124 Abarth or NC Turbo?
 

Hi All,

I am looking to get my next car which will be my daily driver. I plan to use the car for Autocrossing 3-5x per year and dont really plan to take it to the track all too much. So I am looking for a fun Street car that I will take to the Auto cross course a few times a year. I was living abroad for the past few years so when I move back will need to get a car. Previously I have had many many different cars
Trans Am WS6, EVO X with 350WHP, Audi S4, 91 Miata Turbo Auto-X car, As well as other Jeeps, etc. Although all were fun for their different reasons, I always loved the turbo miata and the smile it put on my face. So I am looking to get one that does the same thing with some comforts over what the NA had to offer. I would like to mention that there are a few reasons I am not considering the ND. One in particular is that I and my Mrs would like heated seats. So that is a requirement, which would mean I would have to go with the Grand Touring, which does not have a LSD as an option. Hence why the abarth is appealing because I can get factory Recaros that are heated still and will hold me in place better than stock seats.

Therefore the options I am looking at are:

2013-2015 NC Miata PRHT (18-20K)
Turbo, Exhaust, Clutch, Tune. (~8K)
OR
2017 Fiat 124 Abarth (~30K)
Factory Recaros
Tune to get more HP...

Eventually I would also do Wheels, Tires and Suspension to both... But as I would do that to either car I have left it out of the Modification list. Upon my calculations I feel that both will be similar in price to build and therefore it is a very tough choice. I have read every review and comparisons out there but am still not sure which one would be more fun as the 124 is already a turbo, etc.

Curious to get the thoughts and opinions of others out there and which they would go with and why. Thank you to everyone for their responses up front and I am excited to post back in a few months when I finally move back and get one of them.

Fiat 124.

What are your power goals for your next car?
The limitations of the 124 are it's small turbo and intercooler. A tune will help but nothing major.

Honestly, in my opinion, youve already had a turbo Miata, might as well give another platform a shot and see how it works out. The 124 looks very appealing, however as mentioned it does have tiny 1.4l tiny turbo. Go test drive both of them the same day and see how you feel.

I am not super power hungry. I have had cars like the evo with what I feel was too much power for the street. Ideally I would like 200 ish WHP ... Which I think I could get out of the 1.4...

If I put a turbo on the NC I am sure I would be able to easily get 220-240WHP... Just because it would be a bigger motor with a bigger turbo. I think given how light the cars are that ~200WHP will be good for either one.

I also like that 124 comes with back up camera standard (Which I assume eventually will come to the ND) etc. Also think the factory recaros... While not race buckets, will be a benefit when auto-crossing.

I am going to go look at an NC this weekend, and then drive the ND and 124 as well as I will be back in the states.

Open to any opinions from people that have/had turbo NC or driven the 124 abarth.

I think you've already decided, but you need emotional support from the community to back your decision.

I wish I could say I have decided!

Will still try and drive both cars... I want to hear from someone who has an NC turbo.... And could depend if I can get a killer deal on an NC or not... Anyone want to sell their car for cheap in a couple of months? :)

Want an NA? I'll sell it for under your target price but sadly it doesn't have heated seats.


Just decide if you want something old [NC] because you like tinkering and are excited about the project or if you want something brand new and spiffy that is a Miata but with a different power plant, and has the seats you want, and is heated, and can get you to your power requirement relatively easily.

Or just buy the cheapest NC you can find and swap in a L5Y0 2.5L motor for 200hp all motor.

Worlds colliding! Man that'd be full circle if he bought your car with the motor that I helped to drop in it! (2 of the few times :P )
Tyler's first turbo NA was the reason that I built mine!

The big reason I'd pick the NC is that shit happens when you race. More spare parts available for the NC in case you damage panels etc.

Sadly that BP4W roasted and I had to rebuild a new engine as soon as I moved down.

Runs well now though (knocks on wood)

Maybe turning it up to 11 this winter /spring with flex fuel.

(also still rocking A/C parts lol)

Oh yeah :(

Don't knock too hard. Ba dum tiss.

