Just a question I wanted to ask cuz the other day I was over @ my old neighbors house. He has a 94, and I have a 93. When I shut the door on my car, my neighbor said,"damn, did you hollow out your door guts?" So, I banged on my dor with my hand, and he on his. His door sounded solid, while mine sounded like a steel drum. The only thing I can think is that the 94's had more sound deadning in them, hince they are a little heavier, and I mean just a little. What do you all think?

 

Well us 94/95 ppl have 2 airbags instead of 1 also....not worth mentioning weight difference I'm sure

 

There's about a 16lb difference between equivalent 93/94 models. However, what you're describing is something different. Mazda made a change midway through the '93's resulting in a different door sound when you close them. Sounds like you've got an earlier '93 car.

 

I thought that the biggest difference i weight was the difference bettween base and touring models. If I'm not mistaken the sunroof adds something like 100Lbs.

 

I have that same empty can sound when I close my door.. every time too since you have to close the driver door so dang hard to shut it completely. It sure does make the car sound cheaper than it is.. And why is it only the driver side that does it? The passenger door sounds fine when you close it.. sounds like a normal door.

Matt
93 touring

 

I have a solid sounding passenger door when closed. My driver's door sounds like a tin can too. I thought something was missing from the driver's door, but haven't taken the time to investigate the differences yet.

Steve
'93 M. Blue Touring

 

You're mistaken

Its more like 20+ lbs. A '93 touring only weighs 62lbs more than an R1 and most of that weight is in the Bose and sunroof assembly.

 

So does anyone know why Mazda made one door cheaper than the other, I thought mine was just jacked up?

 

Damn I thought mine was just jacked up too! My driver side door sound like an empty can too.

 

Empty can door here as well. It sucks even more when some idiot tries to close the door hard using his palm against the metal rather than the door handle. Handprint dent results.

 

According to Mazda, here are the curb weights of the various models...

Base, M5 - 2,789 lbs.
Base, A4 - 2,857 lbs.
R1, M5 - 2,800 lbs.
Touring, M5 - 2,862 lbs.
Touring, A4 - 2,923 lbs.

Having had the doors on my '95 off and apart, I can verify that the only sound deadening material inside is a rubberized strip, about 1 - 1 1/4" wide and about 10 inches long stuck to the inside of the door panel. I suspect that Mazda took a trick out of the Dynamat book and stuck it there to control resonance in the door panel without adding significant weight.

You could perform this "mod" yourself, if you wanted to get rid of the early '93 "tin can" door sound effect.

 

So the difference between the Base and Touring models is anywhere from 134Lbs. to 5Lbs.

What is the difference between "M5" and "A4"?

 

A4 and M5 refer to the tranny.

Touring models had more sound deadening material.

My driver's door sounds like crap compared to my passenger door, too. I suspect that it is because the driver's door gets a lot more use than the other one. Mine is also harder to shut completely, but I suspect that a slight realignment of the striker would fix that.

One owner I know Dynamat'ed his doors and they sounded quite good after that. He stuck it on the inside of the sheet metal.

-Max

 

Part of the reason for the different sound Driver vs Pass door is b/k the Pass inner door panel is thicker and heavier than the driver's door panel.

 

Actually Max, I don't believe that's true.

I've worked on all different models and different years, and after inspecting at length the underside and interior of a '93 R1 while gutting it, and stripping the interior and rewiring my '95 PEP, I can verify that it has no extra sound deadening material (except for the strip in the doors) of any kind over the '93 R-model I inspected.

The weight difference is only 62 lbs. according to Mazda, and most of that is in the sunroof mechanism, as well as the fog lights, cruise control, and a few other odds and ends, including the rear wiper mechanism on the Touring.

 

That's normal behavior... the vents in the rear of the car meant to equalize pressure don't "flow" enough air to allow the last door (or hatch) closed to close easily.

My driver's door (the one I use the most often, of course) often closes at half latch if I don't give it a pretty good shove. Leave your hatch open and you'll probably find that your driver's door slams shut A-OK.

 

...or crack your window. My struts don't raise the hatch on their own so the trick I use is to pop the hatch from inside, and then when I shut the door the hatch pops up for me to grab it.

 

I had my 94 base corner - weighted for a track event.


1994 base (no sun roof)
no spare tire
16 gal of gas
150 lb driver

car weght in @ 2961 lbs
-150 lbs (for driver)
2811 lbs
-108 lbs ( 1 gal gas = 6.8 lbs )
2703 lbs (no driver, no gas)

 

I've got the FIX for the drivers door sounding cheap during closing. I've had 8 FDs now, all 93's. Some sound cheap some don't, doesn't matter when it was built (for the 93s I 've had).

The problem is that the "crash bar" in the door has some body goop stuff that becomes disconnected from the door skin, the same can happen to the pass side, it just doesn't get opened and closed as much.

Try this, open and close your door, then do the same but use your free hand to hold the door skin somewhere close to the middle. If that changes the sound of the door closing you can fix it. Pop off the door panel and put some body goop stuff (sometimes called seam sealer, get at a paint supply place) between the crash bar and the door skin in several places.

Don't use expanding foam, or if you do be careful, if it expands to much then you'll end up with a bulge in the door skin.
:
I've done this several times, door sound much better.

Jeff

 

My 93 is the exact opposite! The driver door sounds fine and no one ever closes the passenger door all the way and it sounds hollow when shut.