R1 vs. Touring Suspension
 

I've heard that the only suspension difference between the Touring and the R1 is the shocks.

The springs are the same PN# per the dealer between a Touring and R1.

Are the front & rear swaybars the same ?

:-) neil

I believe the shocks were the only difference with the suspension but I could be wrong.

excerpt from newb sticky,

9) What is an R1? What is a touring?

Different trim levels. The R1 was the sport version in 1993, and the R2 was the equivalent sport version from 94-95. R1/R2s have different suspension, synthetic suede seat covers, an extra oil cooler, front lip and rear spoiler, were not available with automatic transmissions, and more. The Touring (similar to the PEP and PEG) has conveniences like Bose stereo, leather seats, moonroof. The Base model could have some of these options added. It is possible to mix/match some things both from the factory and on your own. See the links for detailed info.

The R1 had a few different suspension bushings also IIRC. Looking at the Mazda p/n.

Realistically the shocks are the only difference.

Sway bars are the same.

i thought the r1's had linear springs, while touring & r2's had progressive?

the r1 also had a strut tower brace and no cruise control

My memory is fuzzy here but this is what I remember.

All 93s have the same springs.

All 94s have the same springs.

I think 94 springs are different than 93 springs.

Not sure about auto-trans cars, just talking about 5spd cars.

I think the R1's had solid body bushings, instead of the urethene...

Why do you think that?

There are no "body bushings" on the FD, they do have suspension bushings.

All the bushings on all stock FDs are a combination of rubber and steel.

The only difference between bushings is the durometer (hardness) of the rubber.

Jeff, this is not exactly true.

All FD's (regardless of year/model) had the same front sway bar: 28.6mm. But there are slight variances with the rear bar:

All 93's, the rear sway bar was 17.3mm. In 94 they changed this to 13.8mm. In 95, the non-R2 cars still got the 13.8mm sway bar, but the R2 cars were changed to 15.9mm ones.

-Rob

Your right and I knew that.

The R1 vs. 93 Touring sway bars are the same. R2 vs. 94 Touring sway bars are the same.

Didn't know that about the 95 R2 but then again finding one is difficult too:).

Sorry Rob, thats wrong. There was only one rear bar offered for the 94 & 95 models. It is the same bar for every car, including the R2's. Part # FD15-28-151A

Adam, I have personally seen the 15.9mm rear sway bar on a 95 R2. It is also listed on page TD-15 of the 1995 Technical Data information.

Not sure why there is only one part number??

Adam, just looked up the part numbers in the 95 parts catalog:

F123-28-151 is the P/N for normal suspension
FD15-28-151A is the P/N for hard (R2) suspension

There are also different P/N's for the sway bar bushings

-Rob

Rob,

Perhaps the bar you saw was an aftermarket, or later model unit. Mazda Motorsports informed me that there is only one part #.

To get back to the original question of an R1 suspension vs a Touring yes, the only (real) difference is the shocks.

Yes there were different sway bars and different springs, but they were still the same across all models from the same year. The 95 R2 rear bar being different from the others is news to me though.

IMO the only reason to go for an R1 is to get the dual oil coolers and maybe the seats if you really like those. I don't like the R1's rear spoiler and I don't like the Touring's rear wiper or sunroof. I bought a base and installed the R1 dual coolers :)

You may be right about the aftermarket bar, but judging on the condition of the suspension when I worked on it, I'm about 99% sure it was completely stock (the rest of the car was stock as well). I have another friend with a relatively stock 95R2. Maybe I'll get the chance to go over there and measure it too.

It's possible that they discontinued one of the bars (due to the rarity of 95 R2's), and therefore there is now only one P/N?

Rob,

I would be curious about the results from the other R2. Its remarkable that you have two R2's in your area. There are not many around ............. anywhere!!

heh heh. I WISH there were two R2's in my area. Unfortunately, there is only one. The other one (the one that I mentioned earlier) was located up in Michigan. I should have a chance to go check out the local R2 this weekend. I'll try to remember to post the results in this thread.

You're right though, there aren't that many around anywhere, so this whole issue is almost a mute point. But it's still kind of a curiously interesting factoid to figure out.

-Rob

Can someone post the pn#s for the R1 swaybar bushings and the control-arm bushings (if they are different) ?

I wonder if Mazda went to a smaller diameter rear swaybars to increase understeer.

My 1993 is fairly neutral and you can easily get the rear to swing out . . .

:-) neil

Or reduce oversteer ........ That is exactly right!!