Yeah, but that would be an insane hassle since Canada is 1300 miles away at the closest and good luck convincing my credit union to finance a car from Canada.

So have been meaning to post an overdue update.... I went and drove a 124 (Non Abarth) and a NC PRHT.... Both manual.

The dealer I went to did have 124 abarths, but none of them were manual, so therefore I had to choose and decided to go for the regular 124 with the manual, which I am thinking could have been a mistake as I did not get the exhaust noise, the better suspension, or the extra 4 horsepower. I must say I was not super impressed with it. I am not sure if this is because it was not the abarth version, or what but it just didn't seem to thrill that much. There was definitely nothing low end and I was hoping/expecting the power to come on harder. Again - Maybe the map in the abarth is more aggressive, and the "sport" mode with tighter steering and the better throttle map would make it more exciting. I will need to drive one to be entirely sure. Head room, no matter what I did was bout 1/2" from the top to the top of my head. I could not get the seat to go any lower.

Overall the car felt just OK, not as powerful as I was hoping for, and definitely wished it would have felt more exciting than it did.

Then I drove an NC... Interestingly... I am pretty sure it had the Gordy M seat mod done to it. When I looked at the seat there was a gap between then seat bottom and the back of the seat, which I can only assume means the mod had been done? Can anyone confirm if the stock seat in the lowest setting has a gap between the seat bottom and the back of the seat, or if that means it was modified? I need to see another one to determine if they all have a gap between the seat bottom and the back of the seat but my guess is it was lowered. SO - when I got in that one I had about an inch from my head to the head liner. This was nice. Put the top down and I know these things do not matter, but all things to consider because I don't think I have seen a good way to lower the seats on the ND yet.

The NC drove well and definitely feels (to me) faster than the stock base model Fiat. I am not sure if that is because there is more cabin engine noise in the NC, or because it was more tail happy? Not entirely sure. But it was definitely the more fun car to drive. As of right now I am still (Perhaps even more torn) on what to get. Will have to test drive both again and then make a final decision in the next month or so.

Was really hoping that there would be a moment where one was the clear winner, but I am still waiting for that one to happen. I cannot imagine what the NC would be like with the turbo though.... I assume it would be a drift machine on the stock tires......

Hoping to provide more updates after I drive a manual abarth this upcoming weekend.

Well, the ultimate test of what to get is actually driving the car, so kudos to you for doing your research. While turboing the NC is a great option, just opening up the exhaust on any 124 with GWR stuff should make a big difference. I am not confident of a real ECU tune solution to come out any time soon, though.

What year of NC are you looking at?

Targeting the 2014 -2015 as I really like the Meteor Gray that was only offered in those years and is the same dark gray of the ND cars as well. Like the NC2.5/3 the best in regards to how the front end looks. Looks more S2000 like to me. Targeting to have <40K miles on the car, ideally the lower the better so have been looking at ones from 5K-20k miles mostly.

Agree. The Abarth alone could "become" more exciting when I drive it because it will be louder and with the LSD should be more tail happy. Looking forward to it this weekend and will post back after I have.

Hi All,

Went driving both cars again this weekend and I have decided the NC is just the better fit for me. I did drive a manual abarth, and I just was not super impressed by it. The exhaust to me sounded tinny, and was not a deep as I was hoping for. I think this is part because of the baby 1.4L motor and the small turbo. Even my older NA 1.6 with greddy sounded deeper and better in my opinion.

As for power, I will say it is a moderately quick car, but it really did not have anything low end, and just didnt pull as much as I was hoping for. Also in regards to fit, I just cannot get the seat low enough to make myself comfortable with the top up.

With the NC i drove this weekend, it did not have the Gordy M Seat mod done, but I still fit in it better than I did the fiat. With the Gordy M seat mod done, it will be a night and day difference then. I will be targeting to get a 2014-15 NC and will be turbo-ing it early next year. Will get it tuned by Moto East, and will keep you all updated! I am excited to begin the car search and will hopefully be buying one in Jan!

Sounds like a great plan. The MotoEast guys really seem to know what they are doing. They have an open house every year where you can come chrck out their cars and such and I was impressed by what I saw.

I super regret selling my mint Winning Blue 06 with factory hard top a few months ago. Both for the financial advantages and the 2.5 swaps. Right about the time I traded it in on a '16 was when Goodwin Racing was lying about their header getting near 200 whp on the ND and that is just under what the 2.5 swaps makes in the NC's. So good luck on finding a good NC! I have had two and they are really enjoyable cars.

I like the decision buddy. That NC motor with a turbo is going to have incredible amounts of low end power compared to the Abarth. I think you'll enjoy it way more for a DD. Maybe we'll finally have a turbo Miata face off at autocross next year.

Yeah, that's really disappointing just how much they seem to be fudging the numbers on that.

I really want an ND when I ditch the BRZ, but with transmission "issue" I'm not confident a decent FI setup wouldn't kill it. So I'll probably just get something with a V8 or turbo from the factory.

Oh you mean now that yours is running again :p

I am coming for you.....

Just 2 cents here: You can easily add heated seats to the Miata Club. If you haven't driven the ND... you really should, just to be sure.

The problem is I want to modify for more horsepower... hence tuning the 124 or the NC turbo... and I don't trust the ND transmission with extra power levels until others have proven it. Also I have sat in a few NDs and I have the same problem as the fiat where I just can't get the seat low enough....

What's the tl;dr summary on this lie?

^what he said.

I haven't seen anyone proving them wrong, but I haven't expressly looked either. GWR showed before and after dyno plots on the same dyno.

please do share

Shit went downhill when customers received theirs and weren't getting anywhere near his numbers

For what it's worth the Fiat uses the transmission out of the NC miata, not the ND.

What about torques? I commented that I'd never seen a naturally aspirated motor do 85 ft/lbs per Liter peak on a chassis dyno, much less across a range of RPMs.

^ Having said that, the 80 ft-lbs per liter Shiv got here (scroll to bottom), is impressive. 13:1 compression ratio sure helps

MX-5 Miata Forum - View Single Post - OpenFlash Tech: Testing Theories on the Dynojet

Hopefully he will do some Flex Fuel stuff for it soon. On the BRZ E85 tunes pick up 15-20whp. And I'm sure we'd see the same on the ND.

Was just driving my daughter's '15 PRHT GT. Damn, what a nice car. There's something to be said for buying the last year of a model, refined with all bugs worked out.

I too was disappointed in the 124 that I rented a while back. Engine delivers torque like a diesel (a bunch down low, runs out quick). Had weird rattles. Seemed like a Miata with a body kit.