Torquemada

Yup
I had a Golf GTi 25th Anniversary Edition also, when I had the Green UK classic.
Just the bugeye Sti now.
The GTi scene can be quite cliquey but they seemed nice enough, weirdly enough, they hated Subaru's

Torquemada

Sorry, not completely

Jamz3k

Thats not entirely accurate, EVERY car scene hates Subarus, even my beloved Alfa forums hate them and they drive rusty underpowered sheds!

ScoobyWon't

You'll have to get rid of the Impreza as you can clearly read. The chavs won't be impressed if they find out that someone wth an ounce of intelligence has infiltrated their crew

dunx

iTrader: (3)

There's always a rotten apple in every barrel.

Literate - good insult !

I chatted to a lad at Oulton Park the other weekend about his Audi S4 with 600 bhp. seemed a decent enough young fella. GPS confirmed 184 mph on the way there....

dunx

P.S. I had a MKII GTI 16v back in the nineties....

spider

iTrader: (1)

I'm another one who found the VW GTi scene a bit odd. I was literally outside GTi International one year when the fuel pump packed up on my Golf. I'm there trying to push it off the road and onto the showground as all these VWs carry on past with the occupants all looking at me. Was disappointed that not one stopped or even slowed to ask if they could help

The only bloke who stopped to help push was in an Orion!

Totally different from the classic mini mob - break down in a proper mini and there's always loads of folk stopping to help, offer parts & tools, etc. Same goes for some of the weirder cars a friend of mine's into - Wartburg, Trabant, 2CV - they're all just into it for a laugh mostly & really get on & muck in.

StickyMicky

agreed +1

I have even seen posts on rover forums, from blokes saying they would never have a Subaru as its a chav car covered in "oriental trinkets"

i can not think of a single other make of car type forum that would show some love towards the Subaru brand ?

hell i remember being part of a Nova forum when Imprezas first came out and they were getting slagged off back then


you either get the whole Subaru thing, or you don't i suppose?

i personally think 95% of the people who slag them, have never driven.... them

Jamz3k

Not so sure about that, I just think its the whole persona that the majority of Subaru Drivers give off, "my car IS better than yours, gets quite annoying even for someone like me who loves Imprezas"

mention chocolate engines to a Subaru driver and watch the eye buckle.

Leslie

It was the dark blue suits that went with the hats, as well as the notebooks!

Les

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

+1.

Although in my defence, I simply dont understand why people slam their cars; it's looks stupid and ruins the car's ride and handling. Same with going overboard with wheels and tyres. A Mini with 18 inch rims, WTF?!?!

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

What I want to know is why do people put tyres on their cars that are blatently to narrow for the wheels? does this help cornering or anything???

Loads of the VAG and BMW cars here have 2ft wide wheels and 18" wide tyres on them surely this is not good for the tyre let alone the ride.

GC8WRX

I wish it was bacon free!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Old Land Rovers owners are great people, if slightly nutty

Lift the bonnet of a series Land Rover at the side of the road and you'll have a fellow Landy nut peering under your bonnet quicker than it takes the AA/RAC to find you

Jamz3k

Just seen these over at RMS

StickyMicky

i MUST be getting old now ^ what the **** ?

Markus

I'd say it's Rat Rod: The Next Generation (cue credits of Patrick Stewart in a ratted mk3 Golf )

Basically, you make the car look unfinished/tatty/pile o sh*te but it's otherwise it's drivable. It comes from the Rat Rod hotrod thing in the US, where it looks somewhat ok on old hot-rods. I've not actually seen a non rod type car ratted before.

I would quite like to see a ratted Impreza, though some would argue that this would simply be a case of looking at most classic shame Imprezas Joking aside, I'm thinking of something like SleeperSy's (think it's him - if not, some chappy has a very powerful car that looks like a GL) rather cheeky sleeper, but the bodywork being ratted, so it looks sh*t and goes like sh*t off a very hot shovel.

ronjeramy

iTrader: (1)

Your not alone there is it just a case of buying a ****heap and bung some alloys on and cut the springs off?

Devildog

Agreed,

But its a very poor attempt at the "look", especially when you take a modern polo and make it look worse.

Only really works for proper hot rods and the like, and cars that would look like that if they had been left to age naturally

Like this



Or on a VW theme this is quite cool



as opposed to some piece of sh1te polo that's had paint stripper thrown all over it

StickyMicky

the polo looks to be painted in matt black, and then coloured in with chalk ?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I saw the ultimate "Rat" at a classic car show this weekend, a 1920's big saloon type thing, had been left for years in a barn, had been made roadworthy again but not restored, it just wore its age with dignity rather than just being a wreck or contrived by someone with some sandpaper, that blue coupe thing has the thing down quite well, I think we tend to either have new cars or really well restored old cars. i.e. nut and bolt restos, shiny as new paint so I quite like the RAT look but it has to be a dont care look rather than a fashion whim, and it needs to be subtle.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I describe ratrods as something that look like the've been taken straight from a post-apocalyptic world. Old, manky, battle-sacarred, looks fairly original but hiding various mods underneath its skin to keep it working and performing; Think Madmax but without the dune buggys.

