The Korean automaker has come up with its own way of making pillarless suicide doors work smoothly.
Filed with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, a patent discovered by CarBuzz details how Korean premium automaker Genesis intends to develop its own type of so-called suicide doors, and it wants them to appear in cars without using B-pillars to support them.
In order to make this happen, the patent explains a novel hinge system using rotatable claw levers, rails, and retaining grooves, not too dissimilar to Ford's design from earlier this year. Currently, a suicide door setup does not need these things, but for the purposes Genesis has in mind, it does. That's because Genesis wants one to be able to open/close both the front and rear doors at the same time or independently, and it wants to achieve that without the bulk of a B-pillar.
Why does that matter? Without a B-pillar, “when the door is opened, there is a feeling of great openness,” reads the patent. Moreover, a reverse-hinged rear door “is advantageous for the boarding and disembarking of passengers.” That's exactly why you'll find the door type on both a four-door Rolls-Royce Phantom and a two-door Phantom Drophead or an all-electric Spectre.
Naturally, there's quite the wow factor with such doors too. Opening these doors is the icing on the cake of any special occasion, and that's important for Genesis. The automaker is working on plenty of new high-end products, and suicide doors would fit beautifully.
Genesis also notes that the design is ideal for “leisure activities,” which suggests that the feature may make its way to an SUV someday. Kia's Concept EV9 showed just how spacious the combination of suicide doors and no B-pillars can make the cabin feel, and although Genesis still has a lot of interest in sedans and coupes, perhaps this would make larger family cars like the GV80 even more attractive.
Obviously, it's safe to assume that Genesis will ensure there is no water or ingress, and the chassis will be strengthened to make up for the structural losses of deleting the B-pillars.
Will it make production? We don't see why not.
After all, Genesis has been toying with the idea for a long time, and a Hyundai concept from 2013 called the HCD-14 Genesis – which previewed a high-end Genesis model devoid of Hyundai badges – featured such a design.
Keyword: Genesis To Rival Rolls-Royce With Suicide Doors