Cruise (automotive)
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A cruise is a meeting of car enthusiasts in a predetermined location, organised predominantly through the internet (in recent times) but also through mobile phone, word of mouth or simply by a cruise being established enough that it becomes a regular event.
There are 2 major types of cruise, regular and one off cruises. A one off cruise is an event organised by a particular group of people or club which would usually be advertised through cruise websites with either a date and place so people can turn up at their own leisure or convoy only where only convoy leaders know the location of the cruise in an attempt to keep the cruise unknown to the police until there are a large enough number of people at the cruise to make it difficult to disperse. One off cruises tend to be larger than all but the largest regular cruises and often have magazine attendance. Recent examples of this type of cruise are The Full Monty cruise in Sheffield and Bankrupt cruise in Leeds. This type of cruise is in the ascendancy in recent times due to increased police interest in regular cruises.
Regular cruises are as previously stated, a cruise which has established itself enough so people just know when and where it is and turn up regularly. These cruises are not usually organised by anyone in particular, or the original organisers are no longer part of the scene. An example of this type of cruise is Ponty (Pontefract) cruise which is rumoured to have been running for over a decade and is unconnected to the website of the same name.
Regardless of the type of cruise the events that take place are similar, cars park up or cruise (drive slowly) around the car park while people socialise, often meeting people from cruise websites, show off their cars and admire other people's cars. If there is enough space there are often drag races, burnouts; spinning a car's tyres intentionally in order to produce smoke and doughnuts; forcing a car to lose traction and slide in a circular motion.
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[edit] Locations
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This article or section deals primarily with the United Kingdom and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page. |
Cruises are held all across the UK, from Newcastle and Pontefract in the North, to Brighton and Southend on the south coast and are generally held in retail parks due to the large open car parks, needed to accommodate attendances as high as 500+ cars, found at such places or on the seafront at coastal cruises. Most cruise locations are also in close proximity to fast food restaurants such as McDonald's or Burger King.
Cruising seems to be more prevalent in smaller cities and towns, reasons for this include a greater reliance on cars due to distances to be travelled, less police interference and less alternative forms of entertainment.
[edit] Cruisers
Cruisers in general are young men who drive 'modified' cars. Modifications can take many forms including bodykits and In Car Entertainment (ICE) as represented by the likes of Max Power and Fast Car magazines, motorsport influenced modifications such as engine tuning, roll cages, race seats and harnesses, and "Euro" styling where the emphasis is on a smooth, low look with small wide wheels. Influences are also drawn from the US "import tuning" and Japanese D1 (drifting) styles.
Aside from the modified car drivers found at cruises there are several other groups which can be found at most cruises. Highly tuned, high performance cars are usually present, mainly owned by the older cruiser which differ from motorsport inspired modified cars by their sole focus on performance and that they began life as an expensive sport car as opposed to being modified to become one. Local young teens often attend cruises en masse riding 50cc scooters; these are seen as the poor relatives of the cruise scene and are generally looked down on. As a stark contrast to the typical bodykitted small engined hatch which attempts to look fast whilst being slow there are also cruisers who prefer to have the exact opposite. Typical cars of this type would be such as the Uno Turbo, a 2.0 16v Nova or any old car with a large new engine.
Cruisers are not necessarily "boy racers", this term originally referred to a person who drove in an irresponsible manner but has been extended to almost any young, hot hatch or modified car driver.
[edit] Cars
Alongside the stereotypical warm and hot hatches favoured by cruisers sports saloons and coupes are popular with the more mature cruiser where insurance is less prohibitive.
