Discussion
Derek Smith said:
Honda as well, and guarded by two men who had been ordered never to risk eye contact.
You must be doing something wrong, Derek 
. One of the inscrutable Honda men wanted to know if "I like?" their display and when I affirmed he insisted (very awkwardly, admittedly) that I couldn't leave without a postcard of the car with some Honda logos on the back. He had a whole handful of these cards that he seemed extremely selective as to whom he thrust them upon. There was a lot of head bowing as well, which inappropriately put me right in a Black Rain level of cultural awkwardness 
Nik da Greek said:
...Much preferred it when it was the Cathedral Paddock. Utterly couldn't-care-lessedness about the New Look paddock, although at least it served to prove in the flesh just how hideous the SUV abortions from Rolls and Lamborghini are...
Add Bentley and Maserati to that list, they really are gross. (other gross/big cars are available)Nik da Greek said:
Derek Smith said:
Honda as well, and guarded by two men who had been ordered never to risk eye contact.
You must be doing something wrong, Derek . One of the inscrutable Honda men wanted to know if "I like?" their display and when I affirmed he insisted (very awkwardly, admittedly) that I couldn't leave without a postcard of the car with some Honda logos on the back. He had a whole handful of these cards that he seemed extremely selective as to whom he thrust them upon. There was a lot of head bowing as well, which inappropriately put me right in a Black Rain level of cultural awkwardness A small point but the bowing bit is a very complex cultural form of establishing pecking order. Too deep for me. I've been told all about it and all instruction does is make it more obscure but fascinating.
I'm conflicted...
It feels like the FoS has too many new cars, super or otherwise, and a real lack of F1, WEC and American NASCAR, Indy, etc... I like the drift stuff and kids absolutely love it, so I have no problem with it really, but do we need 5 of them?
All that said, I remember some years back complaining that 'we go every year to see the same thing' so I probably shouldn't whinge about all the new cars.
The Robocar, 919 Tribute, the electric Pikes Peak thing, et al, were all great to see. Porsche were a good showing. I didn't make it up to the rally stage so I can't really comment.
The motor show bit feels like it's dying a death. The large marque bit near the start line wasn't there (was it there last year? I didn't go) and there was nothing from any VAG (I think), plus various others toned down considerably, so I can't see those elements surviving much longer. A shame really, as when doing the full weekend, an amble around those manufacturer stands was always the Thursday activity.
Air displays were lacking. As others have highlighted, in previous years we've had 2-3 displays/fly overs a day.
All in all, it doesn't really feel like a full weekend is as easily justified as it once was. I only went yesterday (Friday) between 10am and 4pm and yet got around a significant proportion of it, albeit not spending too much time around any one paddock and not seeing anything beyond Molecombe.
It feels like the FoS has too many new cars, super or otherwise, and a real lack of F1, WEC and American NASCAR, Indy, etc... I like the drift stuff and kids absolutely love it, so I have no problem with it really, but do we need 5 of them?
All that said, I remember some years back complaining that 'we go every year to see the same thing' so I probably shouldn't whinge about all the new cars.
The Robocar, 919 Tribute, the electric Pikes Peak thing, et al, were all great to see. Porsche were a good showing. I didn't make it up to the rally stage so I can't really comment.
The motor show bit feels like it's dying a death. The large marque bit near the start line wasn't there (was it there last year? I didn't go) and there was nothing from any VAG (I think), plus various others toned down considerably, so I can't see those elements surviving much longer. A shame really, as when doing the full weekend, an amble around those manufacturer stands was always the Thursday activity.
Air displays were lacking. As others have highlighted, in previous years we've had 2-3 displays/fly overs a day.
All in all, it doesn't really feel like a full weekend is as easily justified as it once was. I only went yesterday (Friday) between 10am and 4pm and yet got around a significant proportion of it, albeit not spending too much time around any one paddock and not seeing anything beyond Molecombe.
JohneeBoy said:
I'm conflicted...
It feels like the FoS has too many new cars, super or otherwise, and a real lack of F1, WEC and American NASCAR, Indy, etc... I like the drift stuff and kids absolutely love it, so I have no problem with it really, but do we need 5 of them?
All that said, I remember some years back complaining that 'we go every year to see the same thing' so I probably shouldn't whinge about all the new cars.
The Robocar, 919 Tribute, the electric Pikes Peak thing, et al, were all great to see. Porsche were a good showing. I didn't make it up to the rally stage so I can't really comment.
