Mazda MX-5 Miata NC NR-A LF-VE 1998 cc in 2006
The NC NR-A brought Mazda’s Japanese club-racing programme into the third-generation Roadster era in April 2006.
The NR-A in 2006
This calendar-year record covers the Japanese Roadster within the NC NR-A LF-VE engine branch. It does not describe an overseas model-year specification.
Mazda’s chronology dates the third-generation Roadster launch to August 2005 and the new NR-A’s introduction to April 2006. The NR-A continued a motorsport-oriented grade introduced in December 2001. The retractable-hardtop model arrived separately in August 2006; the NC facelift followed in December 2008. These later developments should not be folded into the original NR-A specification. Mazda chronology.
Japanese introduction and racing purpose
On 23 March 2006, Mazda announced Japan-only sales from early April. The two-seat NR-A required an additional racing kit for competition; Mazda-sponsored Roadster Party races were scheduled from September. Its significance was an accessible factory basis for one-make racing. Mazda launch announcement.
Original Japanese specification
The five-speed manual accompanied a 1,998 cc LF-VE inline-four with DOHC, 16 valves and variable valve timing. Mazda quoted 125 kW (170 PS) at 6,700 rpm and 189 Nm at 5,000 rpm, using premium unleaded petrol.
NR-A equipment included height-adjustable Bilstein dampers, a torque-sensing Super LSD, cowl-braced front suspension tower bars and 16-inch steel wheels. Listed weight was 1,120 kg, or 1,100 kg with optional factory aluminium wheels. Front double-wishbone and rear multilink suspension accompanied ventilated front and solid rear disc brakes. These figures describe the announced Japanese configuration. Mazda specification.
Production context and dating limits
Mazda began third-generation MX-5 production on 17 May 2005 at Ujina No.1 in Hiroshima, Japan. This establishes the generation’s manufacturing context, rather than an NR-A-specific assembly start. The first car described in that announcement was a North American limited edition, whose equipment must not be transferred to this Japanese NR-A record. Mazda production announcement.
The cited records establish an April 2006 NR-A introduction, but do not establish its first assembly date, a 2006 production total or a year-end specification change.
Mazda MX-5 Miata NC NR-A LF-VE 1998 cc Engine
Immediate engine parent. See also the NC NR-A variant and the earlier NB NR-A.