pete f

General consensus from people i've spoken to is that they really enjoyed the day and found it an interesting and informative experience. Even other prodrive employees were amazed to see what went on behind the scenes in certain departments, such as the bodyshop (where i spent all day on sunday talking to people - hello again if i spoke to any of you guys!). I must admit i didn't enjoy putting that kit of parts away this morning before i could get on with the week's work though!!!!! Main thing was that a large sum of money (i'm sure there will be official announcements of the amount so i won't spoil it) was raised for the Oxford Children's Hospital.

Trouble is, that's not really Prodrive's business - they're more interested in demonstrating their technology to potential licencees rather than building cars themselves. They're not geared up to put a car into production. I agree completely. The point of the project (appart from the fact Dave Richards thought it up during one of Prodrive's legendary Christmas parties) was to showcase the capabilities of the company in designing/building a complete vehicle from a blank sheet of paper - and in only 9 months! That's a phenominal achievement for any company to pull off, and i think the P2 does those people who worked their fingers to the bone proud. It's a nice idea that it could go into production, but there's simply no need for Prodrive to go down that route IMO. Was very interested to see the ATD technology in action on a 4WD vehicle having heard do much about it and seen demos on FWD cars. Is certainly an impressive piece of technology.

Gotta be worth a watch - see how the Stig does in the P2 on it's first TV appearance. this sunday (4th)

WOW! What a fantastic turn out at Prodrive - we expected a fair few scoobies but nowhere near the number that turned up, you all just kept comming off the roundabout until there was no space left!. Massive congratulations have to go to everyone who has organised this event - i think its a really fitting tribute to richard; and particularly encouraging to see his dad there clearly appreciating the sentiment. Hope the rain stays away for the rest of your trip, drive safely all of you.

Those workshops are SERIOUSLY clean, even the bodyshop by the looks of it! Fantastic photos btw, good to see you all had an enjoyable time.

just a quick comment of support from an outsider - i think what you're all doing is a fantastic and highly commendable tribute to a truly spectacular man, and I really hope it goes well and touches many, many people with the taking part, money raised and every other aspect. Well done to those who have put in what must have been a phenominal amount of effort to arrange it all. Will hopefully be popping into Prodrive on sat to see you all - they were running Richards/Robert's championship winning car this morning as i believe it is playing some part in this event (although I assume it won't be venturing far from prodrive, if it's allowed to at all). Still, it's excellent that Prodrive recognises what you are doing and is able to be involved. good luck guys/gals.......

Should be very interesting indeed. Autosport said there had been talks about using a cosworth customer engine (which I believe would be a poor choice having experienced dealing with them the other year with Jaguar). Although an existing customer engine is the best option for the first year or so, once things have settled down i think it'd be great for either subaru to develop one or for Prodrive to do it in-house (no-doubt the skill & knowledge is there). Good times ahead for F1, can't wait for the start of the 2008 season already!!!!

F1 is going to a single tyre supplier for 2008, which will improve things no-end IMO. That means that even if it ended up being Pirelli (they've shown an interesting in bidding for the job I believe), everyone would be on an even-keel, unlike in the WRC.

there were certainly loads of those, and of course the obligatory idiots who think it's clever to try and write off their own and eveyone else's cars on the first track event of the season!!!!! was it just me, or were the marshalls even slacker on people driving dangerously than normal? still, was a good day and most people (except the owner of the sierra cossie who rolled at the end) enjoyed themselves by all accounts.

at least it didn't rain this year, and everyone i know came away with the usual red nose/kneck after a castle combe event. Saw you guys on your stand during my strolls round the paddock, you had some very nice scoobies - who's is the dark blue classic with the grey wheels - VERY NICE! http://www.pughosting.co.uk/photopost/data...e015_2_-med.jpg unfortunately my track car wasn't out to play today but i managed to keep myself busy blagging rides off other people and watching the idiots on track that seem customary for the first action day of the year unfortunately.

I totally agree, and what little coverage there is it absolutly rubbish - is it just me or does anyone else find the commentary a little patronising this year? It's being done as if the people watching know absolutly nothing about motorsport, and it no longer includes the relevant information that those of us who follow the sport would like to hear 9decent info on split times, stge times etc). This year's the worst it's been in ages. With the amount of money in the sport you'd have thought they'd have done a better job of TV coverage, especially as it's a sport that so many people rely on tv coverage for as we can't go travelling around the world every 2 weeks to follow it.

something like 11.45pm tonight on ITV - means either a late night or an early morning for those of us who want to know what happened before work in the morning!

it's a small world! lol Thanks for the contact, I'll have to pester BigD to find out some more.....

