Driving, Polishing, or Fiddling

[tinman]

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

[Diamond Hell]

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.

[lewis1641]

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!

[tinman]

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.

[tinman]

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. 

[boneybradley]

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..

[DubFan]

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.

[JMallows]

The s197 forum (new shape retro Mustang of which I own one)

Lets see some pics?

[VeeDubGTI16v]

start the revolution tinman!!

[kittie]

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!