HairyDJ

you'd better still wave to scoobs though

problem is not just the cost, it's how miniscule your time behind the wheel can be - 3 hours shared over 12 punters with some of that time given over to briefings and certificate "awards" Years ago, soon after Chrissy passed her test, I booked a half day on the skid pan at Goodwood - basically paid for a corporate session with just the 2 of us - had loads of time at the wheel and got a lot out of it. Prices have gone up & he now seems to run most along those lines. http://www.skidcontrol.co.uk/courses.htm Looking at his 12 person course he gives 3 hours, 2 cars, 2 instrutors and it comes in at less that 50 quid each. Interesting to note that he suggests running these with less than the maximum to get more time each. Sadly, most skid pan "courses" are now more like a corporate fun day than a sound education. The other problem for us 4wd scooby folk is that the cars used on these courses are 2wd and handle very differently. I seem to recall a thread last year where somebody was trying to get a session going where you took your own car onto glazed track with kick-plates and various other high quality handling tests - cost more but gave loads more.

good news! that's an awful long time to wait, but hope it's all healed well. Off to any concerts this summer or giving it a miss for a while

grrrrr duplicate post

I'm no techie, but i believe you can bounce each corner and check it doesn't oscillate for long - i.e. down up stop! My symptoms showed when I drove nearside wheels up a grass verge - sound like a plastic bottle caught in the wheel arch - going backwards off the verge added to the symptoms. Take at look at the southWest folk - a good friendly bunch and well worth a drive / ride out to Swindon to meet 'mondo SP and the rest of the crowd. One or two folk based in Bristol itself, I'm sure. worth tweaking your profile to show your location as Bristol - just tends to catch a local's eye more/

welcome to SIDC I ran a 51 plate wagon for just over 3 years until it got whacked by a young idiot in a golf. He t-boned us right by the passenger legs, took his golf back flush to the windscreen and although mine was a write off due to lots of body panel damage whilst we spun along the bank but we were fantastically well protected inside the scoob. Hopefully that will reassure you about taking care of the little one when they arrive? I replaced it with another, this time with the PPP upgrade and it's still going strong after 96k. If you get the chance to go for this higher level, I'd recommend it as my fuel consumption actually improved over the predecessor - probably due to the extra torque reducing the need to use the right boot so hard. Only problem is that some insurance companies get funny and ignore the dealer fit from new status and treat it as a mod. Not sure where in the country you're based, but why not try to pop into a local meet and chat with a few scooby owners and see the cars up close? couple of points to watch out for - rear shocks failed twice - quite a common problem, so check the current state and also when / if last changed. brakes tend to last me 15k front and new disks needed every other pad change, so worth checking that too Cheers, David

be gentle Phil - painting Dale bright orange and shouting PULL is a bit harsh (hope your day at Bisley went well)

found my old copy of SIDC club rules - not too sure how long most of the sections have been ignored e.g. subs all run from 1st september and that the secretary has to put all applications to the committee for election! Also that each nomination has to be proposed and seconded by existing members Fscinating to note that membership is "family membership for persons living at the same address" The AGM shall be held in July each year and shall recieve a full statement of accounts duly audited. Last AGM / balance sheet that I can find in the forum is here - certainly shows TG to be a huge chunk of the cost - but that was almost 5 years ago balance sheet (to June 2005) http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=55498 time to dump the secrecy and publish all those to bring members up to date!

Can't disagree with any of that The problem for me in this thread is that all the benefits that are getting listed are all "cost-free". To the best of my knowledge, all the discounts / deals etc come from good persuasive hard work by a few individuals on behalf of the club - but aren't something that SIDC has to fund centrally. Strangely, the only obvious cost that we can all see funded by SIDC is this forum - and we give that away free to non-members Anyone "in the know" willing to tell us where the money does get spent?

I'll probably renew, as my discount from Cotswold Subaru is usually more than enough to cover the 30 quid, but for those who don't need the discount then i suspect the (free) forum is the best use of the funds? Hard to tell what the subs get spent on as accounts don't seem to get published - there's enough old threads running in the archives about why the club hasn't held AGMs if you're ever unable to get to sleep

a reminder of Iain's poll ( and the results) http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?&sh...e=show&st=0 Given that only 12 people voted, I suppose that implies that any meet / event is only going to be drawn from a small pool? I doubt that it would significantly improve numbers, but is every month more than folk want to do? Don't get too down - SIDC Bucks seems to be a total zero & the early enthusiasm in London also seems to have faded out - makes Oxon seem like a hotbed of activity

Stu - take time to chat with Stormy (our track day guru) as he usually organises a grand european tour each year, some fantastic routes! http://www.track-masters.co.uk/DrivingTours.asp

there was a good long thread on here a year or so ago with great pictures and instructions - seem to recall a couple of mounting strips were put in front of the rad to make space? spoilt you - here it is http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=111689

afraid we can't make this year. Chrissy is working lates and I'm working at Sillystone for the FIA GT supercars. For those who haven't made their mind up yet, it's a good event and pretty laid back. We have always managed to get in nice and quickly as well as having a fair sized patch to set up on. Do remember to bring your own chairs and a good coat as airfields are, understandably, exposed areas Cheers, David

whenever I've tried to get SIDC discount at blackcircles, they've never heard of us - but usually manage to tweak the price a bit anyway. It's listed in the membership benefits but nothing found in the members only section of the forum? I bought my snowprox through them with a CSMA discount, but that deal seems to change regularly. good news is that while most are 3% we currently get 10% on all toyo. Sadly, I suspect that they are not as competitive as when they first arrived on the market. Camskill seem to win on price, but mytyres have the biggest range.