The motor show bit feels like it's dying a death. The large marque bit near the start line wasn't there (was it there last year? I didn't go) and there was nothing from any VAG (I think), plus various others toned down considerably, so I can't see those elements surviving much longer. A shame really, as when doing the full weekend, an amble around those manufacturer stands was always the Thursday activity.
Air displays were lacking. As others have highlighted, in previous years we've had 2-3 displays/fly overs a day.
All in all, it doesn't really feel like a full weekend is as easily justified as it once was. I only went yesterday (Friday) between 10am and 4pm and yet got around a significant proportion of it, albeit not spending too much time around any one paddock and not seeing anything beyond Molecombe.
The manufacturer stands are one of my favourite bits of the FoS and a key part for me. Significantly reduced this year.It feels like the FoS has too many new cars, super or otherwise, and a real lack of F1, WEC and American NASCAR, Indy, etc... I like the drift stuff and kids absolutely love it, so I have no problem with it really, but do we need 5 of them?
All that said, I remember some years back complaining that 'we go every year to see the same thing' so I probably shouldn't whinge about all the new cars.
The Robocar, 919 Tribute, the electric Pikes Peak thing, et al, were all great to see. Porsche were a good showing. I didn't make it up to the rally stage so I can't really comment.
The motor show bit feels like it's dying a death. The large marque bit near the start line wasn't there (was it there last year? I didn't go) and there was nothing from any VAG (I think), plus various others toned down considerably, so I can't see those elements surviving much longer. A shame really, as when doing the full weekend, an amble around those manufacturer stands was always the Thursday activity.
Air displays were lacking. As others have highlighted, in previous years we've had 2-3 displays/fly overs a day.
All in all, it doesn't really feel like a full weekend is as easily justified as it once was. I only went yesterday (Friday) between 10am and 4pm and yet got around a significant proportion of it, albeit not spending too much time around any one paddock and not seeing anything beyond Molecombe.
I enjoy all the other stuff too but like to use the FoS as a motor show to see what’s on offer..
I was surprised on Thursday to see the Moving Motor Show tent had gone. There were no longer normal punters in normal cars driving the hill climb.
Looks like the Thursday will just become a day 4, the same as the other three days.
Thomoore said:
I won tickets for fos including access to breakfast and lunch with martini does anyone know where i access this?
Lucky you ! It is probably in the enormous building that says Martini near all the Martini cars at one edge of the paddockIf you fail to find it (!) get directed to the driver's club nearby on the other side of the house to the Cartier lawn
scratch it.. I personally felt like this year was utter cack. I got my ticket for free and I still felt ripped off.
The manufacturers put out a miserable display relative to previous years. Barely anything new, certainly nothing interesting. Many flashy gimmicks like the Ford jump thing and the Honda light display. Just show some decent cars, you muppets.
The sports car paddock was miserable. What used to be 2-3 full rows of modern sports cars turned into half a row, with no modern sports cars in sight other than the 919 Evo and TS050 down the road. Very little variety in the historic parts, too. Even the modern F1 section, that I usually avoid due to lack of interest, seemed dead.
The amount of space roped off for tweed-wearing twits also seems to have increased. I get that the event needs to make money but surely you shouldn't need to be a London-based banker or the son of a politician to get a good experience from the event.
I was so utterly bored out of my mind after about an hour or two of entering that I simply just walked out. I then had a chat with one of the chaps working the car parks, who happened to agree with the above. He'd heard people calling it the Festival of Greed and was dismayed that this is all they had managed to scrape together for the event's 25th anniversary. They'd apparently had longer to plan this year than they have for previous years, too.
I hadn't originally planned to attend this year, but did due to a free ticket. I certainly won't be back again for a long while now.
The manufacturers put out a miserable display relative to previous years. Barely anything new, certainly nothing interesting. Many flashy gimmicks like the Ford jump thing and the Honda light display. Just show some decent cars, you muppets.
The sports car paddock was miserable. What used to be 2-3 full rows of modern sports cars turned into half a row, with no modern sports cars in sight other than the 919 Evo and TS050 down the road. Very little variety in the historic parts, too. Even the modern F1 section, that I usually avoid due to lack of interest, seemed dead.
The amount of space roped off for tweed-wearing twits also seems to have increased. I get that the event needs to make money but surely you shouldn't need to be a London-based banker or the son of a politician to get a good experience from the event.
