There hasn't been a lot of activity on here lately, is the site still getting new members, or has new membership sort of fallen off?

 

The problem is its hard to promote.
On other forums you probably could get banned for mentioning another forum.

 

Well, THINK about it.

If you targeted actual V8 Miata Owner / Builders, by unofficial "Counts" I've conducted before on "Other" sites, You'd have about 250-260 Ford V8 Miatas, a dozen Rover / Buick V8s, a half dozen Lexus / Toyota V8s and about 8-10 LSX V8s and a handful of SBC V8s.

Generously speaking, about 300 V8 Miata owners including out of the Country (USA). Conclusion if 300 Forum participants is Not enough for the Forum's purposes, the Question is How do you create "Awareness" of the Forum in "outside" interested parties, even if they're Not V8 Miata owner / builders?

I think that the V8 Miata "Kit" suppliers have much the same questions / problems of creating awareness and thereby effectively expanding their Market potentials too.

Just Thinking out loud.

 

I would venture a guess there are *way* more LS Miatas than you think. I think we'll have done eight here by the time we work through the cars already in the shop and we've sold way more kits to do it yourselfers than we are doing in-house.

 

Sorry Dog's Dad, my numbers were just WAG based on a couple of years of posts and informal counts. I know you guys are workin' hard to get the LSX numbers up!

Keep on, keepin' on!

 

Another issue is many swappers will have already ventured over to Miata.net conversion section. There are probably 20 active posters there and it's been around a while.

Frank

 

There may not be a lot of posters there, but a lot of viewers. My build thread there has had almost 10,000 views already. My (essentially) duplicate build thread on miataturbo.net has about 1,600. I think they get a lot of crossover viewers from the "regular" Miata forum just seeing posts come up in the "new posts" section. Not great for activity here, but good for interest in V8 Miatas in general, as well as generating interest in kits.

That said, this is my first post here. I didn't see a reason to duplicate my build thread again, as it's on miata.net and miataturbo.net. I know that it doesn't help matters here, but it's the truth.

 

Kits don't equal cars. There are guys on miata.net that have been posting about their unfinished build for five years plus.

 

Don't judge us! O wait, you said 5 years, not 5 months

Kits FYI!

 

This is an old thread; but, it's one that I thought I'd bring up, again.

As a new member of this forum, I noticed right away the lacking of activity because there are so few of us. I recognized several listers as those I see on the Miata.net, regularly. This site just concentrates the interest in one place, which means this site is going to be very slow. I'm debating whether to stay on this forum because it duplecates what I already have in my favorites list.

It's debated that kits are being sold in numbers; but, I really doubt the numbers are that great. Sure, one might see a concentration of them, if one is operating a shop that does the swaps; but, I'm betting there aren't that many of them, in the field. We're talking about Miatas, which hold a tiny portion of the automobile market, that are being modified by an even smaller group. Most make upgrades to the original engines, not replace to V8 engines. Of those V8 kits sold, only a portion get completed. As an aircraft kit builder, I know about the finishing aspect. Snags can really throw a wrench into things; and, the project languishes. I know of only three V8 Miatas in my area that are on the road. When I do searches for V8 Miatas for sale, nationwide, I might get lucky and find one. They're just not out there in large numbers. Finding one that meets my wants at a price I can afford is out of the question.

Of course, there can be large numbers of folks who take a look at a site. They might even lurk for a long time and never make that first entry. Those folks do not keep a forum active. When I find a new forum, I'll try it out and see how active it is. Miata.net has remained on my favorites list because it is active and has a nice membership mix that makes it better for an old guy like me. I might keep this one; but, it might become something I check, once in a while, to see if anything has happened that hasn't been posted on Miata.net. Unfortunately, that kind of activity doesn't keep a forum alive.

Edit: I just noted there is one member and one guest looking at the site, right now. Not good for longevity unless one wants a private discussion group.

 

Problem is, very niche market.

Like any forum, its the goal of all users to bring people here to their own little cubby hole on the net.

What hopefully happens is more people become aware of this new site, the content will be rich in information and it will be here, specifically for v8 miata chat forever.

 

I have a forum devoted to lightweight Miatas and see the same thing over there. I might get 2 or 3 people a year who decide to strip their Miatas down and actually need/want to post about it. After a few years I stopped even checking my forum for new posts. There just isn't any activity on it. My V8 Miata was built by someone else (I bought his project) and he didn't have a single picture, post, etc anywhere on the net about it. He just wanted to build it so he did. A big difference between what I do (take hundreds of pictures of a project and create a website and "buzz" about it). Some people just aren't interested at all in the online stuff.

 

I don't post unless I have something new to add or to ask or answer questions. My project car is moving along SLOWLY mainly because of $$$ and the way I'm going about the conversion. I do enjoy finding new postings and hope to see more participation. I would love to see regular postings from Builders and kit makers.....seems to me that it would be in their best interest.

 

Of course, this lack of activity can force the end of a forum when the owner thinks nobody is interested in it.

Some of us are already members of another forum that is very active; so, it can absorb a small niche group like the V8 Miata group because that small group adds to an already good forum. Folks like me who are spoiled by that kind of activity are less apt to stay with one where folks wait until something special happens before an entry is made. Those entries can be few and far between. Truth is, I can find the help and friendship I want at the other forum; so, I'm here just because I wanted to try this new to me forum out. Time will tell how long I'll stay on here; but, it might very well become another forum I've deleted from my favorites list because of the lack of activity, or not the type of folks I want to chat with. Of course, no forum owner wants that kind of thing to happen when it's preferred that the forum grows. With that, it's up to us to make sure there is enough activity to justify keeping it alive. Don't lurk. Be active.