Upgrading a touring to an R
 

I heard that if all the R settings were added to a touring, there would be no apparent difference bewteen a stock R and the upgraded touring although the touring still has the sunroof, which increases the weight. Is that true for R1 and R2? It seems to me that the 94 touring is the slowest?
Here's a" touring R" silver by the way.

if you add all the R parts to a touring, you get a heavy R, correct. There are no real mechanical differences between the two as far as performance goes... it's all just weight saving and stiffer suspension (and better tires stock)

edit: and that goes for the R1 and R2... if you see 94 touring as being the slowest, it's probably because the test was done by a different tester... I've seen 0-60 times all over the place for the same car depending on who is behind the wheel.

wow, that touring R is pretty damn sexy. BTW how much does the sunroof add?

I had both a R1 and Touring...

The big + for the R1 was the second oil cooler...and that's it. everything else it easily added/upgraded.

Now that I have a touring..I love the sunroof..I'm short at only 5'8" you no height issues..what I have done to my touring to go beyooooooooood a R1.

Added ground control coilovers
Front strut bar
Front sway bar
Rims and tires or course
Added R1 second oil cooler
Sparco Racing seats.. etc etc

I think I have an standard R1 pretty much covered

FYI: crooked willow racing sells an upgrade dual oil cooler system that you could put on the touring. $895

I guess the sunroof adds 80 pounds to the car.

$900 for an oil cooler.........damn

Actually, its for two MOCAL oil coolers, all the SS braided lines and fittings, and carbon fiber ducts - to put it better prespective, hehe.

http://www.crookedwillow.com/oilcool.htm

Still cheaper to p/u some good size Earl's oil coolers and cut all teh SS lines yourself though.

And as for 'upgrading' a Touring to a R1/R2 - I see it the other way around. All the R1/2s have are the extra oil cooler (as another pointed out, spoiler lip on front and spoiler in the rear , and stiffer suspension.

If you've never riden in a 3rd gen, particularly the 93s (94/95 suspension was soften abit due to complaints), it's already pretty stiff for most fast street driving already, Touring or R1/2 . My Touring rattles my teeth over lane reflectors.

Touring models have a sunroof, cruise control, leather seats, and extra sound deadening, with a wieght penalty of 62lbs ('The Mazda RX-7: Mazda's Legendary Sports Car, Jack Yamaguchi, page 112)

Small price to pay...:D

R1/R2 FD Rx7, 964 RSA, E36 M3 Lite
 

Don't forget that the R1/R2 has dedicated front brake ducts. The front air damn of an R1/R2 is different from the add-on front air damn for a non-R-model. The R1/R2 front air damn has air channels that route air to the front brake air scoops. If you look at the front brakes of an R model FD, you'll notice aluminum scoops mounted behind the brake rotors. The idea is to route oncoming air to cool the rotors from behind. The jury's out on whether the R model brake ducts work.

Crooked Willow Composites has designed F1 style brake ducts that will apparently work with the stock R1/R2 brake ducts. I've read from various posters, that the CWC brake ducts work very well.

Of course the 62 lbs of weight savings by deleting leather, and other comfort and convenience equipment is something motorsports car enthuisasts would be interested in (I am anyway).

The R1/R2 model FD Rx7 is analogous to the ''93/'94 Porsche 964 Carrera RS Americas, except the RSAs were even more of a track-only version of the 964 911--no A/C (only available as an option), no door handles (pull straps to open the door), no sound deadening, no sunroof, no radio. This model cut nearly 200 lbs from the standard Carrera (which is full of luxury convenience items). The RSA weighs 2800 lbs with 260 hp, while the standard Carrera weighs closer to 3000 lbs with the same hp.

BMW also has a lightweight sports model. The '95 E36 M3 Lightweights. This model also did away with A/C (no option available), no sound deadening, aluminum doors, balanced blue-printed motor, and came standard with cool forged aluminum wheels.

Typically the lightweight sports models have been highly coveted by enthusiasts. This apparently holds true for our R1/R2 versions of our FD Rx7s...

Re: R1/R2 FD Rx7, 964 RSA, E36 M3 Lite
 

my 93 touring has the scoops behind the front rotors. i always thought they were dust guards...

:confused:

I have a 93' VR Touring and I have added all of the R1 options. It's really not that much, it you find quality used parts.

I got the passenger side oil cooler and lines from a wrecked R1 and put them in in about a day. The front chin spoiler and brake ducts were a snap. The rear spoiler was previously added to the car at the dealer. I also switched my tan leather seats for a nice set of the suede-like R1 seats. I did have the R1 shock for awhile, but I switched to GAB Super-R's (8 way adjustable). These are nice because you can cruise with them on 1 (soft), and then crank them up stiffer for the track!

I still haven't weighed my car with this set up, but I do know that the sunroof, cruise control, rear wiper, and "Bose hose" add a few pounds over the R1 model.

aReX-7, sounds like you have a nice setup :-)
id do about the same, or maybe even get bigger oil coolers, who knows, im a bitch like that. But I think I would want the sunroof, and bose (so I only have to add some small better subwoofers) and just get better wheels ( i dont really like the looks of the stock ones and some crack) I would keep the leather seats until they started to look like shit then I'd probly opt for some corbeau carreras

I'll agree that the sunroof is nice - just make sure it doesn't break.

mine is currently undergoing a grand total of $4,100 fix to repair the sunroof and a couple of small scratches caused by someone breaking it then opening it while it was broken.

never will I valet again.

My R1 weighs 2750 lbs with a full tank of gas, completely empty. I've swapped out the stock exhaust system for aftermarket pieces that are much lighter. Otherwise everything else is stock, with regard to weight anyway.

BTW, subwoofer magnets, especially ones for big 15-inch woofers weigh between 50 to 60 lbs each woofer...so don't go street racin' with that dead weight in the back lest you get burned by a trick Hyundai or Civic ;)

Hmmm, so the non-R models have the air scoops behind the brake rotors? Well the front air damn ducts must be what's different from the non-R FDs, then. I don't have any experience with non-Rs, except for what I've seen on garage lifts (getting R1 upgrades;).

If the FD Rx7 ever becomes collectible, which I suspect it will...my guess is the R models will be the most coveted, most especially the original Competition Yellow Mica R1 only offered in 1993. There will be unscrupulous non R model FD owners trying to pass their cars off as "geniune" R1s/R2s. It's up to the collector to educate him/herself.

$4100 to repair sunroof.......that is fuckin insane. I mean its a sunroof. I would just have it welded shut and fill the holes and paint over ;-)

The R models have some different suspension bushings and trailing arms. A collision book will show different part numbers for the standard and HD(heavy duty) suspensions. Also, the R1 has rectangular brake ducts attached to the oil cooler undershields. These redirect the air from the R1 spoiler to the brakes. If you look at your non-R1, you'll see the small groove and rectangular mounting holes for these ducts.

BTW: You can get the second R1 oil cooler through Mazda Comp cheaper than $900.