Odula NC

Odula NC2 is looking awesome, makes me miss my car.

NC2 really is a good car. small tweaks make it much better.

I would definitely had one of these.

Return of the GT

My roadster went to auction as avbove.

The roadster returns 2 months later. It re-appeared minus a lot of the choice items but some more detailing.

CE28N were painted body colour (probably to hide some scratches.)
Front bumper was repainted and all the small holes from the number plate and the canards

No Ohlins, No Stereo.

Japanese Auctions are sometimes a chance for someone with money to pick up some parts for free.

Stock or tuned cars are the same cash.

So I guess it makes sense if you can afford to.

Buy a car, remove the parts or exchange for stock and re-sell.

No, I didn't re-buy it.

Russ.

Roadster of the Week.

The final entry for GT-Roadster blog.

I had fun in my car and I think it was a pretty good looking car for a budget vehicle. Sensible mods were the key for this car. However it did seem to inspire some as I received lots of feedback from the roadster community.

There are many others with a similar passion that are prepared to inspire also.  Head over to roadster garage http://roadstergarage.wordpress.com/ for Adam's similar obsession with his NB.

He run's a segment called Roadster of the week, which means a cool car every week. Stick it in your RSS feed and check out the progress and cool inspiration.

Thanks for the feature.

No Pro Wide Fenders

Nopro has a good customer that always tries his latest stuff.

Pina has added the over-fenders and merged them with his bodykit. the result is pretty smooth.

The new wide fenders didn't match his old wheels though, so I added some TE37-SL for added impact and dumper the car to the deck!

http://www.nopro.jp/nc_aero_fener.html

Gami san now has the 2.5L car with Hyper Bronze RE-30 but no wide fenders... Strange?

Realistically he doesn't need them. 18x8.5 +52 still fit under the normal guards.

Russ.

Yes... Nopro

Nopro NC1 Development. Now this will be the best NC lip on the market. FRP and Carbon later in the year.

Note the outline for the wide fenders. (see above and fenders below.)

This would match my canards in Carbon!

Damn....Makes you want to remake things.

I didn't really want the M'z lip but the "Free" price was right for me.
Cant go back. there are big mounting holes in my bumper now.
I like my Unique Lip now anyway.

Anyway looks like a swag of new parts on the way.

Now all I need is a sponsor. 255/35/18 on 18x9.5 +18  RAYS G2 with wide fenders.

yum.

NOPRO NC GT Update

NOPRO NCEC 2.3 Aero is now under development. The large fenders will be able to accommodate huge rubber legally. New Lip spoiler with raised corners looks good too.

Nopro GT NC

Check these wide fenders underway at Nopro.

Stay tuned

Superlight sees light

Stripped of all weight and down to 990kg.

Looks pretty cool, touches of carbon.

I'm sure the leather trim could have been changed for a weight saving... It is a show car I guess.

But it does not meet the concept. Take out 1 more seat or use some of the Mazda Taiki's plastic interior.

I think it really needs a small acryllic windscreen too. I'll chop it soon.

Russ.

Mazda Mx5 SuperLight

Due for the Frankfurt show is this new speedster from mazda to celebrate the 20th anniversary. Exterior gets (doesn't get) a windscreen, Rear gets integrated roll bars doors are flowing into the cabin. Interior is inspired by the Mazda flowing designs of late.

Report is here.

I'm sure it will never make production, but perhaps something will come of it.

Russ

20th Anniversary Edition

White. Red and Black leather seats, special stickers. Not too much different, but it's still special.

Mazda Japan special anniversary site.

Russ.

Road & Ster to End Publication

These grey skies are a sign that another magazine has fallen. It seems the next Road&Ster publication will be the last. So they are going to make it a good one gathering all the top NC tuners in Japan.
Joyfast had their 2.0L Panda and RS Stage had the 2.3L on show.

The venue was NATS test track. Here you can see, Joyfast, Nopro's 2 cars, Vary, D-Technique, Barchetta. brightening and a few others were also there.

Nopro's demo car was drifting a bit in the rain. Sound like fun.

Check out the next issue. It will be No58. http://www.roadandster.com/index.htm

Russ.

TAS Preview

Usually, I don't post stuff from magazines, but when I got my latest "Rev Speed" mag, I almost had a heart attack. The RAYS booth at Tokyo Auto Salon will feature their new wheel range. The 08 limited range of gunmetal were good, but this year the '09 Limited range will be Hi-Meta-Bronze! I litterally had to force myself to breath. RE-30 are intial release but mention of TE37 Also!!!!

