You saw it here first

Just dropped off 5 minutes ago, has only been driven into the shop. The newest FM R&D car. 

Such a beautiful color!

I love the red NA in the background too!!  

Super cool! Soul Red is easily the best color on the ND. 

What are the near-term build plans for this one? 

We're looking forward to see how our new satin bronze wheels look on Soul Red Crystal :) They'll look better than the stock ones, anything would. 

Initial plans for this one are familiarization (most of us have never driven an ND3) so it'll stay very close to stock for that. Then some product compatibility testing before moving on to some more intense work. This is an R&D car, not a princess. But we'll take care of it.

It's a soft top for better roll protection once we install a bar, and a GT so it has the maximum number of ADAS features (again with the compatibility testing) as well as the DCS track mode. It's a 2024 because they have the same emissions ratings as the 2025 and Mazda is offering 0% financing. 

That NA is our 1.6 test platform, currently mostly stock other than a turbo and clutch. It was enthusiast owned and is a great survivor other than some very shagged suspension. It's getting a cooling system and a hardened fuel system next week. I just finished logging some analog sensor data using an amusing harness I made full of selectable jumpers plugged into a handheld Pi. No OBD-II there. 

Keith Tanner said:

They'll look better than the stock ones, anything would.

The stock ones aren't terrible, but I don't understand the current fashion of wheels that are polished in some places and painted black in others.  Can't we just go back to the days of clearcoated silver wheels?  Get off my lawn! :)

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

We'll have to agree to disagree, they're terrible :) They look like they might actually be the Club wheels with a random machined stripe on them. They make me think of a set of 22s on a truck...

But that's not a problem, we can solve it very easily. We do have silver on the shelf...

Congrats on the latest Miata addition to the garage!

brandonsmash said:

Soul Red is easily the best color on the ND.

While it's a stunning color, that's not exactly the compliment it should be.

Keith Tanner said:

Then some product compatibility testing before moving on to some more intense work. This is an R&D car, not a princess. But we'll take care of it.

It's a soft top for better roll protection once we install a bar, and a GT so it has the maximum number of ADAS features (again with the compatibility testing) as well as the DCS track mode. It's a 2024 because they have the same emissions ratings as the 2025...

Sounds like a good dev car for an ND2/3 turbo system.

Keith Tanner said:

It's a 2024 because they have the same emissions ratings as the 2025 and Mazda is offering 0% financing.

I'm reading that as "I think we found a source that can crack the stock computer so we can develop a turbo kit for the ND2/3s."    Fingers crossed :)