Rate this years Goodwood FoS

[The Hypno-Toad]

As the UKs premier car nuts site I thought it might be nice if we could show Lord Marchs bods what we thought of his show. I'm quite sure they drift by from time to time.

Vote away!!

[ironictwist]

Can we add an option?

I suggest:

"1st time there & plan to go again as a result! That's how awesome it was!!"

[CivicMan]

Good as ever but getting just too crowded these days .....

[Paul 8v]

ironictwist said:

Can we add an option?

I suggest:

"1st time there & plan to go again as a result! That's how awesome it was!!"

+1

[havoc]

CivicMan said:

Good as ever but getting just too crowded these days .....

Abso-fking-lutely. Loved the day, but there WERE too many people there this year. Apparently Friday topped 90,000 - a record, and on the (allegedly quiet) Friday!

I know they want to make the sums work (or make money...I know it didn't start out as a profit making exercise, but is it now?!?), and I know they don't want to turn people away, but it was IMHO pretty-much at capacity yesterday - I preferred it in 2005 and 2007 when there were fewer people there.


Oh...and getting in was a nightmare - took 1 hour to do the last ~8 miles, which is an utter joke...that's probably a bigger problem for them, as they can't change the access roads.


Next year I'm either doing the full weekend and planning my entry/exit times very carefully, or I'm not bothering and just doing the S'stone Classic instead (3/4 of the event of Goodwood IMHO, but a lot closer to home with a lot better access)...because I'm NOT getting stuck in those sort of queues again. Too frustrating, too time-wasting.

[autofocus]

Hi there,

My second Goodwood and thought it was absolutely out of this world. Some stunning cars, great drivers and a superb atmosphere.

The collection of Audis both on display and on the hill was the highlight for me.

Back next year, hell yes.

Regards

Tim

[RichB]

I've not been for a few years so I can't count myself a regular so here's a few comments; I thoroughly enjoyed myself but I noticed that whilst the crowds were the same as usual there were fewer stands and displays than I remember being there in the past. Certainly there was no car display around the perimeter of the cricket pitch and the live band was missing there, although Tony O'Malley's excellent blues/jazz band was up to the usual standard in the Cartier display. I also thought there were fewer dealers displaying their latest models and the BP Green fuel (what's that all about!?!?) hall was a waste of space. Less corporate prawn sandwich marquees was a good thing though.

[RichB]

havoc said:

...and getting in was a nightmare - took 1 hour to do the last ~8 miles, which is an utter joke...

Just curious, what time was that at? We passed Fernhurst at around 8:30 and arrived at about 8:45 on Friday, the roads were fine and we drove straight into the car park, no problems.

[stevesuk]

havoc said:

Apparently Friday topped 90,000 - a record, and on the (allegedly quiet) Friday!

Oh...and getting in was a nightmare - took 1 hour to do the last ~8 miles, which is an utter joke...that's probably a bigger problem for them, as they can't change the access roads.

Yeah, we first went in 2003, and it was much quieter back then. The F1 paddock in particular was uncomfortably packed even on Friday.

Didn't seem to be as many "factory" F1 runners this year (no Renault, no BMW etc.). And was surprised that MINI didn't have some kind of stand since this year is the 50th anniversary of the original car.

We live about 50 miles away, and it took us over 4 hours to get there. The last 2 hours of the journey gave the cooling system on the car a good workout!

Wanting to avoid that on the way back, we left after the Red Arrows (risk takers that we are, we were in the forbidden air display car park A whilst they were doing their thing, and got some ace photos!). So the journey back was a breeze until we hit the Friday afternoon rush-hour traffic on the M27 in Southampton.

Still a worth while day, especially since we got free tickets courtesy of the Sunday Times offer. Would definitely go again, maybe next year.

Cheers,

Steve.

[boycieboy]

stevesuk said:

havoc said:

Apparently Friday topped 90,000 - a record, and on the (allegedly quiet) Friday!

Oh...and getting in was a nightmare - took 1 hour to do the last ~8 miles, which is an utter joke...that's probably a bigger problem for them, as they can't change the access roads.

Yeah, we first went in 2003, and it was much quieter back then. The F1 paddock in particular was uncomfortably packed even on Friday.

Didn't seem to be as many "factory" F1 runners this year (no Renault, no BMW etc.). And was surprised that MINI didn't have some kind of stand since this year is the 50th anniversary of the original car.

We live about 50 miles away, and it took us over 4 hours to get there. The last 2 hours of the journey gave the cooling system on the car a good workout!

Wanting to avoid that on the way back, we left after the Red Arrows (risk takers that we are, we were in the forbidden air display car park A whilst they were doing their thing, and got some ace photos!). So the journey back was a breeze until we hit the Friday afternoon rush-hour traffic on the M27 in Southampton.

Still a worth while day, especially since we got free tickets courtesy of the Sunday Times offer. Would definitely go again, maybe next year.

Cheers,

Steve.

I've always tried to get there real early. This year I pulled on the handbrake in the car park at 06:50 and was in by just after 7am. I only live about 40 mins down the road (if no traffic) so I do have a bit of an advantage over some.

I did however, have to persuade a few passengers that came with me however, they were well happy that there was no traffic and we had a good 2 hours to check out the pits before the action started.
At that time in the morning they are just pulling off the covers to the cars and not many people about which is a nice way to start the day.

