Have i been gone that long? Where is everyone posting now, cause i have been looking at the GT performance section and it seems like no one posts there anymore.

 

I know man...

 

I think it's because most everything has been posted over the years, post something that has been asked already and you will flamed with learn to use the search feature.

 

The only thing i hate about that is the dates on that information. New products have come out and most of the OLD questions were either lost in the crash or the write ups do not have photos anymore. I have been looking for info on Wide Band set ups and most of the stuff i found is out of date and vague.

 

Interesting question. I think Planeswalker is right that "new" stuff just isn't happening. At first I thought it was because the focus shifted a bit to 5.0s, but I have a 5.0 now as well as my 2005 and traffic isn't all that much more focused.

I really think it's an economy thing. Frankly, I drive LESS nowadays because of gas prices. A fill up in my 5.0 gets me two days of driving, maybe 3 if I take it real easy, so I think ahead a bit when I need to do something else other than commutting. My only other vehicle is a 2008 F150, and it's gas mileage is lucky to be 15-17mpg. I think twice about just taking the car out on some twisty roads and burning gas, well, because I need it to get to work!

So, people drive less, less concern about performance enhancement, fewer traveling to car shows, etc.

The only other thing I can think of is that the newness of the s197 platform is wearing a bit thin. It was so radical in 2005 that things went nuts. 2010 gave us a hint of things to come, then the 5.0 came. Ok, a good driver and minimal mods got you into the 11s at the drag strip, but it's essentially the same car.

We're in one of those "fuel economy is god" modes pushed by the current presidential administration. Depending on the outcome of the next election, that might get worse or better...

Either way, I tend to use these forums now more for information searching and much less for chatting. Somebody, somewhere, has done it, or I've done it and posted about it. Dunno...just my two cents...

 

Dunno what this place was like before since I just signed up. But the topics seem rather mundane for the most part. I really enjoy talking about our Mustang's, no matter the year, and I spend quite a bit of time on forums since I'm medically retired. To me, and this is just a noobs opinion, but this place seems too uptight. Not relaxed. Cars guys talk like car guys and having curse words *'ed out is just ridiculous. Yeah, yeah, there are kids on the site. Who is the guy that thinks kids talk like little angels? They curse worse than adults.

I disagree with the economy comment above. S197forum.com doesn't have any of those issues. If you said something about not driving your car due to gas prices, you'd get flamed for owning a car you can't afford to drive. I knew when I bought my 2011 Mustang GT that I could afford to drive her 10k miles a year at $6 a gallon of gas. It was all part of the purchasing decision where you, dare I say it?, factor in incidentals like fuel, maintenance and insurance.

Let the people express themselves freely and watch the activity go through the roof.

Just my .02. I still like this place. ;-)

 

Eh, not sure I agree Frank. I used to really enjoy S197 because it was irreverant, foul, and full of hard core info. Nowadays, S197 is pretty uptight compared to when it first launched. I usually search it frequently looking for info, but rarely participate. Too many effing knowitalls mucking up threads. Nonetheless, S197 has a very strong social component that thankfully isn't going away, it's just a bit toned down (it was really a knife fight back in the beginning). the fact that someone flames you for any comment on any subject has become tedious. It's becoming a place for internet bullies to stroke themselves off. At 53 I have little tolerance for those idiots.

Funny, this is the most I've commented on a thread in a LONG LONG time. Just might wash the old 2005 today in tribute!!!

 

My thinking is it's a combination of all the above. My thinking was specifically:

1) It's an economy thing: people aren't willing to spend so much money on mods
1a) The cars are getting old enough to the point where now we have to worry about fixing them. I know I just spent $1000 on fixing a shake in the front end. That was my mod money for a while.

2) Some of our top contributors have moved on to the 2010+ mustangs to repeat the vicious mod cycle

3) I think that the casual modder (myself included) over the last 4-5 years has finally reached the level of performance that they were looking to get. Once they hit that mark, the interest in other people's mods kind of fades.

I know I've hit the point where I've done almost everything I wanted to with mods-- my signature can't fit it all anymore. I'd still like to do some engine mods, but I don't want my gas milage to suffer any more than it has. I still check back in the GT performance mods section, but usually the questions are about cams or something else I don't know much about (so I couldn't be any help). Give me a suspension question and I'll jump

 

The thing is, you just have to have a certain sense of humor. There are some who like to argue their points, but at least you can do so and be vocal without censorship, for the most part. I enjoy a good debate every now and then and the rest, well a lot of times, it's just plain funny. Thing is, if you post a thread about something without searching first and showing you've made an effort, you'll get slammed. But if you do search and there's not much info specific to your needs, and you post at least one thread that's relevant....but not quite what you need, you'll get a ton of help from some VERY smart people.

I like this place too though. I wish there were tech sections that are better policed and locked down to tech topics though. Too much wishy-washy BS going on in those areas. I mean really, a thread in the modifications area about a license plate?

I'm not complaining about the place. Just wishing that there was a serious, no BS tech area where threads like, "What exhaust?", "What intake?" and other generalized crap isn't allowed. As it is now, you do a search here for something and you'll get hits from all over the place.

One thing I've noticed over my MANY years of Internet forum participation, as admin, moderator and so on, is that almost every computer and automotive site that ends up allowing topics to be posted all over the place ends up dead. And then, censoring kills a place too. Just MHO and NOT trying to offend anyone here. These are just the initial impressions of a new guy here. Not meant to be critical of the staff or anything else.

-Tom

 

I definitely agree with you. I think there's a place for those "What exhaust?" threads, they definitely help people out who are shopping around, but I think it'd be to everyone's benefit to have a separate place for serious tech talk. I wish we had better archiving and lockdown of very useful threads. How many times have we had some really good ones that took a lot of debate, technical discussion, and research, only to get lost in the wash because they were too old? And then people do a search, can't find it and start a new one? I wish we did more comprehensive stickies and how-to guides. Seriously, how many new threads are we going to get about the door panels peeling?

I'm not complaining about the site or its contributors either. This is a great community. But I think we could all do a better job of managing the info on this site to make it better for everyone.

 

I has been years since I first joined this site. (back when it was still bradbarnett.net) It was awesome to me how friendly everyone was no matter how stupid your question. (and believe me I had some dumb ones) Or wether or not you even knew there was a search function. I have visited other sites since, but always stayed here because it was so friendly. I have learned so much since then, and have even a few times been able to repay some of the friendly information that has been given to me over all these years.

It is very sad to see the site's active members dwindle, and unfortunately some of its friendliness as well. I have no idea why things have changed, but hope that it is just temporary.

I do however feel that it is still a great site and hope to continue to enjoy it for years to come.