How to close the door of your FD
 

Over the years, I have seen several threads about how difficult the doors are to close on the FD. I have always thought they were ridiculous. And yet they keep coming up. Recently someone wanted to build some sort of circuit to crack the window when the door was open, and then close it after the door was closed. That's just plain crazy in my book.

The issue is that the car is small in relation to the size of the doors. The action of closing the door forces lots of air to the inside of a small space which is well sealed. In order to make the door close more easily, one of two things has to happen: Pressure has to relieved, or lowered. The solution really is quite simple. Close the door almost all the way, stop, and then close it firmly the last few inches. By doing this, you will reduce the pressure on the inside of the car to almost nothing. It works really well, and takes very little effort.

I hope to never see another thread about how tough it is to close the doors on our cars!!!

Ok I never thought of that, but I'll try it next time. Honestly this gave me a chuckle because it's so simple.

Thats true but at the same time it would be nice to be able to close it like a normal car.

I only have to close it a little harder on the driver side, passenger side close like any other car, it doesn't bother me tho.

I have never noticed this issue

like i said in that thread:

all it takes is a nice firm push, those who want to build some dumb contraption are LA.....well not lazy....., WEAK

nice there goes my door handle sales lol jk

Unfortunately for me, this is harder to do because I didn't have the TSB for the doors done on my car :(.

I've found that if I let go of the door while closing it doesn't shut. If I keep my hand on the door and push the whole time it's no problem.

My girlfriend gives me the absolute #$$^&^&*'s when it comes to this. This is my pet peeve. She gets out of the car, and just lightly nudges the door with her limp wrist, and expects it to close.

It doesnt, so she gets angry- "This goddamn bucket of $%^&* the door doesnt even close properly!!" So she grabs the door handle and absolutely WHAMS the door shut. Despite being told how to shut it properly a million times over, she does not remember how.

And while I'm in rant mode. To open the door, she grabs the handle and absolutely *wrenches* the thing upwards, as if she's trying to tear it off. And then lets go of the handle and lets it "WHACK" down against its natural stop. She has NO mechanical empathy for anything, and it drives me insane. I keep telling her to go gentle on the door handle, or it WILL break. But does she care? No. "Lighten up, its just an old Mazda. Its not like its a BMW or anything." She retorts. When the handle started to get stiff (as they all do) I told her to wait, and I would walk around and open it for her. But no. She grabs the handle flap with both hands, bends her knees and WRENCHES upwards on the handle until it clicks open. I have to grit my teeth watching it.

She gets in- "This stupid car is too small inside!! Where am I meant to put my handbag?? I cant get out properly. My skirt sticks up. The door is too hard to pull closed from the inside, come shut it for me." Blah blah blah... High heels scraping all up my kick panels, and the constant goddamn whinging about "Why couldnt we take the BMW? Why do we have to take this car? The heater is too hot..." Aaaaargh. Just. Sit. Down. Stop. Complaining.
She doesnt know how to drive (stalls an automatic) so she ought to be grateful she gets driven everywhere for free in an RX7... Sadly she thinks its a 4 cylinder Mazda, and doesnt get it. The door issue just sends me into a major rant...

^ sounds like you need a new girl. my girl absolutely loves driving in my 7.

The reason the auto window thing was brought up, Adam, is because newer cars like the modern z's and the G's roll the window down slightly when the door is opened and close once the door is shut. Compared to when I closed the door on my car when it's sealed (windows all the way up, roof shut), closing the doors on those cars is near seamless.

I'm not saying I mind this at all since I am used to it, but people (yes even men) have trouble with getting the door shut all the way in my car because they do not know. It's a good idea, and if a new car comes with it then more power to them, but I won't go out of my way for something like that.

Never been much of a problem for me cause I always crack the windows a bit for ventilation in the summer. I do this on EVERY vehicle I drive.

a buddys bmw is kinda cool when you open the door it lets the window down a half inch so when you close it the air can pass thru the crack and it automatically rolls its self up. Bmw's way of keeping the cabin pressure down when closing a door.

Mustangs do that as well

Ok... SO... every time she gets the chance, she biches about your gem(the 7), she has a flatline learning curve(doors/doorhandles), doesnt listen to you, and constantly whines about how much she wants to drive a beamer...

You, dear sir.... Need to go on the hunt again... :icon_tup:

If my girlfriend even grinned her face about my 7... Its out..! This is my hobby, my passion..! Its the one thing i will never ever stop doing, cars! She knows it coming into the relationship, and sees it 2-3 times a week... She knows what she gets..

A friend of mine, who is like an encyclopedia on old 70s mazdas, have had his passion for cars since he was a kid. His wife for 15 years, who knew this when she married him, suddenly and recently, out of the blue, gave him an ultimatum:
"me or the cars".(he has 2 old mazdas) She hadn`t even finished the sentence before he was on his way to the front door 3 feet away, opened it, and "showed her the way out". No hesitation, just... pure instinct, as he said :D


for the topic: Just close the damn door with a firm push the last foot. No big deal!

To Matt535:

Your girlfriend does not care about or respect the things that are important to you. This will not change. Get rid of her, its time to move on.

LOL @ thread turning into relationship 101

Ive always rolled down my window a hair, just enough to stick my fingers through to the outside and closed my door using the actual door frame/window frame using my flat and opened hand. I dont even pull on the door panel. No one else does this? Its like second nature to me now.

Thanks Adam. Now....can you make a thread about:
*Not flooding?
*Not over-heating?
*How to put spark plugs in without mixing wires up?
*Why it isn't a good idea to get that shiny cool-looking ebay midpipe for your stock car?
*Why you should study the FSM for the first year before modding the shit out of your first rotary car?
*Why, as a 16 yr old working at Micky Ds you should probably keep the Civic?
*Why a girl shouldn't abuse a guy's car anymore than a guy should abuse a girl?
*Why it's a good idea to modify and source cold air from your stock airbox rather than from a couple of filters with zip-ties in the engine bay? Oh wait...you've done that one. :)

My wife told me that me selling my 7 was a deal breaker.... She said that she understands my love for my car, and never wants me to change that for her......

cough cough.... KEEEEPER!! :D

I lol'd


I never thought there was an issue in the first place.
Having issues closing the doors? Solution: lube the damn gliders & hinges.

Doesn't leaving the AC on vent let the air out? If it's on recirculate then you are closing the car off.

pop the hatch first, then closed the doors and finally close the hatch.
That should solve the problem.

:bigthumb:

normal is BAD!
 

Do you want it to drive and look like a normal car too? I tell people it's a rare race car, so if you want convenience (or something "normal") go buy another car.... but I also have a 2003 black on tan 530i with pretty much everything.

I roll the window down, stick my hand through and grab the top and pull the door shut...

this car is anything but "normal" and if it had anything that were... I wouldn't want it... I want my "finicky super model bitch".

OP, thanks for the advice. It seems very genuine.

Anyone who complains about shutting the door.... You should sell your FD and buy a Mercedes... seriously!?!