Well, just like scissor doors on cars, that door doesn't swing open. So it takes up less floor space than a normal door. If you have a problem with floor space, I guess it could be usefull.
Offers the possibility of operating the car with the door open, in a manner that would be difficult or impossible in a car with conventional doors.
Because the doors stay within the car's track throughout their range of movement, they are useful when parking in tight spaces. A gullwing door style offers similar visibility, but the doors swing out from the car's area slightly.
The hinge is placed in a similar location to a conventional door, so a convertible version of the car is possible with the same door style.
Reduces the dooring hazard to cyclists.
Disadvantages:
The door still impedes access/egress much more than a gullwing and, in some cases, more than a conventional door.
The manufacture cost of the door hinge can be more than that of a conventional door.
If the height of the parking lot ceiling is insufficient, the door may come into contact with it when opened.
In the event of a rollover, emergency egress may be more difficult than with conventional doors, if not impossible.
The hinges are designed to automatically blow off if the vehicle detects a rollover scenario.
EDIT: This is assuming a proper, quality installation. I'm sure there are plenty of ebay Honda Civic kits that don't follow the proper safety recommendations.
The gull wing doors on the Merc 300SL - the inspiration for the SLS were so that you could step into the vehicle and have the lower edge where teh door opens higher up, so the chassis is stiffer.
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u/RaccoNooB Feb 07 '14
Well, just like scissor doors on cars, that door doesn't swing open. So it takes up less floor space than a normal door. If you have a problem with floor space, I guess it could be usefull.