Scissor doors, also called Jackknife doors or Lambo doors, are automobile doors that rotate up and forward on a hinge near the front of the door.
This form of door was first introduced in the Alfa Romeo Carabo concept car, designed by Marcello Gandini. Gandini used the same doors in the Lamborghini Countach whose wide chassis mandated this unusual door configuration. The design was carried forward to the Countach's successor, the Lamborghini Diablo. The only current Lamborghini in production which uses this design is the Murciélago.
This design combines some of the advantages of a conventional door and the traditional gullwing door. The door can open upward rather than outward, which is important in wide cars. The hinge is in a similar location as a conventional door, so a convertible version of the car is not prevented by the door design.
The disadvantage is that the door still impedes access/egress much more than a gullwing and, in some cases, more than a conventional door.
Friday, January 5, 2007
Lamborghini Murcielago Scissor Doors
The only current Lamborghini in production which uses this design is the Murciélago.
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a supercar made by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. and designed by Luc Donckerwolke. It was introduced in 2002 as the successor to the Diablo. The Murciélago is a two door, two seat coupé. To celebrate the Lamborghini company's 40th birthday, 50 special edition Murciélagos were built during the autumn of 2003.
An open-top version called the Murciélago roadster was introduced in 2004 for the 2005 model year. The roadster features similar performance to the coupé with a more aggressive rear flank, as well as a considerably higher price tag.
The Murciélago sports a 6.2 L version of the legendary Lamborghini V12 engine, a six-speed manual or six-speed sequential automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive. It also has a rear spoiler that can be raised to an angle of 70 degrees, side mirrors that fold in to improve aerodynamics, and side scoops that automatically open to the needed size to let in just the right amount of air needed to cool its engine. The name Murciélago comes from a bull that survived 24 sword strokes in an 1879 fight at the arena of Cordoba, and fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor. In another Lamborghini tie-in, the bull was later presented as a gift to Don Antonio Miura, a noted breeder, and went on to sire a line of famous fighting bulls. Murciélago also means bat in Spanish, and a Murciélago roadster is featured briefly in the movie Batman Begins. The coupé's base price is US$273,000, which is US$90,000 more than its smaller sibling, the Lamborghini Gallardo.
Lamborghini have announced two more powerful models, the XTR, a track-only car with a 700 bhp version of the V12, and the LP640 with 640 bhp. Although the XTR is not street legal, the LP640 met the standards and is expected to be introduced in March 2007.
For more information on Lamborghini Murcielago, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Murci%C3%A9lago
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a supercar made by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. and designed by Luc Donckerwolke. It was introduced in 2002 as the successor to the Diablo. The Murciélago is a two door, two seat coupé. To celebrate the Lamborghini company's 40th birthday, 50 special edition Murciélagos were built during the autumn of 2003.
An open-top version called the Murciélago roadster was introduced in 2004 for the 2005 model year. The roadster features similar performance to the coupé with a more aggressive rear flank, as well as a considerably higher price tag.
The Murciélago sports a 6.2 L version of the legendary Lamborghini V12 engine, a six-speed manual or six-speed sequential automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive. It also has a rear spoiler that can be raised to an angle of 70 degrees, side mirrors that fold in to improve aerodynamics, and side scoops that automatically open to the needed size to let in just the right amount of air needed to cool its engine. The name Murciélago comes from a bull that survived 24 sword strokes in an 1879 fight at the arena of Cordoba, and fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor. In another Lamborghini tie-in, the bull was later presented as a gift to Don Antonio Miura, a noted breeder, and went on to sire a line of famous fighting bulls. Murciélago also means bat in Spanish, and a Murciélago roadster is featured briefly in the movie Batman Begins. The coupé's base price is US$273,000, which is US$90,000 more than its smaller sibling, the Lamborghini Gallardo.
Lamborghini have announced two more powerful models, the XTR, a track-only car with a 700 bhp version of the V12, and the LP640 with 640 bhp. Although the XTR is not street legal, the LP640 met the standards and is expected to be introduced in March 2007.
For more information on Lamborghini Murcielago, please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Murci%C3%A9lago
Gull Wing Doors
Gull Wing Doors
The term gull-wing door is an automotive industry term describing automobile doors which are hinged at the roof. They are so named because, when opened, the doors evoke the image of a seagull's wings.
Conventional car doors are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door and allow the door to swing outward from the body of the car.
The most well-known examples of road-cars with gull-wing doors are the Mercedes-Benz 300SL from the 1950s, the Bricklin SV-1 from the 1970s and the De Lorean DMC-12 from the 1980s.
Gull Wing Design Challenges
Gull-wing doors have a somewhat questionable reputation because of early examples like the Mercedes and the Bricklin. The 300 SL used the door design to allow an unusual chassis design which required a very high door sill and forced the doors to be smaller than would otherwise have been optimal. The Bricklin was a more conventional sized door but the actuation system was problematic in day-to-day use and led to unreliable operation. In addition, there was some concern that in making the door as light as possible, it couldn't provide adequate protection in side-impact accidents. There was, however, no indication that this concern was justified.
The De Lorean solved these problems by using a solid-steel torsion bar (supplied by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation) to counterbalance a full-sized door and then used simple pneumatic struts similar to those found in hatchback cars to open the doors and dampen the movement of the doors.
Other disadvantages of the system were not so easy to address. For example, the gull-wing design makes creating a convertible version of the car virtually impossible since, for optimal efficiency, the hinges must be placed as close to the center of the car as possible. This was never a concern for the De Lorean since no convertible version was ever planned (though there were rumors of a four-door family car based on a front-engine chassis with room for four passengers).