ah, spot on mate! cheers, I'll definitelly take you up on that. Will no-doubt fall so in love with it I offer you a swap with the pug! no worries dude,i never thought id see the day you of all people bought a scooby!! if you cant wait till pugfest mate give us a bell and ill bring it over to ya one weekend or i may be at coombe on the 22nd but not 100% sure on that score yet[] lol, how things change!.. cheers mate, you're a star. be good to see you at combe - drooling over your scooby would keep my mind off the fact I'm not hooning round the track

lol, today's race was pretty 'pepped up' imo! very entertaining indeed, just a shame Jenson didn't have the race he deserves.

ah, spot on mate! cheers, I'll definitelly take you up on that. Will no-doubt fall so in love with it I offer you a swap with the pug! So other than keeping the services up to date there don't seem to be any big issues running a scooby. How often are services (minor and major) and what kind of price are they from decent garages. TBH, when I get one i'll be doing as much as I can myself, but its always good to know what prices are like if you need to pay someone else to do it. Are there seriously no common problems to look out for when buying an older scooby? (i could make a list as long as my arm of things to check before buying a french motor! lol) keep the info coming guys its a great help.

hiya stue, don't tell the other's I'm branching out! lol. I WOULD actually sell the pug, if offered the right price (bearing in mind the engine cost me over £6500 last year!) If only I'd have known then that I'd need to buy a house (and could afford insurance on a scooby), I'd have kept the old engine and would have a WRX Sti right now. ah well, hindsight is a great thing. If I sell the pug I'll definitelly be looking for aWRX STi as it'll get occasional track use, if I keep the pug I'll probably go for a uk turbo as that'll be more than enough as a road car (save a little on petrol too)

I don't think that'll happen - DR is a very clever bloke and he wouldn't have gone into it without having every detail sussed. He's certainly not short on resources either (plans for the F1 site look awesome) so I think it'll (provided prodrive get the place) be good for Prodrive as a company and the F1/motorsport industry as a whole. I agree on larger grids btw, would make the racing a whole lot more entertaining.

many thanks matt, I'll have to get that name off you when I actively begin my search - it's encouraging to know that the budget I was planning on should be ok. I know what you mean about modifying cars being addictive - that's always been the case with my 205's and it's cost me an absolute fortune over the years. still, my track car is now (almost!) as far as I could take it (243bhp/tonne from a 1.9 8v n/a!) so that keeps my modifying bug under-wraps. I just need/want a decent road car when the 306Dturbo I own at the moment gets a bit long in the tooth. Having just become a home-owner insurance has gone down, hence me being able to afford the impreza i have always wanted. keep the advice coming everyone..... cheers.

Sorry to hear about your loss Phil. Many thanks for the welcome also. No worries, at least I had an avitar for a couple of days! Will have to wait 'til I'm a paid up member to get the little pug back on these pages. ah well. In response to earlier questions, my budget isn't really confirmed yet as I'm still looking into things - need to know a little more to make sure I'm being realistic with things like price of car, maintainance, and then exactly what model to go for. I expect to have up to about £6000, which I know isn't a great deal, but there do seem to be a reasonable number of generation one imprezas about for that money. As you've all said, it'll be a case of waiting for a good, unmolested example to come up. any more advice/tips would be gratefully received....... cheer

not fully paid up SIDC member yet - but certainly will be in the near future! Just added my avitar to my profile, was as easy as that! lol, pic was from Rally Supercar Day at combe last year - and yes, i had just overtaken the P1!

cheers everyone for the comments so far. I'm in Oxfordshire, so i presume there's a fair few places about for servicing etc - i know there's a dealer just down the road from me in a little village called Hailey. So are there any known weaknesses with the generation one imprezas - things that commonly go wrong and should be looked out for???

If you're human you wont be able to do it!!! [][] lol, i know,i know! have a highly modified 205 track car though (see avitar) so the scooby is jut a road car. ps, thanks for all the welcome's

thanks very much. Having been in the Peugeot Sport Club for years now I know how invaluable insider knowledge/experience can be, that's why I'm calling on you lot to help me out! Intimate knowledge of all things French and 205-shaped doesn't really help much with scoobies unfortunately! lol as i said, and help/advice gratefully received...................

Hi guys/gals. I'm new on here, and don't own a scooby (yet!), but please bear with me. I'm basically researching stuff before I buy an Impreza as a road car, and I thought this would be the best place to get some advice. I've always been a Peugeot bloke and this is my first adventure into Jap-car ownership, so I need lots of help. What I want ultimately is an early WRX STi as I want to keep the car standard in order to keep insurance down (as much as is possible with a car like this) and the Mrs happy (!), so I want a good-spec car to start with. What is parts availability for imports (especially STi stuff), and do you have problems finding places to service your cars, as I believe Subaru dealers don't touch them? Please excuse the questions, it's amazing how you have to start from scratch when you change makes of car, and I want to be able to make informed decisions before a purchase anything. Any help/advice on finding/buying/owning my first scooby would be greatly appreciated. cheers,