Re: [DML] driving with doors open?

[Martin Gutkowski <webmaster@xxxx>]

Seeing as the subject came round again :-)

First off, I can't see how driving on a smooth surfact and not 
accellerating or braking too quickly can be bad. I am careful not to 
drive over speed bumps or uneven ground with the doors open unless very 
slowly - the way the doors twist and wobble can be a bit alarming, 
though I'm sure this flexing actually protects the hinges more than 
anything.

My real reason for this post is to relate something that happenned on 
the way home from Supercar Sunday this last weekend. We had 25 DeLoreans 
present, including several missing from last year's 17, so a whole batch 
of first-timers (like me with #1458). Jan van der Wouw drove over from 
Holland to attend and we convoyed up from Kent to Birmingham (about 200 
miles).

On the way home on Sunday, with just myself and Jan in convoy, we hit 
traffic on the M25 (London Orbital Motorway - known throughout Britain 
as the world's biggest car-park). It was a hot day, and with my AC 
cycling too quickly, and Jan's not working at all, we just popped the 
doors. The road was smooth, as you'd expect, and we didn't go faster 
than 30mph for the best part of an hour. We got a lot of attention! I 
had a truck driver shout "Those look really fast!" and a couple of times 
brakes were slammed on as people were paying more attention to us than 
the car in front. It was a lot of fun, and something entirely practical 
you could only achieve in the DeLorean!

I often get asked "is that legal"? My answer is that I don't think 
anyone would have thought to have written a law about driving with the 
doors open.... (except maybe that you lose the use of your wing mirror).

(this was actually the first time my car's sat in traffic on a hot day - 
the cooling fans cycled perfectly, keeping me at around 200 deg or less 
the whole time. On the minus side my fuel pump was making a real racket 
by the time we stopped at the services, and I was on half a tank)

Cheers

Martin
#1458

Kevin Abato wrote:

> I was leary of this also, but ya know what....I saw some footage and photos
> of people at the factory doing it during test drives, and when pulling the
> cars out etc.. So i figured It is safe to do, but I never exceed 5-10mph
> while doing it.
>
> kevin Abato
> Vin# 16680