New NC debuted today

Probably everyone is still in a haze, weary eyed trying to pass liscense
tests in the new GT4 but hey ya'all, did you catch that Mazda did the
unvieling today. At 11:30 am central time (US). The intro was pretty cool on
the live feed, little small and hard to see much but cool to witness it
live. The earlier Geneva thread is i ref to this also. Lots of super quality
pics avail thru miata.net. Click on link after the miata of the month link.

Looking forward to reading peoples impressions. I give the exterior a big
thumbs up and the interior a thumbs down topped off by an awful steering
wheel (where did they come up with that? Maybe an old RX3 or something I
don't know.

Can't wait to see it in person. Facts and figures sound good, mainly 46%
increase in torsional rigidity. Personally I 'd take the NB interior
transplanted into the NC if it were possible.

Check it out,
Chris
92BB&T

Chris D'Agnolo wrote:

>
> Looking forward to reading peoples impressions. I give the exterior a big
> thumbs up and the interior a thumbs down topped off by an awful steering
> wheel (where did they come up with that? Maybe an old RX3 or something I
> don't know.

>
> Check it out,
> Chris
> 92BB&T
>
>

I kind of like the exterior, not sure about the wheel arches yet. I
agree with the opinion that the steering wheel looks awful, and that
isn't something that is going to change from seeing it in person. I
think that the stock M1 steering wheel looks awful, but the M2 steering
wheel is as good looking as any airbag-equipped wheel that I have seen.
Hopefully the M2 steering wheel can be fitted to the new model.

The top is my favorite improvement, no more boot to mess with and no
more underside fading when you don't use one. I do wonder how it will
affect rollbar installations.

Pat

On Tue, 01 Mar 2005 13:38:24 GMT, pws > wrote:

>
>The top is my favorite improvement, no more boot to mess with and no
>more underside fading when you don't use one. I do wonder how it will
>affect rollbar installations.
>
>Pat

Looking at this: http://miata.net/news/nc_images/ncother0.jpg I wonder
how one goes about stuffing a turbo in there. There is a bit or room
on the passenger fire wall quarter but the antilock is in the way.
Perhaps there is more room from below.

At least there is not an awful engine cover that appears to be the
rage now.

wrote:

> Looking at this: http://miata.net/news/nc_images/ncother0.jpg I wonder
> how one goes about stuffing a turbo in there. There is a bit or room
> on the passenger fire wall quarter but the antilock is in the way.
> Perhaps there is more room from below.
>
> At least there is not an awful engine cover that appears to be the
> rage now.

It does look very tight in there for installing a turbo or SC, but I
would guess that Flyin' Miata will figure something out.
Is ABS a standard feature for the new model?

Pat

Did you all notice that the engine is set back in a big hole in the
firewall ???

Bruce RED '91

wrote:

>On Tue, 01 Mar 2005 13:38:24 GMT, pws > wrote:
>
>>
>>The top is my favorite improvement, no more boot to mess with and no
>>more underside fading when you don't use one. I do wonder how it will
>>affect rollbar installations.
>>
>>Pat
>
>Looking at this: http://miata.net/news/nc_images/ncother0.jpg I wonder
>how one goes about stuffing a turbo in there. There is a bit or room
>on the passenger fire wall quarter but the antilock is in the way.
>Perhaps there is more room from below.

One thing I see is that the strut brace now seems to have a
triangulated design that actually might do something. I do not
see the plug wires.

Leon

>At least there is not an awful engine cover that appears to be the
>rage now.

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 13:06:01 GMT,
(Leon van Dommelen) wrote:

wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 01 Mar 2005 13:38:24 GMT, pws > wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>The top is my favorite improvement, no more boot to mess with and no
>>>more underside fading when you don't use one. I do wonder how it will
>>>affect rollbar installations.
>>>
>>>Pat
>>
>>Looking at this: http://miata.net/news/nc_images/ncother0.jpg I wonder
>>how one goes about stuffing a turbo in there. There is a bit or room
>>on the passenger fire wall quarter but the antilock is in the way.
>>Perhaps there is more room from below.
>
>One thing I see is that the strut brace now seems to have a
>triangulated design that actually might do something. I do not
>see the plug wires.
>
miatausa.com has a flash movie that shows some cutaways/seethroughs of
the carcass. There is a clear view of diagonal braces from the shock
towers to the firewall. The crush members appear to the lower that on
the current model. I guess they stuck a strong beam under the
windhield and that makes for two trapezoids surrounding the engine
void in the middle.

Plug wires are hidden under the intake manifold "coverrette" The 2
liter is the new corporate Ford box.

The Mazda site also mentions that there is only a single top latch and
a "spring loaded" mechanism that "allows a one handed operation of the
top" so no power assist is required. Looking around hera I see about
75 % women drivers, so I wonder if marketing was doing the research.

wrote:
<snippage>
> The Mazda site also mentions that there is only a single top
latch and
> a "spring loaded" mechanism that "allows a one handed operation
of the
> top" so no power assist is required. Looking around hera I see
about
> 75 % women drivers, so I wonder if marketing was doing the
research.

Hrmmph. I have no problem with "one handed operation" of the top
on my '90. No power assist needed there, thankyouverymuch. <g>

My concern with the new top is how it handles airflow - is it
going to lift up at speed?

--
Iva & Belle.)
'90B Classic Red.)
#3 winkin' Miata who just made it to 100,000 miles this past week
..)

"Iva" > wrote:

wrote:
><snippage>
>> The Mazda site also mentions that there is only a single top
>latch and
>> a "spring loaded" mechanism that "allows a one handed operation
>of the
>> top" so no power assist is required. Looking around hera I see
>about
>> 75 % women drivers, so I wonder if marketing was doing the
>research.
>
>Hrmmph. I have no problem with "one handed operation" of the top
>on my '90. No power assist needed there, thankyouverymuch. <g>
>
>My concern with the new top is how it handles airflow - is it
>going to lift up at speed?

If you flip the car.

Leon

--
Leon van Dommelen Bozo, the White 96 Sebring Miata .)
http://www.dommelen.net/miata
EXIT THE INTERSTATES (Jamie Jensen)

In article >, "Iva" >
wrote:

> My concern with the new top is how it handles airflow - is it
> going to lift up at speed?

I would imagine there's some provision to hold it down when folded.
Perhaps one of Mazda's famous nylon straps with a snap on one end? :-)

--
Lanny Chambers, St. Louis, USA
'94C
the alignment page:
http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html