I'd like to think of my lightweight Landy as a bit of Rat rod. Its rough as hell, holes in the bodywork, pealing paint, not been cleaned for years. But has a V8, autobox and plaid Recaros (taken from a Gordon Keeble ), yet still fully functions and performs fine, plus it sounds evil too. All rat rods should sound like they just returned from hell.

busby330

So basically BUY A ROVER lol

I was a member of a DUB forum for a while but just couldnt stand the CLICKY ness of the scene, as already sai, if you do one mod thats slightly out of there " SPEC " and they banish you to coventry.

As for other marks not liking Subaru's, I am a mod on a Vectra forum and they are quite liked over there,

ScoobyDoo555

OK, I'll bite, but in a light-hearted manner For some banter

I currently own a mk5 Golf GTi. It's not a swear-word! I've owned Scoobs (2 in fact - both lightly modded), moved on to an Audi S4 Avant.

After nearly 10 years of Subaru-ownership, let's not pull any punches here, the Scoob is good. Well, to be more precise, it's sh1te. It's a plastic Jap interior, on a cheap (thin!) body. The engine is good to a point, at which you reach the limitations of its alloy basis, and it blows up (usually piston #2). However, when it IS running, it goes like stink. The only thing at (almost) harnesses the power is a half-decent chassis and AWD.

What it does offer, is fabulous performance pound for pound.

This was highlighted for me when I moved to the Audi. The performance was fantastic and the build quality and interior was amazing. This only confirmed my choice to defect to ze Germans had been a good one.
However, I'm under no illusion, the Audi was a barge - and I wholeheartedly subscribe to the oft lauded comments about vague steering.
This was only highlighted when I bought Wifey a 306 GTi6 (phase 1 - the best ) Despite its MAJOR flaw (being French), this car could handle. Fantastic. Good chassis, good engine, brilliant 6-speed box. Just what a hot hatch should be like.

This brings me on to the Golf GTI. I only got one after DRIVING an Audi S3 and GTI back to back, on the same road, same day. Despite losing out in the p1ssing contest that is BHP (by 65 horses), I still chose the Golf. Why?

Well, the S3 still suffers from the Audi vagueness of steering, and I just couldn't justify the extra £10-£15K for the 4 rings. The Golf (imho) wasn't that far behind. Yes, they've got quality issues (although to be fair, mine doesn't. yet!)
It is very good value for money.
The modding scene for the mk5 is MUCH bigger in the States. UK is still a few years behind, but I'm already seeing traits that remind me of the Scoob modding scene for years gone by.
Exhaust - Miltek. S3 Intercooler, K04 Turbos, handling packs, tints, OEM stereo upgrade(!)

Now, as a comparison to the Scoob - HKS,Scoobysport(H&S) exhausts, STI5 or 6 spoiler Prodrive PFF7s in either silver or Gold. Stickers! Rally livery All individual items that aren't very popular

There's me thinking that the whole point of modding is to be individual

But to echo your comments about other forums, I also frequent golfgti.co.uk & mk5golfgti.co.uk
The former has in-fighting between themselves (mk1 vs mk2 vs mk3 etc) - the mk5 & now new boy mk6 are not well received - so we're not liked by anybody!!LOL!!!

But, let's be honest here - the Subaru image ain't exactly rosy. I was talking to some car nuts the other day, and the topic of previous chariots came up. I mentioned my affiliation with Subaru, and the albeit light-hearted comments were along the lines of "chavvy", big, heavy, lots of owners dwelling on the glory days of rallying, stickered up cars for a team that doesn't exist. They weren't exactly complimentary about the new one either

But my point is that all car owners take great relish in "sl@gging" off other cars - it's part of what we do to re-affirm our decision that we bought the right car. And in jest, it's a good laugh - we watch Hammond, Clarkson & May every Sunday ripping the p1ss out of each other about the fact that they've bought the wrong car for whatever reason

Dan I've ran out of steam

mykp

can appreciate where your coming from dan, I have two cars which arent well received in their respective "club communities". I have an Mercedes A-class A210, which despite being the fastest, most expensive and best looking A-class produced is still classed as "not a merc" by the Mercedes Owners club people. Turn up at one of their events and your a social pariah.

Same with my Subaru Forester, because its a forester, its not an impreza and some of the meets i've been to your treated as "that guy with the funny shaped car" I've even been asked "is it a Subaru?" because its jap import and the only subaru badge on it is tiny.

As for modified cars in general, I think personal taste, preference and whatever you can get hold of is definately the order of the day. I modified my car because the standard bits failed and better parts where cheaper than replacement subaru items. At the end of the day though, no matter what I do to either car there still the same model that rolled off the production line.

TelBoy

There axels. Hmmm.

Leslie

I prefer a car that goes like stink and hangs on round corners, but doesn't look like it.

Les