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-   -   Front doors opening towards traffic? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/23335-front-doors-opening-towards-traffic.html)

Nearly all vintage cars had front doors opening facing the oncoming traffic.
What consideration was made to modern cars opening doors rearward?

I personally find front doors opening towards traffic is more ergonomic for ingress/digress than conventional rear facing doors.:)

Any thought?

PS: Rolls Royce still has this design
http://a137.g.akamai.net/n/137/3538/...or_cad_430.jpg

when someone is shooting at you, it is to take cover behind the doors and vice versa.......... ok i watch way too much 'Cops' on tv :)

Weren't the front opening doors also known as suicide doors later on?

Its probably just due to wind.

When doors open forward, they are more likely to open at high speeds due to wind if not closed properly. But in modern cars, this problem has been taken care of, as the doors even if not closed properly will not open as the pressure of the air will acting upon them.

Drifter

Doors have evolved in this way for the benefit of all the "open the door, spit out the paan" people. After all you wouldn't want beetelnut stains all over the inside of your door.

i feel air drag is significant factor of this new design...also the present cars have very high speeds...

At high speed the door will not cause much damage to the aero dynamics of the motion if it opens up...than a front open one...in the front open case if the door opens accidentally, it will act like a huge sudden braking system and hence can deviate you line of motion and that can be very fatal...

Since present set of doors have evolved from the front open one, probably this must a factor...
Any other thoughts?

Abhi

Well the air drag factor makes sense to me, in which case it would not only be stress on the door, but especially on the seals which can lead to air leakage - and water leakage during monsoon - and compromise the air-conditioning.
Another thing I felt was, when there is an on-coming vehicle, if it hits the doors we have now, the door will just shut close and the most damage would be a few dents. On the old design, the car and door will get pretty damaged i think :) .

But then there is a flipside to this. If we stop on the side of the road and open the door - which is when we actually open it - the traffic adjacent to the door would actually be going in the direction your car is pointed, so what I said here earlier is probably not the reason.

Another thing, we use monocoques now. So will hinged doors on the same pillar add extra stress on it?
Or probably design complications, like the pillar might have to be broader to accomadate 2 hinges side-by-side.

Even though i contradicted my statement earlier, I am just trying to expose all the possiblities, for it might throw up something here when there are quite a few people breaking their heads over it :) .

Wasnt the previous design something to do with easy ingress / egress?

If it isn't so safe, why a company like Rolls Royce still offers them in their models?

This is Hilarious!! I hope you dont have a similar theory on human evolution.

I find it hard to imagine how one can enter a car with the door opening from the front. one has to get into all sorts of contortions to wriggle into your seat. agreed it is easier to get out, but you gotto be in revers to get in.

Well it is obvious that a rear hinged door or a suiside door, makes ingress/egress easy.

But it has its own negatives, mainly:
1. if door is not securedly latched, there are higher chances of falling open while car is moving than a conventionally mounted door.
2.It obstructs the view of pessenger from rear traffic, while getting out, in case the door is hit by the vehicle coming from behind, the results will be more dangerous than a conventional door, since it will slammed on pessenger.

It is still used in some luxury cars, or rather custom builts, because it is easier for person sitting in front(mostly chauffeur) , to open the door for pessenger as soon as he exits the car(since opening handle is near B-Pillar).

Hope it clears every thing, & in addition there is not effect on aerodynamics whatso ever if the door is secured properly.

Looks like Wikipedia is the answer :)

Suicide door - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have not seen the rolls, but in nissan truck, although the rear door opens from front, it can not be opened until the front door is opened. That may take care of the hazard.

autoloc.com does after market fittings hardware for suicide doors among other variants. its quite pop in the mod scene however more so the vertical doors.