Scooby Snacks

When I first considered buying an Impreza, I was recommended to this website by a colleague and registered with the intention of learning as much about the cars as I could before I bought one. It was here that I got referred to the SIDC and whilst learning the techincal stuff from there, I could talk to people in here about their expepriences with the car, and get an idea on running costs/prices etc etc. With the likes of the Muppet Forum I've always had a giggle, and I've bought a couple of things from the For Sale section.

Having joined the SIDC also, I'm on my second edition of True Grip magazine and I get the distinct impression that Scoobynet is not held in high regard.

I would have thought that whilst the two are different (one's a club with a BBS and the other is just a BBS), they should go hand in hand as they were created for the love and enjoyment of Subaru's.

I must admit, I've never ventured on to the SIDC forums as I always assumed they would contain the same people as here. As a relatively new member of the SIDC, am I missing something??

ex-webby

Hi

Belated welcome to scoobynet and Subaru ownership

This is a complex subject and I'm going to try to word this so it comes across how it is meant, so don't read any hidden meanings in to it.

The interesting comparrison between a large community on a BBS and a club with regular publication is that the publication is able to portray itself in a controlled and calculated way, where as the BBS community is a "worts and all" publication.

It is easy to look at ScoobyNet as (ignoring all the good stuff) notice the odd thing here and there that annoys you personally and then say "scoobynet is full of dross".

There are very few people / companies that will send a group email to people saying "take a look at scoobynet, they are saying really great things about subject x"... but human nature dictates that someone noticing something bad will be more likely to mention / circulate it.

If this wasn't the case, we'd be watching the news every days and there would be reports of things like "Tony Blair had a good day today and did lots of good things for the country" (this is not a statement of alegence to Tony Blair BTW, merely a statement, that even if he does things that irritate people from time to time, he surely has days where is does nothing that would irritate anyone).

I think we have to be big enough to realise that scoobynet is a very big community, so you will see all walks of life and will be dealing with all levels of intelligence, all religious denominations, all age groups, almost every conceiveable personal circumstance, etc, etc.

It's not the cliquey, private little sanctuary it once was, where people could become "stars" and thought of as gods by posting in a way that made you believe them.. people are questioned now, and there are always a number of people who are expert in the same subject.

These are just a few of the things that make scoobynet a great place IMHO.

Not sure if that answers your question.. if not, tell me to shut up and tell me where I've missed the point.

All the best

Simon

NotoriousREV

There have been a few threads recently that have talked of Scoobynet in disparaging terms.

Someone said that SN was the village idiot of car forums and someone else stated that thanks to Scoobynet he was embarassed to admit to owning a Scooby. Well both these viewpoints make a major assumption: that anyone outside of SN gives a toss.

SN is our home and is what we make it. You get out what you put in. I think SN only has 2 faults: too many Scooby vs XXX threads and it's ability to degenerate a thread into a flame war within 5 posts.

All IMHO, of course

ScoobySnack

Well I still like Scoobynet....

Its a laugh and a half, plus has some serious discussion in it...

Something for everyone, suits you sir!!!

J

ScoobyJawa

Pah - bloody TVR owners

Scooby Snacks

Scoobynet's a cool place and as long as I have access to the site (i.e. before my boss realises how much time I spend in here!) I will continue to use it.

Big yourself scoobynetters and enjoy your weekend.

SS.

dsmith

"that even if he (Tony Blair) does things that irritate people from time to time, he surely has days where is does nothing that would irritate anyone"

He breathes. That irritates me every day

Deano

MarkO

I'm sure we can fix that though, deano.

NotoriousREV

<quietly phones the police>

Hoppy

ScoobyNet is as good as it always was, maybe better.

The big difference is the vast membership which means there is both more good stuff, and more crap.

Some tips: if you want pick an argument, post in General or Non-Scooby Related. If you want to avoid flame wars, don't open threads with 20 pages of posts. If you want to know about and talk about Scoobs, read the technical forums.

I enjoy them all.

Richard.

Pete Croney

There has always been an association between the two organisations and I find all of the "versus" talk iritating.

Scoobynet was originally started by Phil Dawes as the SIDC's bbs. It quickly became apparent that the club could not keep up with the administration of such a popular forum and as a result an unmoderated thread resulted in a serious threat of legal action.

Phil sold Scoobynet to Simon. Simon's steering of Scoobynet has resulted in it becoming (I suspect) one of the world's most popular car related bulletin boards. Quite rightly so.

