veloceracing

I just got a little card on the 350Z, the guys at work want me to get one (hells no) but it didnt have suicide doors, wasnt the 350Z supposed to have em, it just goes to show, mazda has more *****, different engine, different doors

****COMMENT RETRACTED BASED ON LOSBID (LACK OF SLEEP BASED INTELLIGENCE DEFICIT)***** SEE JOHNNIES COMMENT BELOW

Johnny

I have a picture of last years Z concept, i don't see suicide doors though, i'll scan the picture later if i get bored.

veloceracing

Nissan Z Concept

OK I was wrong, and it takes a real man to admit that (if I keep telling myself that it must come true). Ne Ways theres a good ol picture of that "other" new car.

Jeff20B

Heh, I like the RX-8 better.

Johnny

Yeah in my opinion the Rx-8 looks a million times better than the new Z.

nsxrlmgt2

I like a lighter car too. There is alot to be said about the weight of a car and its effects. To me it just makes everything feel so much better. I cant stand the sloppy feel of heavier cars. It seems to me so far from everything that I have read that the suspension of the RX-8 could be much superior to that of the 350 Z if done correctly. The RX-8 has a larger wheelbase, is lighter, and has near 50/50 weight distribution. It looks sweet too. I hope I save enough by next year to get rid of my slowica.

Joe

RX84ME

iTrader: (2)

that new z looks like a cross gentic experiment gone bad.

liondogs

This may seem like a dumb question but I have always wondered why these style doors are called suicide doors?

Is it because if you open the door and try to exit the car while it is moving you will be run down by the door.

Or is it because if the door come open at speed the wind will keep the door open and you can fall out, instead of the wind keeping the door closed like a real door?

veloceracing

This is from the guys at Cars.com, one possible explination:

Dear Tom and Ray:



Do you remember the old four-door Lincoln Continentals where the front and back doors both opened out from the same spot in the middle of the car? They used to call those "suicide doors." How did they get that name? John

Ray: They weren't actually named for the Lincoln Continental, John. The 1961-1967 Continentals just happened to be the last in a long line of American cars to use doors hinged at the back instead of the front.

Tom: Yeah. Haven't you seen any of those old gangster movies from the 1930's? Typically, a 1930's Ford would drive up, four shots would be fired, and a limp body would be pushed out of one of these "suicide doors" into the gutter.

Ray: My brother remembers these movies because he was IN them. He was a sort of character actor. He played the guy in the gutter.

Tom: Actually, the best answer we could come up with, John, is that in the old days, these doors were prone to open in a crash. And since this was before the time of seatbelts (and practically before the time of seats!), a driver or passenger could easily be thrown forward, right out of the car and onto the street in an accident. So driving a car this dangerous was said to be "suicidal." And that's where they got the name "suicide doors."

Ray: We're not sure that's where the name really came from. But we searched far and wide, and of all the explanations we heard, that one seems the most plausible

Toadman

Because it's suicidal to open the door without looking over your shoulder for traffic? It'll break you legs of something slams it shut on you. But on the RX-8 the back doors cannot open autonomously from the fronts.

rpm_pwr

I always thought they were called suicide doors because if you opened the earlier (30's) doors when the car was in motion, the wind could rip the door clean off or at least make the door damn hard to close. Thus if the latch failed you could get sucked out of the car at highway speeds....

Isn't that why most design reg's call for interlocking suicide doors?

-pete

RX - 8

IMO i think that the suicide doors will give it a totally different look than the 350z.

FritzMan

I was under the impression they were called suicide door b/c one could exit the vehicle and get hit by a passing car much easier. Whereas typical doors swing out and break off if hit, a suicide door could be harder for a motorist to spot opening, and if hit, the door would slam back into the passenger...

Did any of you guys notice that none of the pictures yet have an upper latch for the doors? The R&T article states for side-impact safety, the suicide door locks onto the top and bottom rail, yet there's only a latch on the bottom rail.

Another interesting thing about this pillarless feature is how Mazda was able to mount the front seatbelts to the vehicle. Look closely, and Mazda actually integrated the whole shoulder belt mechanism within the seat itself. Hence, the front seats provide 100% responsibility for passenger restraint during frontal impact. That must be one stiff seat!!! Typical seatup for convertibles as well I imagine.

Coldvaper

I think they are called suicide doors because if someone were to crash into the side of the car the people in the car would die because of no side impact beams.Thats what ive been told.

Johnny

Suicide doors are doors you can't open, so in the Rx-8 if the front doors are shut you won't be able to open the rear ones. If you get into an accident and you need to get out but your sitting in the back and the passanger is knocked out your screwed. I'm sure everyone has seen dukes of hazards once in their life the doors on that charger those are called suicide doors because you can't open them

Apex

Its the fact that the old ones were actual full size 4 doors rarely with seatbelts or seatbelt weares inside.
If you just crack the door at 40 (depending on the aerodynamics, on the old ones 30 probably was bad) -without the front door open- it will yank open with your arm and the rest of your body with it.
You only do that when suicide is your ultimate goal.
Truth is there's lots of reasons why such a door is bad news unless it takes 2 operations to do so.
Thats why the front door interlocks with the back, preventing even accidental openings. I believe.
*If the back opens accidently the front certainly will right before, preventing the "suicide effect", possibly shutting the rear door along side with it.
Frankly only a moron would open that door on a moldy, so it wouldn't be a loss.

Apex
-Why didn't I open that door...

Toadman

Sounds like an excellent mother-in-law disposal system.. :D

IDi

ROFLOL :D

DANNER

I don't particularly like the suicide doors, but they allow the RX-8 to maintain it's sports car look while giving the utility of a standard 4-door. That's a bonus.

Mazda

Suicide doors are great....you dont have to deal with the extra weight of full doors, and when you want someone to get in, you dont have to get out, adjust your seat, readjust your seat, and get back in...bottom line..