I loved my NB to death. I owned it when the NC was released and hated that ugly big POS.
Then I sold the 99 Miata. A few years later and we got a 2010 NC and I got to tell you, I love that car! And somehow I now think that it looks awesome.
I didn't care for the PRHT, I like the idea, but think it looks ugly up and adds unnecessary complication to a car that has THE best soft top operation.
here it is this morning -
Ian F wrote: Steering feel is probably the biggest gripe my ex has about her ND. Back to back with her R53 MINI, the ND doesn't have the same "weight" to it. Has there been any thoughts on how to change that? While I haven't really shopped for the NC (the only version I'd be interested in would be a PRHT), so I don't really know what the pricing is like, it seems amusing to me how the prices for really clean NA and NB cars are about equal and have stabilized.
Re: steering feel. The chassis development team points out that weight and information are not the same thing. Drive one hard for a while and you'll discover it's talking to you, it's just a different experience. It's just so heavily assisted at slow speeds that you don't realize how it changes when things get more intense. However, the Fiat is heavier. It should just be a matter of the programming, but AFAIK nobody has altered that yet. The 2017 RF has recalibrated suspension and apparently is superior to the 2016 softtop. The 2017 softtop is unchanged but the new calibrations will hit the roadster eventually.
Re: NA prices. Most cars hit the bottom of the depreciation curve after 15-20 years, then the good examples start to climb. Most NBs are at the bottom of the curve now and the good NAs have been ratcheting up for a few years. So it's not surprising that the NAs and NBs are selling more on condition than anything else.
There's a gray Grand Touring ND locally for $23k with only 10k miles on it that keeps popping up to tempt me. I'm glad I haven't driven one yet or I would probably have to buy it.
Another vote for a NB2 here. I drive NAs and NCs, but for me the NB is the sweet spot. My wife bought my '04 for my birthday 2 years ago. 52k on the clock, no winters, all original and unmolested, for $6800. I could have gotten it for less, but it was her call. There are a lot of really nice cars out there for reasonable money and some patient searching will yield satisfying results.
The car has been brilliant and made even more so with some goodies (and some indispensable advice) from Keith. The only negative I can offer is that I have to put it away in the winter. I won't drive it again until April and that makes me a little sad.
I'm not sure the Brembo/BBS package on the ND is worth it.
I'm positive it isn't unless there's some advantage in a stock class. For a lot less than the price of the Brembo/BBS, you can run our Little Big Brake Kit and drop 18 lbs off the unsprung weight, then strap on a set of 17x8 6ULs with a 245 tire.
Interesting note - the stock suspension on the Sport/GT models is better than the Club. But only the Club gets the LSD in the US, alas.
Brett_Murphy wrote: Whatever Miata I get, though, I'm going to have somebody make up some "Frickin' Miata" stickers.
Thankyou, thankyou, I'm here all week 
Keith, please elaborate on the suspension. I'd want a club so that the LSD is standard.
The Bilsteins on the Club are overdamped so the car is really fidgety. It never settles down. Feels sporty, but doesn't suck up the road surface the way that the GT setup does. Mazda very rarely gets the calibration right for Bilsteins historically. In fact, I think the only time they've really nailed it was 2013-15. As noted, the suspension is being revisited for the ND already.
A set of stiffer springs actually works pretty well on the ND Club, it lets you balance out the rebound damping with some spring rate.
I would change my username to Kyle Tanker if I could do it for just this one thread 
Read this with interest. What did you decide?
I'll add one bit of info that's come to light. The RF variant of the ND has a number of detail changes to the suspension, including some new rear bumpstops and a recalibrated steering rack. The original NDs didn't have strong self-centering in the steering which could be a little odd at first. The Mazda handling dudes figured out how to fix this and also tweaked the assistance. The end result is some really nice steering. Unfortunately, the computer in the EPAS unit cannot be reflashed so you'd probably have to physically swap the rack, assuming they are physically interchangeable. Make note of that so you can do it in 15 years when there are junkyard parts available.
The 2017 soft top did NOT get the suspension or steering revisions.
I've decided to save pennies for a non-project car to replace my current daily driver, which will then become the project car.
Having seen the RF Miata in person has kind of decided what direction I want to go in. It's going to take a long time to save $33k worth of pennies, plus getting some vinyl cut to say "Frickin' Miata" to put on it.
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