The RX8 is so dang fun to drive though! I actually really enjoy that you can rip around and not be fighting for traction everywhere ya go. Zoom zoom baby
@@IronicTonic8 definitely. And on a tight windy road I’d rather have that than a fancy supercharged V8 😆 These are meant to be pushed which makes them so fun. 👍🏻👍🏻
I'm really eager to see what you decide to do with the NC. I have an NC3 with header, midpipe, exhaust, tune. I'm very happy with the car, but have been very curious to see what a 2.5 w cams would feel like. I'm very interested in making that move, but would want assurance that it would be a significant improvement. What are your thoughts? Are you considering that route?
@@kurtnebiker8319 that route is definitely a consideration especially given the cost and availability of engines. I’m anxious to see how @nappmotorsports is making out with his car!
Take a look at the Fab9 intake manifold. I recently installed it on my personal NC3 and it's showing 10+ whp gains over the stock manifold. Best of all, you can swap it straight over to the 2.5 engine if you go that route in the future :D
I hope we tuned this! Take a look at our “Scalpel” 2.4L rotating assembly for the fusion 2.5L. Just cams and a 2.5 would put this thing on another level.
Great video you two .... That hard top NC sure looks good in black .... I'm thinking of getting me an NC myself here pretty quick .... They look like such a fun car to drive .... I've wanted another sports car ever since I sold my 99 Porsche Boxster.
I have always wanted to put a 07K in my NC. The 07K is an Audi 5 cylinder that is literally half of the gallardo engine. It even uses the same header LOL. They are great motors that you can pick up for around $700 to $900. It sounds so rowdy, and its become a popular swap for the Porsche 944 because its still very compact.
I just ran into (figuratively) Matt going home from work on Mines road. I have the red ND Club. I was going to stop to say hello when Matt turned into a side street, but was in a rush. Matt's NC looks awesome set low with those fat grippy tires.
@@TheSlipAngle Keep up the content on your excellent channel! You guys should get wider recognition. I'll probably run into you again sometime as I'm in the Miata club and auto cross LIme Rock occasionally.
How is the nc sound at high way cruising with the new exhaust? Any drone? I have a super q with the resonated and catted pipe from Goodwin racing considering a header, but don’t want it to be too loud
What exhaust system do you have on the rx8 now? What is the titanium exhaust from? Just got a r magic titanium quad exhaust and haven’t installed it yet. What weight different you expecting?
Just replaced an exhaust header with a BBR one + aftermarket backbox on my 2.0 NC2. What tune do you guys suggest? Versatune, Ecutek, MazdaEdit, RomDrop, other?
Big RX8 fan, drove one recently and loved it. Having sold my track RS3 when I moved O/S I'm confident i have found my cheap and cheerful track day car. Plus, if you bin it your not flushing 50k down the toilet
maybe a k24 swap in the nc would be perfect for reliability and power and with the new k power industries swap making it feel like oem would be the ultimate combo but the only thing is that it doesn't come cheap
Even without owning an NC I went down the 2.5 rabbit hole out of curiosity. Was definitely a lot of back and forth on one of the forums regarding power expectations. I think the real question boils down to, are you modifying for fun, or aiming for a result? If you're modifying for fun, then no cost is too expensive, because you're not racing or tallying up the receipts at the end, you just have something that is better than when you started. But if you're after a result, you don't ask "How can I make slow NC fast?", you instead ask "What other FR cars of a certain power to weight ratio that are still fun to drive exist for the money that I would spend making the NC fast?".
@@TheSlipAngle Don't get me wrong, still here for the NC mods journey! I do think that from the "result" standpoint though, it's definitely the way to go to get "bang for buck" when it comes to a car that was already designed to be affordable.
2.5 swap. Right about the power NC should have come with. Very entertaining. Stage 3 or 4 cams. Wicked easy swap and cheap if you do your homework. (Get RX8 front hubs also lol)
Not even close. It would be 10K+ to built a K swapped NC. A 2.5 swap with cams and tune would make more than a stock K24 and cost 1/3 the K swap. People have tuned the 2.5 to around 220-250HP.
