C/F doors & accidents

A thought occured to me tonight, sat on the M6 in stupid weather & worse driving - my Supe will be sporting carbon fibre door & door cards sometime soon and I started wondering how these would hold up if I git T-boned by some berk. I can't remember what was in the door the last time I stripped it in so far as stopping unwanted things trying to get in.

Would I be wise to invest in some form of cage, or would the c/f withstand enough impact to keep me intact?

Full Revs

Animal

i'm sorry i can;t help you but you did some good thinking!

the doors have a side impact bar, the carbon would just turn to dust

Yeah - dont'cha hate it when the 'sensible head' wakes up?

the doors have a side impact bar, the carbon would just turn to dust

I thought they might, just couldn't remember what I saw when I replaced the window motor. I'd have found out when I built the doors anyway, but it's always good to know beforehand.

Carbon fibre when it shatters produces some nice sharp bits.

I thought they might, just couldn't remember what I saw when I replaced the window motor. I'd have found out when I built the doors anyway, but it's always good to know beforehand.

Yes the stock doors have pretty beefy side impact bars inside, which seem to do the job well, judging by some of the accident pics that have been posted up here.

Are the CF door just the outer skin or a complete door? It would be worth checking if they have any side impact protection inside. I wouldn't want to personally drive around without them on the road or track.

would the c/f withstand enough impact to keep me intact?

Most aftermarket CF body parts such as this, are a combination of GRP inner layers and CF outer layers (not sure if the Seibon ones are constructed in this way or not). Very different to CF construction on say an F1 car.

If there is nothing inside the door, they will give you virtually zero side impact protecting.

I've seen the door cards and they are indeed layered with fibreglass on the inside (and a work of art, too) . All I've seen about the door panels are the pics from Seibon's website - they look to be fibreglass inside, but probably not a lot in terms of strengthening.

This looks like it could be a pain - I'm too lazy to want the hassle of stripping my car to put a cage in...

Love to see pics of the door cards if you decide to go for them.

The c/f door cards are just replacing the stock ones right?

In that case it won't make the slightest difference as the door cards are just faux leather mounted on a softboard backing. They offer no protection at all, its the impact bars in the doors that give them strength (and the sills). However if you were to receive a side on impact, I would hate to think of what that fiberglass and c/f would do in terms of a penetrating injury.

The c/f door cards are just replacing the stock ones right? In that case it won't make the slightest difference as the door cards are just faux leather mounted on a softboard backing

Some one last year posted about the Aerotop having thicker door cards to help stiffen the chassis. Wonder if he went cf:)

Love to see pics of the door cards if you decide to go for them.

Already bought, Ewen - had to send 'em back the other week as they got damaged in delivery. They really are a work of art - the resin is a good 2mm thick giving a good depth making the weave really stand out. It's all one peice from the front - door handle moulded in, the lot, but has been made in 2 parts of fibreglass at the back, crewed together.

Only problem I can see is that they are completely devoid of any cut-outs for switches, etc and the driver's side window switches sit in a recess, so I'm wondering if they'll look odd (or fit at all) in the flat c/f panel.

http://www.mvpmotorsports.com/merchant/catalog/jdm/t/supramkiv/p/sb/dp/sb_dp1.jpg

www.mvpmotorsports.com/merchant/catalog/jdm/t/supramkiv/p/sb/dp/sb_dp2.jpg

http://www.mvpmotorsports.com/merchant/catalog/jdm/t/supramkiv/p/sb/dp/sb_dp3.jpg

http://www.mvpmotorsports.com/merchant/catalog/jdm/t/supramkiv/p/sb/dp/sb_dp4.jpg

http://www.mvpmotorsports.com/merchant/catalog/jdm/t/supramkiv/p/sb/dp/sb_dp5.jpg

http://www.mvpmotorsports.com/merchant/catalog/jdm/t/supramkiv/p/sb/dp/sb_dp6.jpg

Ooo I have need of Kleenex.

The c/f door cards are just replacing the stock ones right?

 

In that case it won't make the slightest difference as the door cards are just faux leather mounted on a softboard backing. They offer no protection at all, its the impact bars in the doors that give them strength (and the sills). However if you were to receive a side on impact, I would hate to think of what that fiberglass and c/f would do in terms of a penetrating injury.

Yeah, but I'm getting the DOOR PANELS too, so everything will be c/f!

And, yeah, that's what my sensible head thought, on the way home in torrential rain - how badly would I come out if I got nerfed! Wonder if you could stick a thin ally panel inside to at least deflect sharp bits? Hmm. Cheers Doug, nice sobering images there. Ah, the joys of vanity...

Not much to them by the looks of it.

Door pannels?

Usaully they are just an outer skin the attach's to the rear door. if thats the case then you will be ok. If they are full on doors ( i dread to know the cost) then your going to be one splintered daisy pusher.

It'll just splinter. Have you ever seen how sharp broken fibreglass or c/f is?

Nasty!

Just don't have an accident is my advice.

And just wait till you pop down tesco's and some granny reverses into the door. On a normal door you could pull the dent out, but on a CF one it's bye bye spare cash, heello 2nd CF door.

it's bye bye spare cash.

I'm sorry, I don't understand. What's "spare cash" ?

I'm sorry, I don't understand. What's "spare cash" ?

very true

The Seibon doors do have a bar running the full length of them. Got them on my car. They are also heavily backed by lots of fibre glass which looks to be the only thing holding that bar in. So if I was to be hit side on then the bar probably wouldnt do anything anyway.

I could be talking bollocks here, but the stiffener is more likely more of a panel-breaker than a structural member...as these doors are sold on their light-weight qualities then I cant see them laminating in a solid steel bar, but I can see them bonding in a strip of wood, foam or even rope as a stiffener. If it was a steel bar, relatively unsupported at each end, worst case scenario in a side impact would be one end of the bar being pushed in toward the driver or passenger. Dramatic, but possible. I'd go as far as saying the door would be safer if the stiffener WAS a bit of rope. They do look scrotum-clenchingly gorgeous though.

The pic above of the door looks as though it retains the stock steel inner skin and side impact bar, with just the outer skin is CF.

Just an observation from the pic, no idea if that is correct or not.

No steel on them Nic. No idea about what that baris made of Im afraid, as its all coated in glass fibre. Seibon arent very informative about the doors manufacture, and neither are their dealers from what Ive encountered.