Unveiled: New Opel Meriva: First Official Photos

captain_70s said:
Have people forgotten that flaw with scuicide doors... the one that game them their name?

The fact is that if you open a normal door without looking and a car hits it, the door gets ripped off, oh noez!
You forget to look while opening a scuicide door and the car hits it and slams it shut into you, epic oh noez!

A stupid idea that died for a reason.<_<
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I thought they were called that because of how they USED to be designed, a light front or rear impact would *pop* both of the doors wide open.

Mitlov said:
The idea isn't dead. Suicide doors still exist on five cars that I know of off the top of my head besides the Meriva:

(1) Toyota FJ Cruiser
(2) Honda Element
(3) Mazda RX-8
(4) Rolls Royce Phantom (sedan and coupe)
(5) Rolls Royce Ghost
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6) Mini Clubman
7) For years many of the first "extend cab" pickup trucks had them.
8) Saturn coupes and Ions in the laster years

edit: Nevermind...these aren'r eally "suicide doors" as you can't open them while the front door is closed. I think that should be a significant distinction. That rules out the RX8 and the (I THINK) the Element...

edit 2: It's harder to jump out of a moving car with rear-hinged doors...you try to roll out, and the door will catch you. :p
 
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I like it, I think it'll work well over there. one issue with the suicide doors though. If your parked in with two cars, one on each side, it will be interesting for rear seat passengers to get in, esp. if the other cars are close on you. At least with traditionally hinged rear doors, you might be able to squeeze in ok.
 
^Good question. This suicide door opening system requires that you open the door completely at 90? to get out and get in, I don't see this working in narrow parking spaces.
 
Nah it should be easier to get in irregardless of door angle, just slide your leg in and the rest follows, the same procedure as getting in or out of a front hinged door but with less contorsion. The Meriva rear doors open to a maximum of 84 degrees by the way, versus conventional door opening angles of around 68-70 degrees.
 
AiR said:
Nah it should be easier to get in irregardless of door angle, just slide your leg in and the rest follows, the same procedure as getting in or out of a front hinged door but with less contorsion. The Meriva rear doors open to a maximum of 84 degrees by the way, versus conventional door opening angles of around 68-70 degrees.
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yeah but they still have to swing outward. I guess the rear seat passengers could get in first in my mythical situation described above.- They'd walk past the rear suicide door, open it just enough and squeeze through, then close it.
 
But when you squeeze into a car with regular doors, the seat is just a few inches away, thought when doing it in a suicide door, the seat is much far away from your butt, thus making it harder to squeeze in if the door is not opened enough.
 
But the space you need to put your leg in is closer and you can grab onto the front seats to slip yourself in. It'll be a different motion than the "spiderlegs" motion in the front but I think it'll work.
 
New pictures released today

Lights!
https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2010/01/19/HBCMZE75_Pxgen_r_1300xA.jpg

Source of light!
https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2010/01/19/HBtebnfD_Pxgen_r_1300xA.jpg

Same stack as the Astra with the monitor moved upwards
https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2010/01/19/HBkevzO4_Pxgen_r_1300xA.jpg

And of course the FlexFix system makes its appearance in the Meriva as well
https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2010/01/19/HB1jTsOB_Pxgen_r_1300xA.jpg
 
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It does bicycles! :)

https://pic.armedcats.net/k/kn/knarkas/2010/01/19/HBY0Qtan_Pxgen_r_1100xA.jpg
 
Because you can't attach things at the back of the car that extends its length. That's why on Portugal you can only carry bikes on top of the car like this:

01-06-08_1207.jpg
 
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AudiV6 said:
It looks exciting, although I dont know why everyone thinks it looks like an Merc, I think it looks more like an Espace when I look on the Roof down to the Hood.
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Maybe because it does look a LOT like a cross between a Merc B class and the Honda Fit/Jazz in terms of body lines and shape.

The suicide doors are a nice touch btw. makes a lot of sense for loading kids and junk in the back.
 
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