@@jjchockey As someone who currently drives a built high comp 2.5, it is barely faster than a stock K24. Sorry to burst your bubble, but a 2.5 swap with cams is not beating a stock k24. The stock 2.5 head and intake manifold are huge restrictions going above 230whp even on the built motors.
@@bruce_son that’s literally my point. It makes the same power as a stock K24 and costs 4X as much. With a good tune, header, cam the 2.5 will outperform a stock K24.
@@jjchockey my 2.5 is on 12.5:1 CR with a 1mm overbore and it makes 220whp. Not a cheap engine build either. The k24 will do 215hp stock with greater reliability. We won’t talk about how easy it is to make more power with the K once you start modifying them. A 2.5 with cams realistically only makes around 190-195hp which isn’t even close to the k24. The swap is expensive but the largest cost is the haltech ecu and harness
@TheSlipAngle g'day mate, 2.0L, 1mm off the head (11.8/12:1ish), mild port clean up, stock valves, HD springs and BC cams- 260/257°, .397/.347" lift( lumpy idle with stock inlet manifold), BBR 45mm itbs, obx 4-1, roadstersport 2.5" system. 160lbft@ 4300, 140lbft+ from 2200-6200
@@TheSlipAnglewith stock pistons, you can't get a whole lot of cam into a 2.5. 205-210 whp is about the limit with a stock head, the biggest cams you can fit with stock pistons. Add pistons and the bigger cams, 225-230 whp is on the table. That's the limit until you start doing headwork.
@@TheSlipAngle unfortunately no. If you search youtube carwow itb MX5 they have one tuned by BBR with 239 hp crank and 285 Nm crank. There is also a channel Circuit Driver and they have a NC1 2.0 with BBR ITBs with 212hp crank and independent dyno. You can check them out. ITBs are more for response and theatre/ drama/sound but isn’t this what we miss in todays performance cars?
@@TheSlipAngle you won't find one, because it doesn't exist. We did a back to back to back to back dyno of the "deepmotor" manifold vs the stocker vs the new Fab9 manifold. Deepmotor easily the worst at all points on the powerband. I had my personal NC on the dyno last friday with a very similar setup to yours - Skunk2 header, stock midpipe and muffler, and the Fab9 intake manifold. It made 160 whp through the stock airbox, 163 whp with an AEM style intake, and 165 whp with a 68mm throttle body / full 3" intake - all SAE corrected / Dynojet numbers. I also realized after the session that I had inadvertently capped my ignition timing at 23* advance on the top end, so easily another 5-7 whp with more timing and a catback exhaust. Your car is almost certainly in the 150-155 whp range. I may try to grab a set of BBR ITBS to do a comparison with as well, but I suspect they won't make an improvement worth the extra $1500 + tuning headaches that come with it. And of course, said manifold makes great power on all 2.5 flavors we've tested it on as well, from stock cams, to mild cams, to high compression motors with wild cams. If you're interested, let me know. We're expecting our first stock in a few weeks here, but perhaps I can dig up one for you early.
@@TheSlipAngleyou don't want that manifold, it is for turbo only and the welding on it isn't great. I had both NA and FI, worked like crack without a turbo, but when I did add one, it sounded great and performed flawlessly. Personally I had no issues with it but many have reported the welds at the flange crack causing vacuum leak. By the way 2.4L scalpel kit from fab 9 is what you want and be sure to grab thier new intake manifold too, has proven results 💪
I don’t understand why hide the tuning company when it’s clearly Fab9? Did they tell yall to take a hike when you asked for an advocate discount or something?
Do an honest review of a 2.5 swap in the NC, not just about the minimal gains in actual hp, more about the gain added in the area under the curve and daily drivablility Finding legit info on these swaps is problematic, google says anywhere from 170hp tuned with a exhaust, to 220 with cams, but, nothing really about torque gains throughout the rev range I've got a NC1 daily with full exhaust and tune on it, and whilst it is better than stock, I'm considering a 2.5 swap for more midrange, probably some cams as well "while were in there" I have been told that aftermarket cams on the 2.0 is actually not that big of a gain for the outlay when back to back testing Mark, Australia Cheers
Rotrex the NC? Feels NAish Drove a 300whp EFR Fab 9 setup extensively… the chassis can definitely handle the power. I’d personally do the BBR 200 package and call it.
