Street Class????

[max1]

this is to deep for me buy em tune em drive em ,if ya want in then partisipate and support others .nuff said ps(do i qualify for street sleeper or not or does the parachute give it away tee hee)

[Stuart]

I think you may have opened a can of worms Mark, but there have been some good points raised.

None of us could stand up and say that we don't enjoy acceleration otherwise we wouldn't be here, and your scenario of a clear, cool night is one that I can easily identify with and that's with the poxy 1bar boost I have to play with

The trick will be distinguishing between those that would be an embarrassment to the forum with daft behaviour/conduct and those that love fast, well engineered cars whether they use them on the circuits or not.

I know a few well known forum types, very much adults who drive truly great cars. So far they've been excluded simply becuase they do not sign that disclaimer form that we have all memorised by now..........

The more feedback the better. Your thoughts and feelings shape the forum so speak up.

[duncan]

I think the original question posed was for a street sleeper badge not necessarily whether people that dont go on track etc are allowed into BigPower.

My personal thoughts are that a badge for having a nice car is not really in keeping with the original thought behind them - they were to recognise 'doers'. This is not to say that we dont like nice cars here - quite the opposite in my book.

Having said that, and this is my personal view, is that people without an interest in going on track, drag strip, drift arena, race track, rally stage or some other form of active motorsport, probably wont fit in here anyway and would quickly move on as we have seen with some of the people that have come and gone over the past year. This is not Stuart or myself dictating that they move on (necessarily ) but mostly the thoughts and wishes of the vast majority on here that have adopted the chav free spirit.

Sure there are a few on here that dont do much but all of us are trying all we can to encourage them either in taking their pride and joy into the arena in a safe way or through help and guidance find another route to getting the driving pleasures in a safe and legal place.

My car is used on the road like most here and yes, where conditions allow and it is safe to do so, the speed attained may be on occasion more than the speed limit. This is a real world and I would be lying if I said I didnt. But we all know that the ever increasing number of non-human policing measures such as cameras are quickly removing this as an option for us - a country lane speed camera doesnt discriminate between 70mph when it is busy or 70 mph at 3 am in the morning. The track is therefore the ONLY place I can begin to explore the potential of my car.

To summarise, I think that great cars and drivers 'could' be welcomed if they are signing up to our ethos and stuart and I have discussed this on many occasion. I dont think they should get a badge for having a nice car though

[Mr Fletcher]

this may be a different spin on this but is mark on about the fact of big bhp whilst the car remaining road legal

still gets used on track etc but is still driven everyday as such, i think 750 bhp plus is pretty impressive acheivement

to remain drivable on the road , therefore it's asleep on the street :-D 1000 bhp + = gold badge


cheers


jason

[ScoobieWRX]

As a member of PistonHeads i can testify to the huge number of fools, idiots, Chavs, narrow-minded bigots and up their own arse i'm better than you are snobs, and i'm smarter than you are so called technical guru's that PistonHeads perpetuates.

Pistonheads also has some absolutely cracking top people as members too, but i have to say they are becoming few and far between, and it's those smaller numbers that also enjoy the odd trackday and outing to the Ring as many of you do.

I have to add though.....the fact they don't charge a membership fee makes it very easy to get in, and many have multiple aliases just to troll threads and generally cause all sorts of mayhem. I get fed up of seeing it on a regular basis.

That's another reason i came here.

I would go as far as to say that to keep this club clean and green with the kind of like minded people that come here i would suggest paying for membership to be compulsory after a given period of probation. That way people can see if they like BP, have similar interests to everyone else, and vice versa.

[Gerry H]

How about example A)

Mr A joins the club in 2006. He is an active participant in track days and an asset to the forum. In late 2006 he sells his car through a change in circumstances and decides to see what happens. In 2007 his membership is up for renewal. He doesn't own a suitable car for track work and has no inclination towards track, drag or drift work. He still contributes to the forum on a regular basis.

Should he be kicked out and quietly allowed to lose interest in the whole thing??

I don't think that's an easy one to answer.

Of course Mr. A's circumstance may have been brought about by no fault of his own, e.g. divorce, redundancy, business gone bust, disabling car accident. He has to sell his pride & joy and therefore his ability to participate but longs for the day when his fortunes reverse once more and he can afford a suitable car.

