Rattle and Horses

 A rare Saturday run with the Tribal Gruppe, starting at Maddings again, a cafe near Cranleigh which does a good coffee.

A good crowd turned up, including a rare 918 driven by an annoyingly young and good looking kid who was also a Porsche cup racer. At least the car was his dad's (replaced his Enzo) but damn, lucky kid:

A fun drive to a cafe in Cowfold and then on to the Half Moon pub in Kidford, which is owned by Jodie Kidd (she sadly wasn't serving behind the bar, as expected).

I meet a different set of nice people every time I go on these runs, so they are fun. However, the guy who runs these is a bit of a nutter (kicks people out the WhatsApp group whenever he fancies and doesn't like people talking unless they are regulars and don't discuss techy stuff, like fixing cars). I get the impression he's just about the social side and name dropping people he's met - I feel I may lose it with him one day. Oh well...

There is a very definite rattle from Barry's left front - hopefully, it's just the drop link, although that is supposed to be a bastard to get off. I've asked Cearth, who did my exhaust, if he is free to help me. Ordered drop links for front left and right (best to replace in pairs) for £90, although in some of the old receipts, there was some suspension work done on the right hand side only, so it might be easier to replace on that side.

Plucky Pheasant

 A cold meet up again with the Surrey Porksters at Newlands Corner. At around 2 degC, it was too cold to use the cafe there but  across the road was the Plucky Pheasant cafe, which I didn't know about (pretty sure it used to be a restaurant). An enjoyable, if not expensive, breakfast and natter was had:

Some nice cars in the car park as well, lots of Lotus's and this original (we checked the reg) Shelby Coupe, or something:

I have started hearing a slight clank from the front-left suspension recently, just on rough surfaces at slow speeds, so it may be time to consider some suspension work. Cearth was at the meet today and he seems very keen to help with the work in his full-service garage, so I might start pricing up some parts.

I'd also like to change the coil packs and maybe the plugs while I'm there - no evidence of the coils ever having been done and they're the sort of annoying thing that might just go in the middle of my Alps trip.

When England Freezes over

 The last week has been proper winter; a bit of snow (but not enough) and icy mornings. Just in time for my first meet with the PPCC at Caffeine and Machine near Petersfield.

It was a mere -5 degC when I got up at 7.15am. I had luckily put a small blanket over the top of Barry to try keep the ice off and it worked well for that area but the blanket hadn't been big enough to cover the whole screen or doors, so I had to use warm water to de-ice, which didn't work as well as I had hoped on the windows; they didn't drop fully when I opened the car and I had to use a bit of force, which I wasn't happy about. But it doesn't seem to have done any damage...I've ordered a cover from Halfords to just cover the roof and windows for future.

The drive over to C&M wasn't great - the roads seemed ice-free but I didn't want to risk pushing hard - got a nice view as the sun came up, however:

The meet was good fun; a good natter with some new people and some lovely cars in the group. I was told this McLaren owner is the slowest driver in the group despite having the quickest car:

The guy in the C63 (the 4L version) was keen to meet my son, so might try get him out to one of these meets. Beautiful Bullitt Mustang next to him:

Rare Porsche 25 - 25th anniversary edition with 4L engine, I think:

Barry in exalted company - not quite sure why they have a Lambo in a box but hey:

Love an F-Type:

Nice breakfast and coffee, good natter, fairly dull trip back and car is a state, even though I washed him the day before.

Fog on the Downs

 Unlike last week, today was cold and foggy as I dragged myself out of bed at 7.30am to meet up with the Tribal Gruppe again. We met up at the same start point (Maddings near Cranleigh) which is a great place to get to because of the excellent blatting roads in that area.

Members of this group are mostly 911 owners and are suitably loaded, so i did feel a bit poor but they are nice people, with lots of Porsche and driving experience. Several own multiple Porsches, a husband and wife were there again in their his and hers 911s - a different world.

I like the format of these runs; a fast blat to a coffee stop (different to the last time out), coffee, then another run to another coffee stop. The second one was to a pub that used to be owned by Chris Evans and had pictures up of famous people who'd visited:

A fun run back as well, with the foggy weather keeping the roads clear.

Barry is a bit of a state and desperately needs a wash but I'm still in holiday mode so crashed on the sofa all afternoon - maybe tomorrow if work is quiet.

A Wintry Wonderland

 A cold, sunny winters day is a great reason for a meaningless drive. I started at a reasonable 8am and had a great blast down to Goodwood cafe, which I've never been to before (the roof did stay up until just before these pics but was down for the rest of the day):

I caught up with a lovely 911 - I've yet to meet another Porsche driver who drives slowly and this guy was no exception. We had a lovely 5 mile blat together, probably annoying a few Sunday drivers as we flew past them. As before, the 911 pulled away a little on the straights but we were joined at the hip in the corners - great fun.

As I was leaving the cafe, a group of very rich people turned up:

Had a fun drive back to meet up with the Porksters for a brunch, where I was forced into an impromptu and very bad speech:

A chilly but beautiful day to be out - happy holidays to my hordes of fans.