@@markthibault8579 2.5 swap has not been ruled out. This car is a daily driver so the extra torque would be very useful. Gotta do something about making it fun to rev at the same time though.
Exactly, why would you buy a car that is supposed to be about the feel and driving experience and put such a shit engine in just for tiny bit of extra torque. Oh but it’s $300…who gives a shit!
@@tigerrider6711 Most swap in cams during the swap to bring back the top end feel. I've driven a stock cammed 2.5 NC and the driving excitement is absolutely still there and the torque at corner exit dumps all over my 2.0.
The RX8 is so dang fun to drive though! I actually really enjoy that you can rip around and not be fighting for traction everywhere ya go. Zoom zoom baby
Yeah, I love being able to go WOT 90% of the time in the RX8. It's the slow car fast mentality.
@@IronicTonic8 definitely. And on a tight windy road I’d rather have that than a fancy supercharged V8 😆 These are meant to be pushed which makes them so fun. 👍🏻👍🏻
@@PNWArmsAdventurer I take detours all the time to hit the windy roads :)
This series is going to be FIRE. Glad to see the everyday heroes out there in real-world conditions. Bolt-on Mazdas need comparative testing too!
Those RPF1's are timeless.
@@sheruwalia7450 + light & strong!
@@TheSlipAngle Them SA5's still a thing?
There will always be something fun about slow car fast
@@TexasVexes agreed! We like fast cars as well!
That's why i have 2 nc ❤❤❤
Great video, we need more NC content!! 😎
@@WatchFastForward more NC content is on the way!
I just picked up a nc1 6 speed lsd with a bad engine that I’ll be 2.5 swapping & cammed soon and I can’t wait to get started.
I LOVE the slow car battle! Racing in traffic and getting passed by people who don't know they're racing is pure Mazda fan boi! 🖤
I'm really eager to see what you decide to do with the NC. I have an NC3 with header, midpipe, exhaust, tune. I'm very happy with the car, but have been very curious to see what a 2.5 w cams would feel like. I'm very interested in making that move, but would want assurance that it would be a significant improvement. What are your thoughts? Are you considering that route?
@@kurtnebiker8319 that route is definitely a consideration especially given the cost and availability of engines. I’m anxious to see how @nappmotorsports is making out with his car!
Take a look at the Fab9 intake manifold. I recently installed it on my personal NC3 and it's showing 10+ whp gains over the stock manifold. Best of all, you can swap it straight over to the 2.5 engine if you go that route in the future :D
@TheSlipAngle one more thing to consider is the 2.5 scalpel kit. Revs higher
That's the meanest NC I have ever seen 😎
@@MikeRaymond91 thank you, but there are a lot of cooler ones out there!
I hope we tuned this! Take a look at our “Scalpel” 2.4L rotating assembly for the fusion 2.5L. Just cams and a 2.5 would put this thing on another level.
Hey Fab, you should send them your new elite intake manifold to show off for everyone!
2.5 swap, cams, and lightweight flywheel you win
@@BitcoinTo150K it may be the best bang for buck… I’d like to drive one to get a feel for that
A 2.5 without cams is terrible so cams is a must. A standard 2.5 feels truckish.
Love the incremental testing and both cars look sharp! But the NC will always be "little brother" 😉
#TheSuperiorChassis
#BrapBrap
@@BushidoDriver the RX8 was a Halo car at the time for sure!
Great video you two .... That hard top NC sure looks good in black .... I'm thinking of getting me an NC myself here pretty quick .... They look like such a fun car to drive .... I've wanted another sports car ever since I sold my 99 Porsche Boxster.
