Re: [DML] Safe, Practical Gullwing Doors vs. Dangerous, Deadly Corvette Doors.

[Erik Geerdink <dmcerik@xxxxxxxxx>]

ouch...my sides hurt from laughing so hard....I'm sorry for your bad experience in a C6.....but that story made my day!!!!   A guy I work with at the fire department has a C6.  Nice looking car.  I never took notice of the doors though.  I'll have to check it out.
  
Great story! thanks for sharing.
  erik
   
  

therealdmcvegas <dmcvegas@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
  --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Ryan Wright" 
wrote:
>
> Robert,
> 
> On 5/29/06, therealdmcvegas wrote:
> > I have a long list of reasons why I don't like the
> > Corvette (including a door malfuction in a C6 where I got trapped
> > inside the car)
> 
> Yet you drive a DeLorean?!!?? ;-)
> 
> -Ryan
>


It sounds funny, I know. But I've never been trapped inside of my 
DeLorean, nor anyone elses. And the only time I've ever seen a 
DeLorean door get jammed, was either because of the outer door 
handle getting pre-tensioned, or a forigen object getting caught in 
the door. And to release stuck doors isn't a problem. You just press 
down on the interior handle, and then you can unlock the doors. 
Simple as pie. And if you've got an early car with no guide blocks, 
you just have to push a bit harder. They don't pose a threat in the 
least.

Now, let met explain my nightmare with the C6 Corvette.

First, you've got to know how the doors work (this is boring, but 
vital to my story). Your regular car and truck door has a Striker 
Pin, or Loop mounted to the door frame. You then have the latch 
assembly that is mounted inside the door. To open the door, you 
simply pull on either the internal, or external door handles. These 
are physically connected to the door latch by various cables, and 
connecting rods, and the latch will release the Striker Pin. Same 
with the locking mechanisim. The lock is actually contained within 
that latch on the door, and to lock/unlock the latch, is the same 
process. Power door locks are simply solenoids, or actuators that 
pull and push on the rods connected to the door latch.

The DeLorean is not unique from any other car on the road. It just 
happens to have a 2nd latch in the front section of the door, and 
has extra rods to make it function as well.

Now, let's talk about the Death Trap called the C6 Corvette.

The C6 Corvette has a backwards configuration on it's doors. The 
striker pins are mounted on the doors, and the latches are hidden 
INSIDE THE BODY! So, to open the doors, you don't pull a handle. You 
instead press a button, that in turn activates a solenoid, and pulls 
the latch for you, to open the doors. This applies to both inside 
the car, as well as outside. The way that the C6 locks it's doors to 
prevent theft is that IT DISABLES THE OPEN DOOR BUTTONS!

Now that sounds like an innovative idea on the surface, doesn't it? 
Hide the door locks inside of the car body, so theives can't jimmy 
the locks. Plan B incase your batter dies, is that you can open the 
rear hatch glass with your key, and tug on an emergency cable to 
physically open the drivers door. It's all the way in the back of 
the *luxurious* felt-lined trunk, next to the fuel release.

Yeah, that's nice and all, but what happens if I'm in a severe 
accident, where the wiring harness to the doors is severed, and I 
get trapped inside a burning car where I die in an inferno? What if 
I get trapped in rising flood water, or drive into a flooded ditch 
or river, and water FUBARS my entire electrical system, and I drown 
because I can't get out? What if I'm in the car, and the fickin' 
alarm goes off, and I get trapped inside?!?! Which is exactly what 
happened to me!

Now, I'm a big guy, admittedly. But I'm also limber. I've never had 
a problem sliding over the center console between seats in my 
DeLorean. However, in the Corvette, I was totally trapped. My first 
instinct being a DeLorean guy trapped in a car is to raise up, and 
kick the glass out. However, the Corvette had me so trapped, I 
couldn't get my knee past the steering wheel. Not even the power, 
telescopic steering colum worked any longer. Everything was 
disabled, including those damn door-open buttons! And the cockpit 
inside the Vette was so tight, I couldn't even raise my legs up. So 
there was no way I could reach that emergency release that was all 
the way in the trunk. After the alarm blared, and I started punching 
and slamming the car door, the GM guy finally took notice, and 
disabled the alarm, so that I could get out. Now incase you're 
wondering, yes, the Corvette locks it's doors with the factory 
alarm. I couldn't get out from the inside, and my buddy on the 
outside couldn't do it either. This was at one of those GM test 
track events, BTW. Not a car dealership.

I've seen Gullwing doors on the DeLorean get wedged shut. They just 
take a bit more "oomphf" to open. And when the locks do jamm, 
they're also easy to open. But no matter what, they're not as great 
a risk to my safety, as the Corvette C6 is. Hell, even the Bricklin 
SV-1 had emergency cotterpins above your head that you could pull 
out, to get the doors open, incase the hydraulic system failed!

I won't ride in a C6, nor the Cadillac XLR it was badge-engineered 
from for an honest fear of my life. I don't trust that crap door 
lock design in the least bit if something happened. And knowing GM's 
penchant for defective designs, and numerous recalls, I doubt I'd 
have to even be in a serious accident for something to go wrong. But 
that's just my opinion.

-Robert
vin 6585 "X"








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