good fun keep plugging away about the winter rubber - we'll convert them all eventually

been reporting my local ones using this site - created by cyclists, but open to all. you can pick the exact spot via mapping and then describe the hazard - they then submit it on your behalf without disclosing your identity to the local authority concerned.

congrats folk - and thanks to the existing mob for staying on. A thankless task, but do you need us to start an on-line riot to give you some practice

my 4th winter on toyo snowprox - good in the wet / cold / snow / ice but they won't work miracles at shifting slush not sure what the supply situation is with these as Camskill have them all flagged as no stock until October 2010 - if anywhere else claims to have them, check they are actually on site before you part with cash. Also makes me wonder if any left are old stock? Would probably look to replace mine next winter with the same, although some good comments seem to be out there for the Nokian WR G2. Bring on the heavy stuff - just got myself some of these puppies http://www.snowchains.co.uk/main/quattro.htm

Ian, tweak your profile to show where in the country you're based and maybe one or two folk nearby will be happy to take a look - or even be brave enough to go for a ride in your beastie? as the regulars will know, I'm also a big fan of running a set of winters - currently driving around feeling very smug also worth taking a look in the trackday section to see if you are near any of the track training days that Stormy runs for the club - a great chance to chuck the car around and discover where it lets go in safety.

have you always had that collection of tyres since you owned it? I'd suggest swapping front and rears to see if any handling change shows up, also consider moving pressures up or down slightly to experiment a little too. I've not had problems with either of my WRX wagons, but then i am really fussy about only using top tyres - might be your ultimate solution ....

mine always goes over to Cotswold - since they moved out of Fenny Stratford anyway! http://www.cotswoldssubaru.co.uk/index.html - search this forum for plenty of feedback. used by quite a few of the Oxon members and some from much further afield - SIDC membership will get you a discount that will more than pay for itself if you've got that big a list of probs! I suggest that you give them a call and arrange to pop over there and let them have a good check over it and see what they find / suggest. Cheers, David P.S. can't help with your other request for similar advice in Taunton

Been getting mine credited to my shell credit card for a while now - quite nice when it also gave me a 3% cash-back on all shell fuel. Sadly it dropped to 1% the other month & today got a letter saying that Shell & Citi are folding the scheme at the end of December. The letter does mention that Shell are coming up with a new reward scheme in the new year - hopefully a good one rather than it being revised to something less useful than the current v-power one? Don't keep looking at your on-line statements though folk - it makes you realise just how much you're spending on fuel

Sorry guys, we're no can do - Chrissy working & me at Rockingham stages for the weekend. But, there's a free pudding deal if you guys come prepared again .... Can't wait till Christmas? As an early Christmas present you and 3 friends can enjoy a free Sundae Best Ice Cream when you all purchase any main meal between now and December 6th! Just print off this email and present the voucher below when ordering. Interestingly, the web page says a pud each without mentioning 3 mates http://www.harvester.co.uk/webnov09.html?u..._campaign=17811 voucher at http://www.harvester.co.uk/site-media/down...e-ice-cream.pdf Cheers, David & Chrissy

Stu - there is a bit of an admin backlog, as the membership sec is recovering from another heavy dose of chemo - a few others are trying to catch up with the contacts but will have been out in orange for most weekends. hopefully will get better now that the season is pretty much closed except for the dirty boys rallying in the mud. Mr Codger - Brands are a pretty good team at recruiting, and a fairly loyal bunch to their local circuit. Lydden is by far my favourite - try to get to all the rallycross events and also to help the SEMSEC club with sprints & races when I can get down & back in a day. It's pretty much closed season now, but training days tend to get organised for Jan / Feb and are well worth getting along to. If you want to move up from a trainee grade, you have to have been on at least one course as well as the practical hands on at meetings. The Rally folk also run some training events in Feb / Mar and are worth doing as well - they handle things a bit differently and all knowledge comes in handy. One of our SIDC mob is the gaffer at Goodwood (Hello Ian) and there are also a few folk on here who race - always good to pop in to see racers and scrounge a cuppa. For others reading this - there are a few members up in Scotland who get along to a few meetings & Rallies, so don't feel that you have to live darn sarf to get to join in. If any of you want to PM me your email address, I'm happy to top you up with more info, but equally if the answer could be useful to others - quite happy to do what I can to help up here in the public thread. As a slight "carrot", it's worth mentioning that most meets (apart from Rally) tend to send you a guest ticket as well as your own admission, so you can drag her / him indoors along - or a mate to keep you supplied with burgers & coffee when they're not taking piccies of you having fun. To get a feel for just how many events are on during the season, take a look at the 2009 volunteering lists at http://www.marshals.org.uk - or download the spreadsheet linked from that page. A couple of pencilled in dates for Lydden RallyCross are 2nd Jan & 6th Feb - dig back through the Kent section for some photos of the weather we got in 2009! Welcome to the wonderful world of orange - any more takers?? Cheers, David