@@Riley_1955 I’m a fan of the PRHT NC2 or 3 especially…
I have always wanted to put a 07K in my NC. The 07K is an Audi 5 cylinder that is literally half of the gallardo engine. It even uses the same header LOL. They are great motors that you can pick up for around $700 to $900.
It sounds so rowdy, and its become a popular swap for the Porsche 944 because its still very compact.
A 5 cylinder in an NC would be so awesome. That sound.
There's no replacement for displacement. Unless it's a rotary!
I just ran into (figuratively) Matt going home from work on Mines road. I have the red ND Club. I was going to stop to say hello when Matt turned into a side street, but was in a rush. Matt's NC looks awesome set low with those fat grippy tires.
@@mikeb9569 hey there!! I pulled off onto the side street to pull over and say hello! Nice running into you! Keep going sideways in that ND!
@@TheSlipAngle Keep up the content on your excellent channel! You guys should get wider recognition. I'll probably run into you again sometime as I'm in the Miata club and auto cross LIme Rock occasionally.
Definatelly forced induction on the NC! If it blows, different power plant! :) Awesome stuff
Recently drove a V6 RAV4 that absolutely smokes my heavily modified VVT swapped miata… great feeling.
The v6 3rd gen ravs are sleepers for sure. There's a guy who has built a turbocharged iteration. It's insane
We bought one of those new and the trunk/rear suspension sounded like you were thumping an empty laundry detergent bottle every time you hit a bump.
@@ricepony33 not surprising lol
How is the nc sound at high way cruising with the new exhaust? Any drone? I have a super q with the resonated and catted pipe from Goodwin racing considering a header, but don’t want it to be too loud
Really pleasant!
What exhaust system do you have on the rx8 now? What is the titanium exhaust from? Just got a r magic titanium quad exhaust and haven’t installed it yet. What weight different you expecting?
Love it.
Just replaced an exhaust header with a BBR one + aftermarket backbox on my 2.0 NC2. What tune do you guys suggest? Versatune, Ecutek, MazdaEdit, RomDrop, other?
@@MiataTrips this has got a hooker header and Versatune currently
Finally, been waiting forever! :) happy to have more nc! ❤😊
Big RX8 fan, drove one recently and loved it. Having sold my track RS3 when I moved O/S I'm confident i have found my cheap and cheerful track day car. Plus, if you bin it your not flushing 50k down the toilet
maybe a k24 swap in the nc would be perfect for reliability and power and with the new k power industries swap making it feel like oem would be the ultimate combo but the only thing is that it doesn't come cheap
@@ronaldkrijnen1911 it is a really nice & complete bolt on kit but it’s a tough call at the price.
When is the track battle going to happen with the rx8 vs Miata?? Do it!
Awesome
Slow speed, max fun? What a series.
Even without owning an NC I went down the 2.5 rabbit hole out of curiosity. Was definitely a lot of back and forth on one of the forums regarding power expectations.
I think the real question boils down to, are you modifying for fun, or aiming for a result? If you're modifying for fun, then no cost is too expensive, because you're not racing or tallying up the receipts at the end, you just have something that is better than when you started. But if you're after a result, you don't ask "How can I make slow NC fast?", you instead ask "What other FR cars of a certain power to weight ratio that are still fun to drive exist for the money that I would spend making the NC fast?".
True question
@@TheSlipAngle Don't get me wrong, still here for the NC mods journey! I do think that from the "result" standpoint though, it's definitely the way to go to get "bang for buck" when it comes to a car that was already designed to be affordable.
Off topic but is there a playlist for gr8 daily..I’d like to follow the build from the start
There's not unfortunately. You can go back in our videos chronologically for now. We can look at making a playlist for it sometime.
2.5 swap. Right about the power NC should have come with. Very entertaining. Stage 3 or 4 cams. Wicked easy swap and cheap if you do your homework. (Get RX8 front hubs also lol)
@@brianharnish2503 RX8 hubs were the first thing I did actually. Didn’t want to risk a 100k mile NC on track without them.
