I'm considering building an NC:

- ~300 whp trackable turbo street car with built 2.3 or 2.5 L
- rollbar for track
- maybe a PRHT?

Advantages to me, in this order:
- chassis rigidity (better NVH)
- displacement
- tire width
- better rear supension geometry?

Cons:
- looks - that hood line, and the headlights, are ugly
- cost of building?


Now my questions are:
- Can the tranny and diff take 250-300 ft-lbs for HPDE's?
- Does it have the crappy gear ratios of the NA/NB 6-speed + 3.9?
- Has anyone installed a full standalone? in parallel? What issues are there? CAN?
- Are there good cooling solutions with AC in place?
- Why don't FM make a turbo kit for it? I'm a bit leery of BEGI fitment issues

 

Rear suspension geometry, being multi-link, is superior. How much better, no-body is really talking, although I'm sure you could find the info. The NC chassis is essentially a shortened RX8. They're also inherently heavier (see good-wins build).




As for tuning, ANY car can run standalone, it's just a matter of how much of a PITA it is to get running. Most of the boys at M.net, are still "flashing" each other.

 

I vote for: Yes, do it
Because I know you can pull it off. And would probably put together a well sorted NC.

And there's nothing wrong with "flashing". I really enjoy tuning modern sophisticated OEM ecu's that have most of the hard work done for you and you just tune the fun parts.

 

If i could afford it, I would. NC is a neat car, and I love the way they look tastefully modded.

For a track car, i'd still stick with na/nb though.

 

OH
Yes
Oh Yah
YES YES YESSSS

Yep, I think it would be a pretty good idea.

 

Another yes here. I'm not crazy about the NC's appearance, but if modded right I think one could look good. And while a bit heavy, they're very nice cars. You get a lot of plush for the extra pounds.

 

The one thing I like about the extra plush is the bigger gains you get when you get rid of all that **** when you end up building a track ****.

I would probably never get the PRHT personally.

 

I'm loving my NC. A few things I've learned second hand. First, a built 2.5 with cams and all the supporting mods gets close to 300whp without the turbo. NC light has 270 whp, and dynotronics is working on a 2.7L variant which should put you right at 300 hp N/A. If you must have a turbo, I would just stick with a built 2.0, or else do a full N/A build for the same money. Flashing the ecu really is like having a standalone. You are just reprogramming the factory maps instead of an MS, it's the best of both worlds. For a track car, I'd be looking at a roll bar and soft top, the prht is heavy. From what I've read, cooling isn't much of an issue. A bigger radiator pretty much does it. The radiator is fitted on an angle similar to the rx7 and the factory ducting is light years better than my NA was. The 6 speeds are supposedly stronger, but I dont know how much. The gearing is also crazy close together. I drive between 3-4k as standard shift points and I shift every 10 mph or so. I'm sure there are beefy gears available though for the 5 speed. Don't know about the diff, but the v8 swap kits are out there making that diff a last resort. All that being said, I really love this car. Same miata spirit, but more refined. It's like a comfy miata for adults rather than the no compromise go kart that my old one was.

 

There is when the "tuners" have no idea what they're doing.

 

The Luddite asks a genuine question:

Does anything similar to RomRaider exist for the NC's ECU?

 

You mean like TUNING DONE RETARDED?


Yes, its called ecutec and they bend you over and penetrate with no lube for the "license" to use it.
If opensource/affordable solution existed for teh NC I'd probably be selling my NB right now.

 

So, that would be a "no," then.

 

I guess that my next ECU question was answered.
No easy-to-tune, on-the-fly tunable, affordable, reflash software.

 

Yes, this is all doable. As for affordable, the delta force tuner is $700. I don't know how it compares to ecutek. Obviously, open source would be great, but I wouldn't say it is going to break the bank either.

 

$700 wouldn't be too bad if it's easy to use, and doesn't waste time while tuning at the dyno.

 

700 is just for the hardware with which you can flash, not the ability to tweak anything.

Like I said, no lube.

 

"Commando Package is the most comprehensive tuning software package for the 2006-2008 NC MX-5 Miata. This software allows YOU access to ALL of the timing, fuel, MAF, torque, throttle, open loop, rev limit, and idle tables/functions. This is what you will need to make the car run reliably with forced induction or for highly modified NA vehicles. It includes the interface box, cable, and software. "

Complete MX5 Miata Tuning Kit- Delta Force Commando Package with FULL SOFTWARE CONTROL for MX5 2006-2008

Not what I think it is? This is on my list of things to buy, but maybe I should reconsider if I can't tweak it myself.

 

The NC chassis is light years ahead of the NA/NB, the top is better, the engine is better, but I don 't know about the transmission or rear diff. DO IT.

 

is it?
how so?

genuinely interested

 

Personally I would want a LS1 RX8 using the v8 roadsters kit, but a 300whp NC, mazdaspeed front bumper, hardtop, wide wheels, AST, and 300 whp NA would be really cool