I was so utterly bored out of my mind after about an hour or two of entering that I simply just walked out. I then had a chat with one of the chaps working the car parks, who happened to agree with the above. He'd heard people calling it the Festival of Greed and was dismayed that this is all they had managed to scrape together for the event's 25th anniversary. They'd apparently had longer to plan this year than they have for previous years, too.
I hadn't originally planned to attend this year, but did due to a free ticket. I certainly won't be back again for a long while now.
SimonC6R said:
The sports car paddock was miserable. What used to be 2-3 full rows of modern sports cars turned into half a row, with no modern sports cars in sight other than the 919 Evo and TS050 down the road. Very little variety in the historic parts, too. Even the modern F1 section, that I usually avoid due to lack of interest, seemed dead.
The amount of space roped off for tweed-wearing twits also seems to have increased. I get that the event needs to make money but surely you shouldn't need to be a London-based banker or the son of a politician to get a good experience from the event.
I was so utterly bored out of my mind after about an hour or two of entering that I simply just walked out. I then had a chat with one of the chaps working the car parks, who happened to agree with the above. He'd heard people calling it the Festival of Greed and was dismayed that this is all they had managed to scrape together for the event's 25th anniversary. They'd apparently had longer to plan this year than they have for previous years, too.
I hadn't originally planned to attend this year, but did due to a free ticket. I certainly won't be back again for a long while now.
I have just returned home after day-2 at the event. And for the first time in 15 years I am questioning its value and whether I should return. it was just no where near as good as all the previous years I have attended. I feel let down by what was clearly the best car show in the country.The amount of space roped off for tweed-wearing twits also seems to have increased. I get that the event needs to make money but surely you shouldn't need to be a London-based banker or the son of a politician to get a good experience from the event.
I was so utterly bored out of my mind after about an hour or two of entering that I simply just walked out. I then had a chat with one of the chaps working the car parks, who happened to agree with the above. He'd heard people calling it the Festival of Greed and was dismayed that this is all they had managed to scrape together for the event's 25th anniversary. They'd apparently had longer to plan this year than they have for previous years, too.
I hadn't originally planned to attend this year, but did due to a free ticket. I certainly won't be back again for a long while now.
Contrary to the last two posters I went on Thursday using my GRRC Member's ticket and had a nice day. I parked up around 8:30 with little traffic on the way down, had a large cup of coffee (£2.50) from the vendor in the car park before entering the event site and walked in to find the place generally deserted. Spent some time looking at the Style et Luxe before it got busy and then headed up to the paddocks, some facinating pre-war cars there plus some great 60s and 70s F1 cars from Honda, Lotus and Tyrrell. Watched a bit of 'on track' action and ventured over the bridge where I got a nice well filled bacon baguette (£5.50). Ambled down through the manufacturer's stands but to be honest modern cars are of little interest to me so I couldn't really tell you if what they were displaying was the latest or any good. Pint of cider (£5.50) in the GRRC marquee and a chat with some friends then I headed back up to look at the trade stands. Cooled down a bit in Kinrara as it's air conditioned and watched a bit more stuff going up the hill. Left around 3:30 and watched an air display from the golf course before getting straight out of the car park with no hold ups. Decent day for under fifteen quid, can't complain... 
andy_mc said:
I have just returned home after day-2 at the event. And for the first time in 15 years I am questioning its value and whether I should return. it was just no where near as good as all the previous years I have attended. I feel let down by what was clearly the best car show in the country.
Does anything come even remotely close though? Wilton Supercar & Classic pretty much nailed it (as a largely static show anyway) and then that vanished.The Members Meeting is in my opinion as good as it gets, though a different kind of event.
ukaskew said:
andy_mc said:
I have just returned home after day-2 at the event. And for the first time in 15 years I am questioning its value and whether I should return. it was just no where near as good as all the previous years I have attended. I feel let down by what was clearly the best car show in the country.
Does anything come even remotely close though? Wilton Supercar & Classic pretty much nailed it (as a largely static show anyway) and then that vanished.The Members Meeting is in my opinion as good as it gets, though a different kind of event.
SimonC6R said:
I personally felt like this year was utter cack. I got my ticket for free and I still felt ripped off.
The manufacturers put out a miserable display relative to previous years. Barely anything new, certainly nothing interesting. Many flashy gimmicks like the Ford jump thing and the Honda light display. Just show some decent cars, you muppets.
The sports car paddock was miserable. What used to be 2-3 full rows of modern sports cars turned into half a row, with no modern sports cars in sight other than the 919 Evo and TS050 down the road. Very little variety in the historic parts, too. Even the modern F1 section, that I usually avoid due to lack of interest, seemed dead.