And leaving, I've always stayed 'til after it has all finished if I can. We left the car park at about 7pm, there was some traffic out of the car park and onto the road but then it was clear.

IMO, you have to get to these events early doors and then leave late.

Good event though, great atmosphere although, the weather helped!

Thanks to The Times for the tickets...hopefully get some again next year

[havoc]

RichB said:

havoc said:

...and getting in was a nightmare - took 1 hour to do the last ~8 miles, which is an utter joke...

Just curious, what time was that at? We passed Fernhurst at around 8:30 and arrived at about 8:45 on Friday, the roads were fine and we drove straight into the car park, no problems.

We left Coventry @ 6.30am, were just outside the outskirts of Chichester (after 150 miles and 2 stops) just after 9am, and we parked the car @ 10.25am. Utterly ridiculous, and means that in-future it's not really feasible as a day-trip for us.

[anonymous-user]

stevesuk said:

And was surprised that MINI didn't have some kind of stand since this year is the 50th anniversary of the original car.

The Revival is having the mother of all Mini races this year, it should be spectacular.

[scoobydude]

I spent all 3 days there. Great people, great cars, cutesy waitresses, and I stayed right till the bitter end and indulged in the free buffet at the house. A lot of the top drivers were present, I got to grill Alan McNish about his performance at Le Mans and talked about what petty dicks peugot are. I got to talk properly to Jesse James ( who is indeed 4th Generation James and is therefore directly related to the outlaw Jesse James). I finaly got to talk to Sir Sterling, and Jay Leno about his car collection. David Brabham was talking about his win and brought his winners trophy along. that bit made my whole weekend. All in all it was a great weekend long may the evnt continue, roll on Revival.

[Stig]

Went on a Saturday (usually a Friday) and sad to say, it's a victim of its own success.

I recall the days where you could actually see the cars running up the hill rather than their rooflines over the huge haybales, not to mention the crowds 18 people deep

Huge corporate presence which is fine if you're there in hospitality, but a bit crap if you're a 'punter'.

That said, it still gives almost unrestricted access to a huge array of exotica and has a great atmosphere.

The revival has really gone the same way. I'd recommend Silverstone Classic which is a lot quieter and 'feels' like the Goodwoods of years past.

[AJLintern]

I didn't have any problems getting in from the Midhurst direction - got there at 8:30 and drove straight in without queueing
Yes it is crowded there, but still managed to see things ok. You just have to walk around a bit and find a quieter spot

[anonymous-user]

Was there Fri and Sat to see the 917's, and the old silver arrows Auto-Unions and Mercedes. Just fabulous.

Made the mistake on Friday morning of going via the A27 from the Portsmouth side, was damned slow crawl pretty much after Havant. Use the sat-nav to cut across country after that for the remining trips

[Vixpy1]

Less of the big manufactuers there this year. I actually thought it was quieter than last year. Not one of the best ones for me, but still an enjoyable day out

[Onz]

First time there for me and loved it. Just did the Friday, we stayed over in Portsmouth on Thursday night then up bright and early on the Friday, no problems with any traffic - in Cathedral Paddock by 8am.

Thought it was fantastic, no one highlight as there were so many but high up on the list though was watching a Ferrari 312P warm up with the clam shell up - something I never thought I'd be able to stand next to and watch - the noise was awesome!! Seeing the purple silk cut Le Mans Jaguar was cool having spent hours as a kid with it as a scalextric car! Porsche 917s were a treat and some of the burnouts by the Nascars and BMW M3 were brilliant.

Will definitely be going back next year, hopefully for 2-3 days.

[Hyperion]

As has already been mentioned- not as many interesting trade stands this year...just seemed to be lots of stalls selling overpriced model cars that are made in china for 2p, and those clothes that the VIP's were wearing (I wondered where they bought those god-awful tweed jackets, odd coloured trousers and brogues).
No freebies either...you can usually bag some free mugs, pens and stuff from the Sussex camera partnership...but even they didn't have anything to give away
I dunno if it's just me - but I thought there weren't as many cars there this year?

The people with cameras pissed me off even more than usual. As I said in the other thread - Goodwood is all about getting close enough to the cars to get your nose oily. The obsessive idiots with cameras who expect everyone to stand back so they can get a picture can fk right off.

All in all though, a good event.

[scoobydude]

Hyperion said:

As has already been mentioned- not as many interesting trade stands this year...just seemed to be lots of stalls selling overpriced model cars that are made in china for 2p, and those clothes that the VIP's were wearing (I wondered where they bought those god-awful tweed jackets, odd coloured trousers and brogues).
No freebies either...you can usually bag some free mugs, pens and stuff from the Sussex camera partnership...but even they didn't have anything to give away
I dunno if it's just me - but I thought there weren't as many cars there this year?

The people with cameras pissed me off even more than usual. As I said in the other thread - Goodwood is all about getting close enough to the cars to get your nose oily. The obsessive idiots with cameras who expect everyone to stand back so they can get a picture can fk right off.

All in all though, a good event.

There were some freebies being handed out, the pick of the freebies for me were the massive hardback Audi R8 books being dished out in the F1 paddock on Friday.