I joined when I was 17, looking to meat other gears heads, and because the name was nice and simple. I actually joined Import Lounge at the same time, but the guys at Import Lounge were way too stuck up their own asses to warrant me staying for any extended period of time.

In terms of technical usefulness IA isn't very good unless you PM the right guru, and if you're looking for an insightful read you're going to be disappointed, as lots of idiots join this site, and post whatever dumb shit floats into their mind.

But if you're looking for a decent, diverse group of people, who share a common interest, and who generally speaking don't take themselves, or their cars too seriously IA has always been one of the best places to start. I've met lots of good people I'm still friends with to this day.