Example hot hatches -
- Ford Fiesta Zetec S
- Citroën Saxo VTS
- Volkswagen Lupo GTi
- Suzuki Swift GTi
- Peugeot 205 GTI
- Vauxhall Nova GSi
Example sports saloons/coupes -
Cruise cars have a particular life span, the newest models will be very rare at cruises until they reach a price point where the average cruiser can afford them, then on becoming cheaper and more common, modified examples will begin to appear. Eventually newer models will reach the first stage in the life span and the older models will reduce in numbers. This life cycle can be observed in the drastic reduction in the number of Vauxhall Novas at cruises in the past five years and the increase in Corsas and Citroën Saxos. After becoming rare enough, particularly good cars of an older era can become highly respected again such as the Escort RS Turbo and Peugeot 205 GTI.
Externally from the life span, the popularity of any model can be greatly increased by a successful "hot" derivative as seen with the number of base model Citroën Saxos due to the success of the warm VTR model and hot VTS model.
[edit] Cruising and the law
Although cruising is not a crime in itself there are many illegal activities associated with it and as such cruises are often monitored by the police or even closed. The most commonly cited reasons for breaking up cruises are breach of the peace, caused by loud exhausts and sound systems disturbing local residents and dangerous driving i.e. racing, burnouts and doughnuts. Police also claim that cruises are used as cover for drug dealing and are attended by stolen or otherwise illegal cars. More recently police have been using ASBO laws which enable them to seize and impound cars if anti-social behaviour is taking place or if a group refuses to disperse from an area.
As a result of increased police powers legal cruises have been established such as Weston Wheels, although these tend to resemble car shows with camping, music stages and trade stalls and as such do not satisfy the desires of most cruisers so illegal cruising continues.
[edit] Websites
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Since the internet became universally available numerous cruise websites have been established. They tend to be geographically based i.e. www.kernow-kruz.co.uk, Cornwall's biggest cruise site and forum www.strathycruise.com, www.leedscruize.co.uk and www.sheffcruise.co.uk, although now as most cities and towns have a site many are opting for non geographical names such as www.cruisinuk.co.uk, yet they tend to remain geographical in membership competing with the other website in their area. The sites are always based around a forum where cruises are advertised and people socialise, discuss cars and cruising.
[edit] By Country
[edit] Australia
www.CruisingBrisbane.com
www.boostcruising.com
[edit] United Kingdom
www.cruise-herts.net
www.maidenheadcarclub.co.uk
www.kernow-kruz.co.uk
www.strathycruise.com
www.leedscruize.co.uk
www.scotcruise.com
[edit] Magazines
Cruising and modifying have long been represented in the commercial magazines Max Power, Fast Car Magazine and Redline, which review the latest cars, modifying products, cruises and feature modified cars and other lifestyle articles. Max Power is so synonymous with cruising and modifying that an outrageously styled modified car is often referred to as a "Max Power" car. This is often a derogatory term on similar lines to the American "ricer". It is interesting to note that recently (mid 2006) Max Power, the magazine that brought cruises to the forefront, have abandoned the scene they so successfully built prefering to now concentrate on "dream" cars such as £100,000 Nissan Skylines and other luxurious models that your average modified car enthusiast cannot afford. Long time rival FastCar has however picked up where Max Power left off and now covers multiple cruises across the UK in each edition of their magazine.
[edit] Cruising Events
[edit] Cruise for charity - Dumbarton 2005
Cruise for charity was an event held in 2005 by cruisers in Helensburgh, Dumbarton, and the West of Scotland
It was held to raise funds for the CHAS - Childrens Hospice association Scotland in Balloch, West Dunbartonshire, West Dunbartonshire, the event raised over £2000 british pounds, well above target.
The event was also in car magazines, including Fast Car, and Fast & Modified Scotland
The main groups of people who help to do the event where from : Lomond Cruise (closed Jan 2006), West Cruise, Cruise Ayrshire
The cruise was advertised on Your Radio, Clyde 1 and Beat 106 (now Xfm Scotland)
A website was set up cruiseforcharity.co.uk however is now redirecting to vauxhallworld.co.uk
A 2006 Event is not planned yet.
[edit] External links
Cruise-Herts.net Car enthusiasts website for Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
CruisingBrisbane.com car enthusiast website for Brisbane, Australia
