I view it as an evolution, not as much a direct clone. IMHO, the brakes are touchy, but you get used to it. If you haven't driven ABS or 2001+ big brakes, it will be a shock. I nearly stood the car on its nose the first few times I hit the brakes at Zoom Zoom Live! Chicago.
I'm not a fan of the dual exhaust, either, but at least the note is pretty good. I"m sure the aftermarket (Mazdaspeed, perhaps?) will offer competitive singles sooner or later. Mazdaspeed even addressed the ride height issue by making new springs (
here's an NC owned by a friend of mine equipped with the springs).
Funny thing is, the NC really isn't that much bigger than either of its predecessors if you sit them right next to each other:
To be perfectly honest, I panned the NC pretty badly...that was before I got to sit and drive it! Would I want to race one? Nah...it really is a nice car, IMHO, with that said.