The Advan booth at Tokyo Auto Salon will have the designers usual blue FD. But this year it will be fitted with these Advans RS-D. They are awesome. A deep dished version of the Advan RS wheel. Black and cut rim or Chrome. 18-20. I guess we shall see them on a GT-R somewhere but 18 will fit an MX5.

Available Late Jan or Feb for both... maybe Start saving now.

So come on manufacturers, use your websites as tools! I swear Japan is miles behind the times. You can guarantee they won't be updated with any info for months.

There were advertised in the latest Rev Speed magazine so they must have had at least a month's lead time.

Othe news is dissapointing. Mazda will show 13 cars at Tokyo Auto Salon but The only roadster at the Mazda booth will be the NR-A. No modified mazdaspeed version will appear. Boooooooooooooooo!

I hope they at least have the NR-A with the diffuser and front air dam.

Photobucket !

I guess popularity has a price.

I have a free photobucket I use for about 5 blogs, It uses it's 25gb bandwidth pretty quickly these days so expect some lower quality images around the place.

Most posts on blogger are ok, but some use photobucket. Sorry if you can't see them. I will load them all to blogger from now on on this site.

My Japanese blog is currently under re-design because of this.

Russ.

Mazda Festa Report.

Check out the motormedia Event Report and gallery.

Good pics, including No1. Kentaro's black NC.

New Roadster "GT Spec"

I have decided not to post anymore pics of the new NC in standard form. The new RHT gets a cheese grater grill, chrome accents. These pics have 10% bigger wheels in photoshop (ie 1.7" bigger) and they look awesome!

I think its hard to make a decision about a new car release in standard form. It doesn't provoke the right response.

These chopped pics look cool.

New Roadster @ Paris

Paris Motor show is ON and new pics are out. (warning photoshopped!)

Some images hae been leaked everywhere from http://www.km77.com/00/mazda/mx-5/2009/t01.asp

Many new features.

Front, side step and rear bumper redesign. Mirrors are ugly!

Grill is the most noticeable change matching the RX8-style with large black plastic section. RHT retains the chrome accents. RHT also gets a cheese grater version while the soft top gets a bar style.

Unfortunately the front lights are also redesigned and therefore probably wont allow cheap front swaps. Rear lights may still be swappable.

Interior, has many small changes, people upgrading will buy the centre arm rest and maybe the new door grips.

Pics from http://response.jp/issue/2008/1001/article114432_1.html

Russ.

AWR Wide Body NC

If you were wondering about how big you can go with wheels on an NC, here is a solution for those who want more. This Canadian kit maintains the lines of the car but seriously pumps it out to another level.

These fenders are covering the street spec Rays RE30

FRONT 245/35/18 on 18x8.5

REAR 285/30/18 on 18x9.5


Seriously FAT

For more visit information visit the man Tony Woodford's - AWR. They also do a nice brake duct kit that fits standard locations.

Widebody Kit Installation - Images.

You can find out the full story about this car and see more images on the Sport Compact Car website - Article.

Russ.

Cosworth Supercharger

Another fresh item that is now available in the USA is the Cosworth supercharger kit for the MX5. POWER POWER POWER! 235~240hp translating to 210hp at the wheels.

Cosworth are a well respected name and their kit, while being a bolt on application, has plenty of stuff that I couldn't do. Professional mechanics estimate 12hrs for installation. USA version only with probably a heap of changes required for RHD and you would need to map the computer yourself.

To check what is involved before you get one. Check out the awesome installation guide.

Pricing is reasonable at around $6000 USD

There is a good write up on http://www.good-win-racing.com/ in the forums.

New Roadster NR-A!

Luckily the ONE and ONLY picture mazda released of the new roadster matched my angle of the chop I was working on.


So here is my version of the New NR-A.

But I prefer the New NR-GT!

The new car will look pretty awesome once people get used to the mangled styling from the original round curves that purists love.

Maybe I'll be first and change the front of mine.

Russ.

Knight Sports NC ECU

I was checking some RX7 stuff the other day on the Knight Sports Japanese Blog.

Currently under development in conjunction with NOPRO "Nogami Project" is an exciting thing for us roadster owners in Japan.

The FD's ultra reliable 4 Beat ECU will be used as a base for an NC replacement ECU.

This is something I will definately consider. I have experience with Knight Sports and they have an excellent reputation.

My friends FD is currently recieving a 1.3bar capable 13b engine improvement at Knight Sports.

They test the engine on their dyno before installation. No run in period. Just GO!

Russ.