It also makes sealing the car against water leaks more difficult because of the shape and movement path of the door itself. Many De Lorean owners report leakage when taking their vehicles through automated car-washes because of the high-pressure water jets, though in ordinary rainfall the seals were more than adequate.
The term gull-wing door is an automotive industry term describing automobile doors which are hinged at the roof. They are so named because, when opened, the doors evoke the image of a seagull's wings.
Conventional car doors are typically hinged at the front-facing edge of the door and allow the door to swing outward from the body of the car.
The most well-known examples of road-cars with gull-wing doors are the Mercedes-Benz 300SL from the 1950s, the Bricklin SV-1 from the 1970s and the De Lorean DMC-12 from the 1980s.
Gull Wing Design Challenges
Gull-wing doors have a somewhat questionable reputation because of early examples like the Mercedes and the Bricklin. The 300 SL used the door design to allow an unusual chassis design which required a very high door sill and forced the doors to be smaller than would otherwise have been optimal. The Bricklin was a more conventional sized door but the actuation system was problematic in day-to-day use and led to unreliable operation. In addition, there was some concern that in making the door as light as possible, it couldn't provide adequate protection in side-impact accidents. There was, however, no indication that this concern was justified.
The De Lorean solved these problems by using a solid-steel torsion bar (supplied by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation) to counterbalance a full-sized door and then used simple pneumatic struts similar to those found in hatchback cars to open the doors and dampen the movement of the doors.
Other disadvantages of the system were not so easy to address. For example, the gull-wing design makes creating a convertible version of the car virtually impossible since, for optimal efficiency, the hinges must be placed as close to the center of the car as possible. This was never a concern for the De Lorean since no convertible version was ever planned (though there were rumors of a four-door family car based on a front-engine chassis with room for four passengers).
It also makes sealing the car against water leaks more difficult because of the shape and movement path of the door itself. Many De Lorean owners report leakage when taking their vehicles through automated car-washes because of the high-pressure water jets, though in ordinary rainfall the seals were more than adequate.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Butterfly Vertical Doors
Butterfly doors, also called vertical doors or dihedral doors, are a type of door often seen on high-performance automobiles. They are similar to scissor doors, but while scissor doors merely tilt forward and up, butterfly doors also rotate as they move forward.
The McLaren F1, Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Saleen S7, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR use butterfly doors. The Toyota Sera was a limited-release car designed exclusively for the Japanese market which used this design. Due to its unusual design, some enthusiasts in Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain have privately imported the Toyota Sera. It is only available in right-hand drive configuration.
Koenigsegg uses a "dihedral synchro-helix" system for their vehicles (known in the custom-car world as "raptor" doors) which seems to combine the advantages of all the designs though with considerably more mechanical complexity.
The McLaren F1, Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, Saleen S7, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR use butterfly doors. The Toyota Sera was a limited-release car designed exclusively for the Japanese market which used this design. Due to its unusual design, some enthusiasts in Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain have privately imported the Toyota Sera. It is only available in right-hand drive configuration.
Koenigsegg uses a "dihedral synchro-helix" system for their vehicles (known in the custom-car world as "raptor" doors) which seems to combine the advantages of all the designs though with considerably more mechanical complexity.
Lambo Doors
In addition to the traditional gull-wing doors, there are other unusual door mechanisms - particularly among exotic and expensive cars. Lamborghini uses a design which is a hybrid of the conventional and gull-wing design which is generally referred to as a "scissor", "jack-knife" in which the door is still hinged at the front but swings upward from the car while staying parallel with the edge.
The McLaren F1 roadcar and Mercedes-Benz SLR use a variant of this system called Butterfly doors. The doors are hinged at the front similar the scissor doors but the hinges are placed higher up on the A-pillar, allowing the door to pivot both up and out. This increases the ability of the door to move out of the way of the car's occupants but does not prevent a convertible version. The Toyota Sera was a limited-release car designed exclusively for the Japanese market which used this design. Due to its unusual design, some enthusiasts in Australia, New Zealand and England have privately imported the cars. It is available only in right-hand drive configuration.
Koenigsegg uses a "dihedral synchro-helix" system for their vehicles which seems to combine the advantages of all the designs, though with considerably more mechanical complexity.
The BMW Z1 used a novel design in which its doors were not hinged at all but rather retracted vertically into the chassis, leaving an empty (though unusually high) sill.
The kit car Nova/Sterling [2] [3] also known as Purvis Eureka [4] in Australia used a special type of door, actually a lifting canopy, on several of their models where the entire top section of the car was opened. The Saab Aero-X used a similar design.
The McLaren F1 roadcar and Mercedes-Benz SLR use a variant of this system called Butterfly doors. The doors are hinged at the front similar the scissor doors but the hinges are placed higher up on the A-pillar, allowing the door to pivot both up and out. This increases the ability of the door to move out of the way of the car's occupants but does not prevent a convertible version. The Toyota Sera was a limited-release car designed exclusively for the Japanese market which used this design. Due to its unusual design, some enthusiasts in Australia, New Zealand and England have privately imported the cars. It is available only in right-hand drive configuration.
Koenigsegg uses a "dihedral synchro-helix" system for their vehicles which seems to combine the advantages of all the designs, though with considerably more mechanical complexity.
The BMW Z1 used a novel design in which its doors were not hinged at all but rather retracted vertically into the chassis, leaving an empty (though unusually high) sill.
The kit car Nova/Sterling [2] [3] also known as Purvis Eureka [4] in Australia used a special type of door, actually a lifting canopy, on several of their models where the entire top section of the car was opened. The Saab Aero-X used a similar design.
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