https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3eea29b3a0.jpg


https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ne...iata-nd2-dyno/

168hp / 149lb-ft

Matches the Twins with 400 less lbs.

Matches? How bout at 3500 rpm ? Smokes the twins, with 400 lbs less.

Those results are nuts, curious where the SCCA is going to class the ND2.

As if I didn't want an ND enough as is. That's awesome

Seems too fast for CS but too slow for BS. Unless the wheels are wider maybe it'll be ok in BS against the s2ks and slower vettes. Would probably get slaughtered at pros though.

Curious if there's a transmission update to go along with the extra power.

Million dollar question. My guess is no. A well known local STR driver has reportedly broken a gen 4 box.

Meanwhile, our local dealer has a 2019 RF in stock.

Someone should go test drive it and bust the "driving impressions" media embargo. :)

--Ian

By all accounts, little has changed outside of the power increase. It now has roughly the power of a reflashed, exhaust & header equipped ND1. I know what that "feels" like. For those that haven't driven a tuned ND1, use your imagination a bit. The rest is about the same.
I'm assuming the ND2 will respond to tuning about the same as the ND1 so perhaps 185whp on 91. That would be fun.

Maybe 195-200whp with exhaust and E85? That would really be tasty.

At least on our ND1, we didn't see any gains with E85. I think that's the EcuTek software though. Even after attemping to over write the EcuTek install, we never made more than 159whp no matter what we tried.
Seems like others have found the extra power one might expect from corn. In any case, our ND2 won't be flexfuel or mapped for E85. It'll just run on 91 pump.

Interesting, thanks for the info. Really weird no extra power was found.

But from what I understand, the freer flowing the intake/exhaust, the less of a difference E85 makes vs pump.

Beaker price dropped to $23,500.
New Gen 4 trans just installed by dealer.

Details in FS: post a page or so back.

Seems like a prime opportunity for a proven small-market innovator to bring a baller ND sequential transmission solution to market!

Wait, what, you want to sell enough to make money and stay in business while doing so? Pffft

Isn't that what the cup car costs?

Yup, and they still break transmissions too. That's with the $2500 EMCO 3-4 gearset conversion.

I'm gonna be honest. I drove an ND for a bit last week. It was fine. Felt shockingly strong down low.


WARNING: INCOMING HOT TAKE

I like the NC better. Come at me bros.

heresthatattentionyouordered.png

#NCsneedxidastoo

To be fair, I really enjoyed my NC1 as a DD. And now that their is a trim package with limited-slip and the GT goodies, the 135 is likely going bye-bye over the winter.

Ben, Always knew you were broken.

I don't think i'm alone in my sentiments.

I did think the ND was good, though. Seats felt decent, steering was good (though crazy light), shifter felt good, brakes felt good, the car FELT way faster than it was, was super fun to go real slow but feel crazy. Stereo was great.

Interior tripped me out.... the windshield felt about 6" away from my forehead. I had plenty of space physically, but it was a weird perception. Car was wide, cabin felt really short front to back. It was like driving a torquey chode.

I imagine pre-2019 cars are going to depreciate hard after the 2019 is out. I'm already seeing 2016s, even RFs under $20k, which is the point I start to get interested..

They're already depreciating hard, and there's crazy deals on them brand on dealer lots right now. 2016s have been easy to find for under $20k for a year or so now.

I hear goodwinracing is making that happen.

Progress has been slow but we should have prototypes to begin testing pretty soon. Hoping to have the final kits developed, produced and on Goodwins shelf by Q1/19. Goodwin will be the exclusive source for the NC Xida.
No further info available now (so don't ask).

What if we do? What then? <3

You let me know when that's done and i'll come visit you. :) I should visit you before just to say hi, but i'm just saying i would DEFINITELY come visit to check that out. :likecat:

Establish a financing option for sale of such a vehicle as a new car, and you might be surprised.

What price for an ND that kicks ass, takes names, and repeats that process, with the same transmission, over and over,?
Broken shit is broken shit.

I find it somewhat shocking that they are FINALLY listening to the american market, and giving us more power, and yet saying nothing about their current gen transmission which has been shown to be woefully weak with less power.

seriously the only thing stopping me from buying the 949 ND is the transmission issue. I'm super frustrated as a potential ND owner that this didn't get worked out... it basically crosses this car off the list for me on a permanent basis.

FM is making 183 whp on their new ND2 with just a muffler and midpipe change. https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=676090

The first guy to respond, Nataphen, has the hp record for ND1's AFAIK. He is on the Goodwin longtube header and a custom E85 tune, revving to over 7600 and making 180 whp. Yes, different dynos, blah blah.

No one can tune the 19's yet, but those parts gained 16 whp and 8 wtq. I would say the engine is more than a little bit better than the old one, since it is exceeding the factory rating at the wheels, with only two parts. It also makes that power basically at red line.

Once the soft tops become available to test drive somewhere near me, I am definitely trying one out.

An RF passed my on the expressway going home tonight. Man, what a sexy little roller skate!

Not just different dynos. Strangely enough certain places in Colorado have extraordinaily high specific outputs. Not sure if it is the gravitational pull of the Earth or there are pockets of high-density air nestled in certain spots at high altitude.

I see what you did there.

If I remember correctly, those same places are the only locations on earth where a VTCS manifold makes more power than a VICS manifold. Truly a magical place.

And longtube 1 3/4 primary headers make less power than 1 5/8 short tube headers on a cammed ls3 too. What a place!