Don't knock too hard. Ba dum tiss.[/QUOTE]

I see what you did there ^ ^ :rofl:

All good responses. I will be looking this weekend and driving all of them hopefully so I will report back.

Key words here: "daily driver" and "Mrs." You haven't mentioned where you live (traffic, weather), what your daily driver duties entail (5 miles roundtrip or 100 miles each way in bumper to bumper traffic and occasional need to transport cargo), whether you plan to ever have kids, how long you normally keep cars for, whether emissions compliance is a necessity, your ability and desire to wrench on cars and how often, whether you or your wife plan to keep any other cars to balance the fleet, etc.

Personally, anything that has aftermarket engine mods pushes it into the toy car category. Some toy cars can be daily driven if you put in enough time, money and effort but I'm not sure your Mrs.' idea of a daily driver is a temperamental toy car. Fun can be had in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some cars that are great in one environment or application are miserable in another. All that being said, I absolutely would not daily drive an aftermarket turbocharged NC where I live given my life circumstances. The Fiat 124 sounds nice. I know that various shops offer canned tunes, downpipes, etc. for the 1.4L MultiAir but the EPA is cracking down on companies that sell such equipment so they may not be available for much longer if at all (the 124 is still new to the scene so most of what's out there is for the 500 Abarth/Dart).

The 124 currently does not have any tuning available for it. Goodwin Racing tried that piggyback thing and it didn't do a thing for them. They are showing 200 wtq with their full exhaust on their very optimistic dyno, though. I just don't think you will see accurate and repeatable 200 whp until a true tuning solution is available.

I have had two NC's and I really liked them. However, buying an older NC means little to no warranty and just an older car overall. I vote for the Abarth, although I don't know if you will be able to actually get one for 30k. The trunk will most definitely be smaller on the 124, if that matters.

You gotta weight the options.
Fiat 124...new w/ warranty...1.4 turbo, probably 30 grand.
Used NC, no warranty, not even close to 30 grand, a lot of aftermarket availability.
As much as I like the 124, the NC would be the best value.

He wants a DD, though, and he would be buying the most expensive of the NC's to get both heated seats and and LSD. The NC's had the suspension package option, which is the only way to get the stock LSD, unless you got a Club model, which doesn't get you his wanted heated seats. The stock NC seats are also shitty and the Recaros would obviously be awesome. If only mild mods are warranted, I would go 124 everytime.

I'm still so pissed that Mazda refuses to offer Recaros in the BBS package here in the US on the ND. The Canadians get them. I would trade in my '16 Sport for a new Club model in a millisecond if the BBS package came with Recaros.

Hi All,

Thank you again for all the replies. I went yesterday and sat in the 124 (although on the wrong side) and it is definitely tight in there. I adjusted the seat forward, backwards, more tilt, less tilt, and I am about 1" from the top when up. Its not bad, but I was hoping for just a touch more. Also found out that you cannot get the Recaro's on that car in the UK... I will be buying this in the US so that doesnt matter for me but was interesting to find out. I was surprised because the miata out here does offer the recaros...

For more information as requested... My daily drive will be 20 minutes with part highway, about 15 miles to work each way and based in NJ. So it is a fairly short commute. Eventually I would get another car (4 door) and likely keep the miata. The Mrs drives a Silverado, so when we need to haul things I can always take that.

This weekend I have found a fiat dealer that has both Abarths in stock as well as a used NC so that I will be able to do a back/back side/side comparison. I am looking forward to driving them both back to back and providing the input back here.

I do agree with all posts about the miata being the better value, just need to see how they drive and which one will fit better for both of us. Looking forward to providing an update back this weekend!

Oh, if you will eventually get another sedan to get to work in, then I would just get teh miata. The 124 seems like much more of a cruiser because of the added sound deadening and modernity and all that over the NC. If you are only wanting a temporary car to get to work in, then get the NC and make it a semi-project. Look up FAB9 and their EFR turbo kit for the NC's for an example of how fun one of those could be.

Can't you get one from Canada?