Stormy Surrey Sprint

 Storm Bert has been blowing for the last few days bringing rain, gales and warm temperatures, just in time for my first Tribal Gruppe run.

The run started at a (new to me) cafe and it was an utter blast, literally as well. While the strong winds continued, the rain stopped and my roof stayed down almost all day. The roads were covered with leaves and bits of tree but they were mostly dry and, best of all, the weather warnings kept everyone else off the road; I had the clearest run I've had possibly ever.

The start cafe did a great egg and bacon roll and coffee:

There were about 15 cars, half 911s and the rest Boxsters and Caymans. The pace was pretty decent, helped by the lack of traffic and we kept in convoy to the first stop at another (new to me) cafe and another coffee. Two coffee's in 40 minutes is a bit much for me but I really enjoyed meeting some new people who were all much richer than me but also more my driving type - I covered 150 miles in total today which was great fun.

On the way back to Caffeine and Machine, near Petersfield, we stopped in at Goodwood. I didn't realise you could just drive in and it was weird to park up in the paddocks that I'm used to walking round at the FOS or the Revival:

Last stop was C&M, which had a few other cars but not many. I skipped the coffee but had a good natter with a couple of new guys who I got on really well with.

My drive back was just as good, using a route I've used several times before from that area and it was even better today than normal, with so little traffic around.

Overall,  a great day, much better than I expected and I'll try do some more with the group - I much prefer the variety and longer distance they travel.

I also bought some gummi phlege, a rubber treatment for the trim around the roof, doors etc and applied that today. I'm not sure if it's needed but some of my trim does look a bit past best and with the really cold weather approaching, I thought it might help.

Rumbles in the WA Groups

 Nothing too exciting recently - a couple of weekday lunch runs and a short loop run to a new cafe (Surrey Hills) with the Porkers group. 

I have somehow been given the role of 'Nutcase driver' for the group and am always asked to lead the fast group. I don't feel I'm that bad but I get the impression there have been mutterings behind my back from some of the more cautious members - most of the people went in the 'brisk' group and only 3 of us were in the fast group. The guy who leads the brisk group is pretty quick, so I don't think there is much of a difference but who knows...

What is more sad is that I had a little falling out with the guy who runs the group - he didn't like my funny reply to another member who was asking for advice over a flat battery. There had already been 30+ replies to his flat battery issue, so I had nothing to add, I just made a minor joke, which the member himself laughed at. However, main guy got snotty and really pissed me off...I get the feeling he has never really liked me; maybe because I keep suggesting new things (everyone to use a sat-nav and radios on a run, for example), longer runs to different venues etc. Whatever it is, this was just another nail in the coffin.

It's a shame because most of the others are fine (one other guy is best buds with main man and he also didn't like my comment), although they are a little dull in respect to what to do at weekends - they all seem happy to go to the same pub/cafe 20 minutes down the road, then go home - it's getting boring. Only bright side, boss man is selling his Boxster and, according to his own strict rules, he can't be a member if he doesn't have one :-)

In search of something more interesting, I have joined Performance and Prestige Car Club (bit of a mouthful - I'll use PPCC from now on), which actually cost me £50. However, they are car agnostics - any car is welcome in the group and they seem a little bit more exciting - I have booked on to a 3 day Welsh tour in May with them and while they don't do any weekly runs, they do other stuff through the year. See how it goes...

Also, there is Tribal Gruppe, a Porsche-only club which is incredibly hectic - the organiser (who must be doing this full-time) is planning 20 (!) European road trips next year! They do loads of other runs which are quite professionally-run; you pay a small amount for each run (around £5) and I've booked on one in 2 weeks time, to see how it goes. I get the feeling it will be a slow convoy and crowded car parks but worth a shot.

I quite like the sound of his Euro trips formats; seems that you pay him a small-ish amount and you get a list of hotels and dates which you book up yourself and just get there however you like (I think he might offer routes as well?). Sounds an interesting way to do it - have the day driving to yourself and know you'll have an evening with some like-minded people. I might try one of those....

Finally, my son continues to have bad luck with cars (although he will insist on these super-expensive hypercars) - his C63 cut-out on the way to work, misfiring and hopping down the road. We got it recovered to a MB dealer (my son refuses to do anything cheaper) who diagnosed a blown inlet manifold gasket. A new gasket costs around £20 - the work to replace it? £2,400 !!! Yes, you read that right...his pads and discs were all close to death as well so he had them do those as well - total bill, £3,900 !! Holy Shit! He is now so broke, he has had to SORN the C63 and cancel the insurance until the Spring, to pay for the work. Luckily, my mother-in-law has a garage she does not use, so the car is laid up for the winter.

So now he can't get to work - what does he do? He's done his CBT and bought a 125cc bike!! My wife is petrified and I tried to dissuade him but he is a stubborn git and also an adult - I can't force him not to. Bike has just arrived (he paid £2,400 for it) and I helped him buy some decent gear - I pray I don't live to regret not being more forceful.