Instructed a guy with a 2016 Sport this weekend. Lightly modded with suspension, RE-71Rs and full exhaust. Otherwise stock. GREAT CAR! We had a ton of fun. Really nice torque and balance. Has me seriously looking at 2019s. Hornetball's Build #5 or 6 anyone? I see that Emilio has a nice selection of parts for these . . . .

I've been forcing myself to not go check out the '19 one of the dealers in town has.

White, Club, 6 spd manual..........exactly how I'd order one.

I drove a 19 and 18 back to back recently and the 19 is a big improvement. I can't say that it necessarily felt a ton faster, which the test data I've seen seems to support, but the revised engine feels MUCH more "special". The added 500 (700?) RPM to redline is very satisfying and put a smile on my face. Other than the engine, I didn't detect any other changes, e.g. the suspension is still too floppy.

I have 6 months left to pay off my '16 Sport.

I have a '17 Fiat 124 Classica, too. I drive them exactly the same and the ND averages 35 mpg and the 124 averages 30 mpg. The 124 has an intake, intercooler, exhaust, and a tune. It is barely faster than the ND, which is stock. The tunes for the 124 apparently all way overestimate the power gain...

The weak transmission issues are what keeps me from making the ND a track car and keeping the Fiat as a DD. I also would swap the rear ends between the cars. The ND has a 2.9 rear and the Fiat has a 3.4. The ND is geared to do 180+ mph on the top end, so for track work the 3.4 would be much preferred. The Fiat has gobs of low-end torque and the 2.9 would drop the rpm's on the highway a bunch, so that the mpg would improve a lot.

I am really considering trading in both on a new 2019 ND GT, but the smart play would be to wait until the next model year comes out. Mazda might have a cool special edition for the 30th anniversary and some decent paint colors. Fiat also might update the 124. I also really like the Mare Blue Metallic paint that is exclusive to the Fiat...

I still need to test drive a 2019, but I have to drive 5+ hours for that.

I am a mess.

I drove to St. Louis from NM and test drove a cheap, leftover 2018 124 Abarth and a 2019 GTS Miata. I left with the Soul Crystal Red miata. The engine feels much, much better than the old one.

Hi! :D

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c0d777bff1.jpg

Test drove a couple '18's yesterday. Did not gusta the RF. Blind spot, less engaging & visceral with the top down, plus the outboard rib of the top implanted itself in my skull when I closed the top. Overall the RF reminds me of a couple girls I've dated: very hot, but expensive, kind of annoying, and honestly maybe just a little too much junk in the trunk.

Each to their own tho. The ND is gud. Much gud.

WTF is it with new cars and terrible blind spots? I've driven one too and it's not great. Since driven my father in law's BMW X3 and it's SHOCKING. Seems to be a common trend in anything 2016 onwards.

Usefully large mirrors are not aesthetically pleasing in a way which sells brand new cars, and the masses who buy brand new sports cars buy them primarily as a means to show off to other people - as a result, it matters far more what a car looks like from the outside than what the experience is from the inside. Even though Mazda is the most driver-centric value car company out there, their existence still depends largely on marketing those cars to the masses; before you can convince someone to buy your car with a test-drive, you must convince them to take a test drive in the first place.

Also, itsy-bitsy mirrors probably affect the make-believe EPA fuel economy numbers.

We've gotten used to NA and NB miatas. Even my SS has horrible blind spots. A pillar the size of the empire state building. Almost impossible to nail an apex of a corner.

Hm. IME, modern cars actually have significantly larger side mirrors than those of the 90s -- the ones on my 2016 Audi or my wife's 2016 CX-9 provide vastly more field of view than on older cars we've owned.

*sports cars* tend to have small mirrors. The ones on my FD are tiny.

--Ian

The crazy thing is, when you check over your shoulder to check the blind spot in some newer models, there's an enormous pillar in the way. Anyway, whinge over.

I'm still amazed so many people don't know how to adjust their side mirrors.

Public Service Announcement - If I'm driving directly behind you and I can see your face in your side mirror you are doing it wrong.

If you are looking in your side mirror from the driver's seat and you can see any portion of the side of your own vehicle you are doing it wrong (Unless convex and/or towing a trailer).

Side mirrors are for blind spots and changing lanes. They are not for seeing behind you. The inside mirror is for seeing directly behind you and to the left and right behind you.

Properly adjusted mirrors mean that nothing should be able to hide behind a B or C pillar.

https://99percentinvisible.org/app/u...visual-car.jpg

On my track day, my instructor's 1st two items:
1) What have you done for brakes?
2) Move the mirrors out (as Six has demonstrated). Why have we been taught incorrectly for so many years?

Can't given enough cats to Sixshooter for your post.

When I instruct, those two items are always on the pre-flight checklist. I'd say 80% of my students have them adjusted incorrectly. I suspect that more than half of those revert back once they leave the track. Change is hard for people and, I guess, it's comforting to see exactly where the side of your car is.

Yeah, you wouldn't want that 6in of paint to get away from you. Got to keep track of it.

I think a lot of people don't understand the idea of a panoramic view between the three mirrors. I'm traveling down the road and pass a fixed object to the left of my vehicle it will first appear in the outside edge of my left mirror and then shortly after it disappears from the Inside Edge of that left mirror will appear in the left edge of the inside mirror. If you can still see the object in the left-hand mirror when it appears in the inside mirror then your left hand mirror is adjusted inward way too far.