What visual mods do you have done on the outside of the rx8? and could you tell me the names :)
KDIV Burnout Lip Kit, Advan TC-4 Wheels, Ganador Mirrors
K swap would make probably make the most sense(cost to Hp wise). Specially if you were able to get some sponsors and did the work yourselves
Not even close. It would be 10K+ to built a K swapped NC. A 2.5 swap with cams and tune would make more than a stock K24 and cost 1/3 the K swap. People have tuned the 2.5 to around 220-250HP.
@@jjchockey As someone who currently drives a built high comp 2.5, it is barely faster than a stock K24. Sorry to burst your bubble, but a 2.5 swap with cams is not beating a stock k24. The stock 2.5 head and intake manifold are huge restrictions going above 230whp even on the built motors.
K is the best swap option, however it's extremely expensive. Just the K Miata kit alone is 10K
@@bruce_son that’s literally my point. It makes the same power as a stock K24 and costs 4X as much. With a good tune, header, cam the 2.5 will outperform a stock K24.
@@jjchockey my 2.5 is on 12.5:1 CR with a 1mm overbore and it makes 220whp. Not a cheap engine build either. The k24 will do 215hp stock with greater reliability. We won’t talk about how easy it is to make more power with the K once you start modifying them. A 2.5 with cams realistically only makes around 190-195hp which isn’t even close to the k24.
The swap is expensive but the largest cost is the haltech ecu and harness
Built my nc similar to Quinns nb, head ported and shaved, cams, itbs, exhaust, stock bottom end. 240 crank hp at 7500, flat torque curve
@@mattshort9393 2.0 or 2.5? How much did you take off the head? Very interested in seeing your build…
@TheSlipAngle g'day mate, 2.0L, 1mm off the head (11.8/12:1ish), mild port clean up, stock valves, HD springs and BC cams- 260/257°, .397/.347" lift( lumpy idle with stock inlet manifold), BBR 45mm itbs, obx 4-1, roadstersport 2.5" system. 160lbft@ 4300, 140lbft+ from 2200-6200
Also has exedy HD clutch, light flywheel, 3.7 diff, front roll bar, slotted rotors, coilovers -2° all round and 17x7s with federal rsrr 225/45s
The NC might actually be on-par, but the RX8 revs higher, giving it a tempo advantage.
Get some BBR cams for the NC and a proper dyno tune!!! It’s gonna smoke the RX8
@@KonKnd that would probably be all it needs
I'm having a hard time getting the scale of speed. Can you race a honda fit next to them? 😅
lol the scale is SLOW
The NC guy should add a supercharger. Maybe a GT wing as well
@@Carlos.Rivera a rotrex kit is a possibility…
2.5 swap and cam it. There's also a 2.4 bottom end kit if you really need more revs. Comes in about half the cost of a K swap.
2.5 with cams, BBR ITBs & Ecutek tune to standard ECU
@@Boozna do you know what that would put down to the wheels?
@@TheSlipAnglewith stock pistons, you can't get a whole lot of cam into a 2.5. 205-210 whp is about the limit with a stock head, the biggest cams you can fit with stock pistons. Add pistons and the bigger cams, 225-230 whp is on the table. That's the limit until you start doing headwork.
@@TheSlipAngle unfortunately no. If you search youtube carwow itb MX5 they have one tuned by BBR with 239 hp crank and 285 Nm crank. There is also a channel Circuit Driver and they have a NC1 2.0 with BBR ITBs with 212hp crank and independent dyno. You can check them out. ITBs are more for response and theatre/ drama/sound but isn’t this what we miss in todays performance cars?
Deepmotor 70mm Aluminum Intake manifold. Selling on eBay for $350. Dollars you think it would make more power?
@@rigo3923 I’ve looked at these, I would be likely to jump on it with some dyno proven results.
@@TheSlipAngle you won't find one, because it doesn't exist. We did a back to back to back to back dyno of the "deepmotor" manifold vs the stocker vs the new Fab9 manifold. Deepmotor easily the worst at all points on the powerband.