He's been an active and regular contributor attended BP meets, a high achiever, respected and knowledgeable, in fact, an asset to the club. But when renewal comes round he really can't afford the subscription.

Can you really tell him "Sorry, come back when you're back on your feet and can afford to be a member and meet the criteria?

He's also made some good friends and acquaintancies among the ranks. He's now, not only down on his luck but can no longer communicate with a whole bunch of people he gets on well with.


Don't volunteer for The Samaritans if your answer is yes!

[RX7]

This is a good topic and I for one was (probably is at the mo) one of those people who had a nice car, modified it but didnt use it on the track.
My main concern is the costs if things broke. No matter what people say the wear and tear on a car whilst on the track is far worse than driving it everyday on the road.
Having said that when I did take my car on the track I did enjoy it thoroughly. But since buying a house and working out the budget I think my time on the track in 2008 will be very very very limited and could only be 1 session. Does this make me less welcome than someone like Dunk who does a minimum of 30 sessions on the track in a year ?

I think people modify cars to have a bit of individuality more than anything. It is nice to put something on the car that distinguishes it from the next one whether it is a new rear wing, racing seats etc etc. I started also improving the cooling etc etc just for everyday....not for use on the track.

It also goes back to the reason for buying the car, I bought mine as I loved the shape of it and it is quicker than the average car. If I had gone for a track car then I reckon I'd have gone for one a bit more rough round the edges.

It is a tricky situation call though, look at how successful the newbies night was, I bet a number of those people (myself included) didnt originally plan to use the car on the track but when this event came along it gave us a chance to try it without any of the worries when attending a public trackday. Therefore there may not be the influx of people who could have this opportunity.

It may be an odd call from a moderator but I think the 'Street Class' should be allowed on Big Power, as Dunk says if they sign up to the ethos then it is ok. Policing people who havent done trackdays for a while but still use the forum is another matter and harder. I think this needs the looking at on a case by case basis.

It is interesting to see everyone spout chav this and that but I bet any number of us started in old escorts, novas, fiestas etc etc. Does that make us all Chavs ?

[James Breadvan]

But what would the street class show?

I've got a nice/powerful car but wont track,drag, sprint it.

We could expand the classes.

Traffic light GP king
Knee down on a roundabout king
Thickthorn roundabout drift champion

[RobCallow]

I bet any number of us started in old escorts, novas, fiestas etc etc. Does that make us all Chavs ?

Yes it does!!! :-D :-D (I had a metallic green Metro 1.3 HLE 8) 8) and I thought it was the dogs bollocks where as it was accually a complete heap of BL c**p)

I'm not against people modding there cars.

The whole point to this forum is to offer something that was not out there a Bulls**t free enviroment where the members accually walk the walk. I feel there is no other forum that offers such a great and friendly environment as this and to change it could damage what has already become a great club in such a short space of time!!!

If people are not interested in taking their car on track I don't think they will bother to sign up in the first place and if they do I don't think they will stay long.

Plus I can't be arsed to lean text speak :-D :-D

[Gerry H]

I don't think Chavs is the issue although it'd be pretty difficult to distinguish Chav from enthusiastic polisher initially.

I for one am not interested in threads or sections about Show & Shine or what cruises are where. It leaves me cold as does tunnel runs and doughnuts in Sainsbury car parks.

Where do you draw the line at Street Sleeper? There's been topics on here where a car's been ridiculed for the way it's been cosmetically modified yet to the owner, it's as much his pride & joy as any of our cars are to us.

Maybe you can be the moderator who stands in judgement as the 'good taste policeman' of BP?

Sure there are some very well modified and presented cars that never see a track but I'm equally sure that there's some Joe Bloggs around who's stuck a turbo and a race seat in his Nova and can blast past you at 100+ with his 3 mates in there on their way to the local cruise and brags to the 'guys' how they burnt off an RX7 or a Skyline as he combs his hair in the reflection of the flip paint job. Looks good, goes like stink but have the brakes and suspension been touched or still standard?

The only way to determine whether a car's been modified well isn't by detailing a couple of A4 pages of lists of mods., it's sticking it on a track and DRIVING the bloody thing and by track, I don't mean some bit of straight road on a council estate.