The amount of space roped off for tweed-wearing twits also seems to have increased. I get that the event needs to make money but surely you shouldn't need to be a London-based banker or the son of a politician to get a good experience from the event.
I was so utterly bored out of my mind after about an hour or two of entering that I simply just walked out. I then had a chat with one of the chaps working the car parks, who happened to agree with the above. He'd heard people calling it the Festival of Greed and was dismayed that this is all they had managed to scrape together for the event's 25th anniversary. They'd apparently had longer to plan this year than they have for previous years, too.
I hadn't originally planned to attend this year, but did due to a free ticket. I certainly won't be back again for a long while now.
I had anticipated this & so gave up attending 2 years ago having been to almost every one except the first. The final die was cast when having arrived on a Friday as the gates opened my first port of call was the burger stand & the tasteless dry thing sold to me STILL lingers in my memory. Within an hour I couldn't move for the heaving sweating crowds & then I realised everything by & large looked the same - OK the fancy construction in front of the house was interesting & worth a few minutes admiration. Car manufacturers were showing nothing I couldn't see in the civilised tranquillity of their showrooms & I didn't appreciate tarty smarmy smiley bints getting in my way. It was a shock to this petrolhead to find myself bored by noon. The manufacturers put out a miserable display relative to previous years. Barely anything new, certainly nothing interesting. Many flashy gimmicks like the Ford jump thing and the Honda light display. Just show some decent cars, you muppets.
The sports car paddock was miserable. What used to be 2-3 full rows of modern sports cars turned into half a row, with no modern sports cars in sight other than the 919 Evo and TS050 down the road. Very little variety in the historic parts, too. Even the modern F1 section, that I usually avoid due to lack of interest, seemed dead.
The amount of space roped off for tweed-wearing twits also seems to have increased. I get that the event needs to make money but surely you shouldn't need to be a London-based banker or the son of a politician to get a good experience from the event.
I was so utterly bored out of my mind after about an hour or two of entering that I simply just walked out. I then had a chat with one of the chaps working the car parks, who happened to agree with the above. He'd heard people calling it the Festival of Greed and was dismayed that this is all they had managed to scrape together for the event's 25th anniversary. They'd apparently had longer to plan this year than they have for previous years, too.
I hadn't originally planned to attend this year, but did due to a free ticket. I certainly won't be back again for a long while now.
FoS has been flogged to death & others have copied the idea & do it a thousand times better. Ditto the Revival.
And to think many paid a lot of money, travelled many miles & queued for many hours. Few will repeat the experience next year I bet.
In complete contrast I had a great day Friday. The 'death of FoS' is predicted every year but as ever it's greatly exaggerated. Yes attendance felt down but a) it was still packed, and b) people have been moaning about crowds for years. I think Thursday becomu g a genuine 4th day has spread the load nicely.
Goodwood put on the Members Meeting for exactly the reasons people complain about FoS (and to a lesser extent the Revival). Judging by the people I spoke to up on the hill it still attracts a global audience, I chatted to guys from Germany, Italy and the US who were all here just for FoS.
It was far more relaxed than previous years, which I wasn't expecting. Loads of room up on the hill with the majority just chilling on the banks watching the action. As an amateur photographer I've not experienced access like that in my 11 years of attending.
I guess it helps that I do the paddocks and static stuff between 7-9am when it's perfectly manageable, then spend 8 hours up on the hill. I complete avoid the hospitality and all the periphery stuff, so have no comment on that side of things. I used the loos and the watertaps, that's it. But as a motorsport event? For variety I can't imagine anywhere else that comes close.
Goodwood put on the Members Meeting for exactly the reasons people complain about FoS (and to a lesser extent the Revival). Judging by the people I spoke to up on the hill it still attracts a global audience, I chatted to guys from Germany, Italy and the US who were all here just for FoS.
It was far more relaxed than previous years, which I wasn't expecting. Loads of room up on the hill with the majority just chilling on the banks watching the action. As an amateur photographer I've not experienced access like that in my 11 years of attending.
I guess it helps that I do the paddocks and static stuff between 7-9am when it's perfectly manageable, then spend 8 hours up on the hill. I complete avoid the hospitality and all the periphery stuff, so have no comment on that side of things. I used the loos and the watertaps, that's it. But as a motorsport event? For variety I can't imagine anywhere else that comes close.
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