I had my personal NC on the dyno last friday with a very similar setup to yours - Skunk2 header, stock midpipe and muffler, and the Fab9 intake manifold. It made 160 whp through the stock airbox, 163 whp with an AEM style intake, and 165 whp with a 68mm throttle body / full 3" intake - all SAE corrected / Dynojet numbers. I also realized after the session that I had inadvertently capped my ignition timing at 23* advance on the top end, so easily another 5-7 whp with more timing and a catback exhaust. Your car is almost certainly in the 150-155 whp range.
I may try to grab a set of BBR ITBS to do a comparison with as well, but I suspect they won't make an improvement worth the extra $1500 + tuning headaches that come with it.
And of course, said manifold makes great power on all 2.5 flavors we've tested it on as well, from stock cams, to mild cams, to high compression motors with wild cams.
If you're interested, let me know. We're expecting our first stock in a few weeks here, but perhaps I can dig up one for you early.
@@TheSlipAngleyou don't want that manifold, it is for turbo only and the welding on it isn't great. I had both NA and FI, worked like crack without a turbo, but when I did add one, it sounded great and performed flawlessly. Personally I had no issues with it but many have reported the welds at the flange crack causing vacuum leak.
By the way 2.4L scalpel kit from fab 9 is what you want and be sure to grab thier new intake manifold too, has proven results 💪
turbo ecotec swap would be killer
Destroked 2.5
@@nogokart loving this idea!
2.5 swap
I tried this; a lancer fwd vs an ep3… I wish king would have been there…
Add Cams to the 2.0. Then 2.5 swap after with cams to see power differences
If an NC wants to beat an RX-8 it must become an RX-8. RENESIS SWAP IT!
$500 2.5 swap + cams would be the easiest way to get some power...
Put some cams in the nc!
@@Duddits1 cams are definitely in this cars near future
I don’t understand why hide the tuning company when it’s clearly Fab9? Did they tell yall to take a hike when you asked for an advocate discount or something?
Do an honest review of a 2.5 swap in the NC, not just about the minimal gains in actual hp, more about the gain added in the area under the curve and daily drivablility
Finding legit info on these swaps is problematic, google says anywhere from 170hp tuned with a exhaust, to 220 with cams, but, nothing really about torque gains throughout the rev range
I've got a NC1 daily with full exhaust and tune on it, and whilst it is better than stock, I'm considering a 2.5 swap for more midrange, probably some cams as well "while were in there"
I have been told that aftermarket cams on the 2.0 is actually not that big of a gain for the outlay when back to back testing
Mark, Australia
Cheers
I see an Altima swap in someone's future
@@sarasotasupersportperformance hahahahahhaha or maybe one of your LS3s!???
Rotrex the NC? Feels NAish
Drove a 300whp EFR Fab 9 setup extensively… the chassis can definitely handle the power.
I’d personally do the BBR 200 package and call it.
This is the easiest, most cost effective option for sure
FM turbo kit will be available in a few months...just saying.
Miata NEEEDS ITB's!!! 🙂
gotta do the bbr itbs, the sound alone would make it worth it. 2.5 mzr has a longer stroke and is without the forged crank so ur better off kswapping
2.5 swap.
@@markthibault8579 2.5 swap has not been ruled out. This car is a daily driver so the extra torque would be very useful. Gotta do something about making it fun to rev at the same time though.
@@TheSlipAngle Sounds awesome. I've yet to own a NC so I'm following your progress with a lot of interest.
2.5 is overrated and has no topend, just turbo the 2.0 or go full all motor build
Exactly, why would you buy a car that is supposed to be about the feel and driving experience and put such a shit engine in just for tiny bit of extra torque. Oh but it’s $300…who gives a shit!
@@tigerrider6711 Most swap in cams during the swap to bring back the top end feel. I've driven a stock cammed 2.5 NC and the driving excitement is absolutely still there and the torque at corner exit dumps all over my 2.0.
Oh God lol 😂
I am gonna Kswap my NC .
comment for algo ✌🏽🤙🏽🔰
k swap the nc
Renesis swap the NC