Where are all the NC turbo builds?
What sort of power are people making reliably on stock internals?
I'm thinking about buying a 2.0 sport NC1 for some more civilised road trips with my son and i know the naturally aspirated 160 bhp is just not going to do it for me.

 

Only one or two in the build threads. A few on Miata.net as well. Most using Fab9 EFR kits.

 

Have you driven one? 160hp is plenty to cruise around on road trips and hwys.

nc's are not a popular platform to turbo, a few builds exist mostly on miata.net and most use fab9 tuning stuff.

 

One of the first people to turbo a NC goes by "Guy" on here I believe. He should have a build thread. Was about 10 years ago now I think. The big issue is that up until recently DIY tuning has been a good bit beyond the reach of the home consumer. There are a few remote tuners who tune stock NC ECU's. They don't tend to share knowledge and make iffy statements sometimes on forums. So building turbo hardware without the ECU is a bit of an issue. Then you have that the NC was just not a very loved platform by consumers and the aftermarket. It is slowly getting better, but its still is not great. The ND is a far more inspiring car to the aftermarket crowd so that is where R&D is being done.

Seeps on miata.net has a good thread on DIY tuning. I would start and figure that out.

One of these days I will stumble upon a cheap enough NC. One of these days.

 

For the same cost, I'd be in a Cayman.

 

until it blows up in the track from oil starvation

 

Oil starvation is a thing in nc's too.
I once tried tuning nc's. Bought a cable and all .Once the local sub-dealer of ecutek knew about it, they blocked me of using my stuff. There's a terrible monopoly on tuning nc's, and ecutek dealers are afraid of competition.
They lock tunes and share little to no knowledge on the forums.

 

its a pretty simple mod to fix that. Most already have it done. They are 250k mile engines, especially if it's just a spirited touring car like the OP wants. Steer with the strottle, 300 hp and AC. Yes

 

Caymens are sub $15k for a reliable one?


I think you could easily turbo a NC for sub $10k. $5k for a NC, then $5k for turbo parts.

 

MotoEast has a turbo NC I see around here fairly often. Tha thing is wicked quick.

 

My issue with the NC are two fold

- Turbo manifold options (I would prefer a twin scroll B2 frame on a 2.5)
- ECU. This in and of it self is the largest hurdle which steers me clear of a NC. A turbo manifold can be fabbed up. A emissions friendly ECU (OBD county) or tuning the stock ECU (apart from the single manufacturer) is borderline non-existent.

If there was some proper investment by the aftermarket, One wouldn't need to buy a ~6K turbo kit from Fab9 (or you can ping them to sell just the manifold, however, they only sell a V-band option....)
I haven't look into a turbo NC option in over a year, but chances are not much has changed.

 

P.S Not sure if people will agree or disagree with me, but the NC chassis is leaps and bounds above the NA/NB chassis in terms of everything. Yeah, its slightly heavier, but the suspension geometry, fairly stout drivetrain (the later gearboxes were good for 300+ ft lbs at the wheels), a massive increase in chassis rigidity and better overall ergonomics (I am 6'3 and fit very comfortably in the standard seats).

The market crash when they came out was sort of a death blow :(

 

yeah, the prices are amazing imo. People are scared of cars like that, so drives the price way down.

 

You have seen This link yet?

 

^^ Actually no as I was disheartened a year or so ago and stop visiting miata net around the same time :(

Thanks for the link! From my quick perusing, this looks very promising!

 

Disheartened at m.net, lol. Sounds backwards

 

Yep it is very promising. I have been watching it for a few months and I like what I see. Now to just find a $2k NC test mule.

From what I understand no major changes between 2.0 and 2.5 engine for turbo hardware.

 

I'm actually toying with the idea of an MZR swap in my NA with plans to turbo down the road. Interested in how much power they can take. MZR swap with a turbo is just about the only route I can see to keep a RWD Mazda drivetrain for Street (GTA) or Street Mod (GL)

FYI, Haltech Elite 1500 will now support the full factory CAN output of the NC's OEM ECU making it an option for true standalone duty in an NC. All that's left is manufacturing your own PnP adapter out of a cannibalized OEM ECU.

 

Same head flange between the 2.0 and 2.5 correct?? Also, I hear the 2.5 heads when massaged slightly can yield some proper results??
I would love to get my hands on one of the MZR-R engines. With Indy lights kicking the bucket, I wonder how long before they pop up?? Anyways.....

You are a distributor, correct??