As someone who's been on this forum for a few years now, it appears to me that there's a problem with off-topic posts in Racing and Competition, and it's coming to a head.

In the past, someone occasionally wandered into this forum with a question not strictly relevant to Racing and Competition's charter, but they were generally given a lot of help regardless. These days, though, it seems like a significant proportion of the posts here non-Racing and Competition-relevant questions -- typically the best setup for street driving, "aggressive street driving", "canyon carving", or street racing. Some of the R&C regulars have not reacted well to this influx of off-topic posts -- recently, people have been taking advantage of the opportunity to pile onto the newbie.

I dislike off-topic posts in this forum, but I also dislike what I perceive to be a very disrespectful tone that the R&C community has taken towards them. In my opinion, something should be done about these problems; it will only get worse in the off-season as the real racing and competition season subsides.

I perceive the average post quality on this forum to be declining precipitously, and I'd like to see something done before the signal-to-noise ratio drops below one.

Thoughts?

Steve

 

I haven't noticed any additional off-topic posts. But items not about R&C should go into S2000 Talk. No big deal.

 

Guilty :hi:

I'll say it again: we need a suspension advice forum.
I'll add to it that we need a R&C moderator who actually visits the site more than once a month. I nominate Steve.

 

without prejudice (i've always wanted to write that )

the problem is that there are only a handful of die-hard competitors in here - all of whom know each other personally or have a professional/competitive relationship with each other.

the forum reeks of being a "clique".

if you guys have the experience, why wouldn't you answer my "canyon carving" question? i love my car, i drive it 50K a year, yet circumstances dictate that i can only go to the track 3-4 times a year. does that mean i'm not interested in having the best-handling car? of course not.

not everyone has the time to be obsessed with "racing and competition" as all of you. dare i say, you guys are semi-professionals.

act like it.

 

I would say that most of the "disrespectful" posts have only come after the OP ignored a respectful post.

Personally, I like an unmoderated forum where people can say what they think. If folks jump into shark-infested waters and act like prey, they should expect to get bitten. However, I recognize that is not the general attitude of S2KI as a whole. But if a shark nips are not going to be allowed, then some definite moderation is necessary.

However, I have a slight issue with your poll. I don't (yet, and maybe ever) do "racing and competition", just HPDE track days. Are those off-topic too? It doesn't seem like people generally think so.

 

Instead of pushing people away with the usual "do you know what forum you are in", we should try to answer the question and maybe we can change their minds and/or attitude toward the subject. They are asking here because they perceive that they will get a serious and informed answer, so let's at least give them that curtesy. Worst case the mod can just move the post.

 

I voted "flame away" just for the helluvit.

uttingflamesuiton:

I do feel that the non-R&C posts should just be moved - and yes - many of the responses to those "outside the clique" have been unduly harsh.

It is kind of tough to do a search and get relevant info on the site.

 

I think serious questions on mostly- or semi-relevant topics deserve a thoughtful response here. Examples would be quesitons from HDPE participants asking about R-compound tires, brake pads, suspension setups to improve track handling but still be streetable.

In general those type of questions have gotten decent responses here, but depending on how they're asked and the attitude of the original poster they sometimes draw flames. I'd like to see less flaming and a little more tolerance on these.

Questions on drag racing often wind up in flames. Not sure what to do about those; where else should those questions be asked?

Clearly non-racing, non-track related questions should probably be moved to S2000 Talk.

 

I basically see flaming going to anyone who has any sort of "mods" on their car that is deemed by the R&C clique as "JDM crap." Most of these people are newbies, and buy their stuff because it looks good without thinking of gaining any actual value to improve the performance of the car.

I can understand the frustration from hearing the same questions over and over again, or from someone who's obviously a newbie, but IMO the responses have been a bit harsh. There's no need to have a "holier than thou" attitude...

 

But sometimes the questions are asked and answered in a non-flaming manner and the poster doesn't like the replies. Then it's flame city because it's clear they don't want answers, they want a pat on the back for buying that "JDM crap."