn't my kind of thing, especially as it can attract attention from police.
Shouldn't worry about the Police. The tunnel runs I go on are organised by serving met traffic police officers!
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The basic idea of the 'rally' is something I'm very interested in.
However, I would also be concerned about the potential police presence.
I, for one, have driven on snake pass and, although it is a fantastic piece of road, I know there are many lay bays where police vans are meant to operate.
The concern I would have for this rally is that, if for example I wanted to drive the Pass but stuck to the 60 limit, there is the potential of being pressured to go faster if there was a car behind that was more willing to exceed the limit. This could potentially be dangerous for myself and my driving license (all 6 points of it).
Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea, that's just one concern (probably poorly explained) that I may have.
Personally I love driving. I can't stand having passengers, everytime I get into my car I can escape everything else for a while :smiley:
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I've looked at this. but can't come as I'm working. Sounds like a good day out though.
Oh, I voted driving, but like fiddling too :evil:
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It's an interesting issue Justin, I have been having similar thoughts about the dyno day tomorrow - where is everyone? Then again, it has always been that way on here; as Joe describes above, the majority on this forum are about maintaining a fairly old Golf, not really anything to do with going to various 'meets'.
I am going to get on one of your Euro adventures eventually :afro:
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ok, as you've been here for ages, although not always a frequent user of this site you must have realised a few things...
this site has its 'market' as such, you only have to look at the busiest sections of the site to see that track days etc do not feature highly whereas people wanting to maintain their mk2's on the cheap is very popular.
i personally love driving, but driving on these congested roads is a pain in the ass and having done alot of convoys to shows etc its almost impossible to keep together as much you'd like.
secondly, the penines is bloody miles from me, so even if i noticed the thread i probably wouldn't have bothered looking for that reason.
this site also has people who like their cars for different reasons, that doesn't mean that any one is any less of an owner because they don't want to drive round the pennines with people they don't know.
as for is owning a golf a fashion statement.. well for as long as vw have been around they have always had a cache and i doubt many people on this site have bought their car because its fashionable to.
i kinda understand where you're coming from but at the same time, who cares? it annoys me slightly that its aways the same faces at shows but if no-one else wants to come, so what?
first of all, yeah I've been here for a few years on and off, and yes I've seen how much people on this forum don't like driving their Golfs, and it has annoyed me in a way. i think the Golf (especially the Mk2) are fabulous drivers cars. but i've never given up hope of my peers actually taking their cars out for a run.
to be honest, Golfs are missing from the whole scene. we were at a PH Virginia Water morning about 2 years ago and there was 1 Golf in 250 cars. it was a sad indictment really of the our own scene in a way.
i've been in a couple of convoys to various shows and never really had a traffic problem.
i am jaded though about the state of UK roads clogged up with all sorts of idiots, but since i've started arranging a few runs in the UK, i am actually surprised how unclogged our back roads really are. they aren't quite as bad as people make out. but you do have to put yourself out to discover this. if you stick to large roads and motorways, then yes, the UK is a dire place to drive.
as for who cares - i care for a start. we drive some fabulous cars, we invest hard earned £Â£ in them, and then we opt to watch the footy on a Saturday afternoon rather than getting out and driving our P&Js. I don't agree with "it might break down", as one of our marshals said as part of a very surreal sales speak "short time alive, long time dead"!
i'll take your point that you don't live close by though ;)
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i am actually surprised how unclogged our back roads really are.
There is a fantastic web of back roads all over the UK, which TomTom users will never have the pleasure of.
However, from what you're saying you and a group of people are going out to simulate your own traffic jam on these roads?
As I've already said - if I want to go out and drive (and I do regularly) I'll do it alone, as that's the best way IMO - means the traffic you encounter is single cars and there's no chance some jobsworth copper will accuse you of 'racing' because there's a group of you.
Whether or not our roads are clear or clogged, the best place for caning a car in this day and age is on a track - it just de-risks things.
I don't think my views are representative of people on here though - for a starter, at 33 I'm too damned old and sensible.
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i agree with you diamond. the track is where its at for me. as for the social side of things, i like the idea of local meets etc (if only i had the time - i have 1 day off a week and loads to do nb not after sympathy and i know loads of people work stupid hours every day). for me local meets are about making friends, catching up with mates and generally having a bit of a laugh and feeling better about the world.
i used to organise a vw meet in scnuthorpe when i was at college and we had a good laugh. it generally fell apart when we went for a cruise though as we all got seperated and it took the social element out.
i think it should be pointed out that a huge amount of people on this forum love their cars and love driving them. tinman, i think you are making some huge generalisations about people on here!
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Whether or not our roads are clear or clogged, the best place for caning a car in this day and age is on a track - it just de-risks things.
Never said anything about caning your car on the public roads. This is an organised and responsible run.
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i think it should be pointed out that a huge amount of people on this forum love their cars and love driving them. tinman, i think you are making some huge generalisations about people on here!
In the years (on off) that I've been involved with golfgti.co.uk I have never seen the membership back up this site to the extent it should. I don't think jv had problems filling the enthusiast areas at GTI Festival that we went to, but people certainly didn't seem to biting his hand off to attend.
Even the Tunnel Run someone proposed on here recently got canned because of a lack of interest. I do the original Tunnel Run and I can tell you now that they are extremely good fun, if a little tiring to get out of bed at 5am on a Sunday to attend. But to have a TR cancelled because people aren't interested is really quite sad.
These cars are our hobbies and yet I'm amazed at how fragmented this group in particular is. Yes, you can drive on your own and have fun, but this isn't what its about. This is an open invite to have a bit of fun on a Saturday afternoon. Obviously not your thing at the end of the day. :smiley:
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With these type of runs i find the more local sites have good attendance.. I do a run every year with the local vw site and turnout last time was 100+ cars and I will be again this year. I don't go to many vw shows like most on here and thats due to not having time,traveling and possibly I cant be bothered. Thats where this site is great for me as I dont get hassle by not going to every show and I like most members here will use this and a more local site to plan my attendance for shows and to decide do I go as golfgti or other..
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Have to agree with various points.
I love driving, and to spend time driving on the back roads is great. But I'd rather not do it with a group of people.
Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland, all have great driving roads when you know where they are, but too far for me to go just for a day of driving, especially because I'd have to spend at least 3 hours on boring motorway to get to them. Nevermind the fuel cost.
Being a member of GolfGTI.co.uk but not wanting to go on a run doesn't mean I like cars any less than someone from the Rover 800 forum. I joined to find information, share the enthusiam for a particular car, share experience, learn something, enjoy people's projects and photos and get something out of it.
However, interacting on this site can be done while it's quiet at work, or on nightshifts and doesn't take precious time away from my wife and family. Which is why I don't do shows or meets. Any spare time I have, my priority is my family. If my wife was into cars or GTIs, then maybe I'd be able to do a show or something, but with a tight budget, if we have money to go away for the weekend, a show wouldn't be the first choice.
Cars are only one of my interests and I have other things that take up more time and are slightly higher in the priority order for money.
So, if I had the money and time and an understanding family, maybe I would go to the Pennines just for a fun drive. But I still wouldn't do it with a group. I like the open road in front of me, nothing in my rear view mirror and the choice to go where I like.
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The s197 forum (new shape retro Mustang of which I own one)
Lets see some pics?
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start the revolution tinman!!
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Cars are there for driving!
I'm sorry but if you actually prefer polishing it to driving it then you may as well buy a toy car and clean it all the time, sad!
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Driving first every time. But a car does look far better after a good polish!
never driven in a group until a couple of weeks back and will reserve judgement!