The SIDC is a car club. It is something that members join and in return they receive all of the benefits that one would expect from a premier league car club. They pay a membership fee and this fee is used to provide these benefits. The main difference between the SIDC and other large car clubs is that we receive no assistance whatsoever from the maker/importer of our beloved vehicles. The other difference is that many car clubs are businesses, run by an enthusiast for profit. The SIDC is non profit making and everything belongs to its members.

True Grip has become one of the best car club magazine's in existance and will always be a hard copy way of conveying information to the club's members. The SIDC has also built up a huge army of regional organisers with frequent events held in almost every part of the UK and the National Day is firmly on the calender. As far as we know, no gathering of Subaru owners has approached the 512 Imprezas that we had at Donington last year, although this was only our first attempt.

With more members, we would have the funds to do even bigger and even better things. Hopefully the club will continue to grow and this will happen.

Scoobynet is a valuable resource for Impreza owners, providing instant access to a wealth of advise on everything from which injectors will give xxxbhp to why can't I turn my park lights off. It provokes humour and outrage, friendship and sarcasm. It, I suspect, is a major part of many peoples life.

The club will always excel in real world matters, ie meets, events and True Grip and Scoobynet will always be the best cyber place for chatting to fellow owners or friends.

There is no versus, as both do a very good job at the different services they set out to provide.

Neil Smalley

Hear, Hear Pete

ianfergus0n

interesting thread ang good to read

Fuzz

Ahh ! constructive posts.
Excellent, well written Pete and Simon, thanks

sorry mine is'nt

Andy

lucky_strike

Scoobynet and it's users certainly helped me get into my first Scooby ownership - and saved me thousands of pounds....I wanted a new WRX then heard of the MY03 changes on here some months ago so I waited until the first pictures were released and went to the NEC by which time Subaru UK had discounted the current model (and I didn't think the new model was so much better/nicer).

So here I am with a MY02 WRX with PPP and a few other mods and well pleased with it.

Great advice on all aspects of buying, owning and modifying from Scoobynet users.

Thx.

bigsinky

have to say, that as a scooby virgin, I found the ppls on here to be most helpful and as has been said in previous posts you get out of it what you put into it. if you want to be a to$$er and start the old "this versus that", trying to gain one upmanship on other hot hatch/wannabe muscle car owners then you risk the board degenerating into a boring piece of sh1te. same old stories same old lame flame wars. Now as someone who is fairly new to the scooby scene i can honestly say i have learnt more in the past month, reading the technical, ICE, lighting and other forums, while having a good old laff in the muppet section.
Don't get me wrong the scooby is a great car all be it with its own little foibles that each owner has to put up with but it is by no means the be all and end all in relation to quick motors.

I also have to say the FAQ on the SIDC site has also taught me alot and is very well written.

Just my 2p worth.

Trying to keep her between the hedges in good old Northern Ireland.

cheers

big sinky


[Edited by bigsinky - 12/13/2002 11:26:21 PM]

Numptie

When I opened this thread, I itched to reply before I'd read all the replies. Lucky I didn't because Pete pretty much covers what I'd have said.

I do, however, have a couple of points to add to the discussion.

Scooby Snacks said ...
Recently, I had a discussion with an individual who is an SIDC committee member and SN moderator. I tried to make the point that it was a shame that the SIDC forum didn't attract a great deal of traffic.

Following the conversation, I was satisfied that things are fine the way they are. If you post a sensible message on the SIDC forum, you are generally guaranteed a limited / select number of replies which will hit the mark.

If you post the same question on SN, you'll get an equally valuable response. Unfortunately, it'll sometimes be diluted by replies from contributors who don't understand what you're asking or, worse, get a kick out of posting nonsense.

Something I notice from Simon's reply is that he says nothing about SIDC and its value.

Simon, I acknowledge ...
... but not single mention of SIDC or its value to the Subaru community as a whole seems odd.

I look upon my membership of SIDC and my access to SN as being valuable resources (I won't put one above the other).

In summary, my take on it is ...

• If I don't think my membership of SIDC is worthwhile, I won't renew.
• If I don't like the content or style of SN, I won't keep visiting the site.

... simple as that.

I didn't mean to be controversial here but I'm prepared to be corrected.

BTW - I'm fully aware of all the Bedford related goings on.