Build quality of P5
 

Hey Guys, My friend got a Lancer today and I was noticing how heavy the doors were compared to our p5's. Does Mitsubishi use heavier strength metal on their cars? Our p5's seem kinda cheap, when you open and close the doors, it is hella light. Kinda sucks.

I drove a Galant and it sounded like you were closing a lid on a garbage can when shutting the door.

hahah, thats pretty funny. I am just wondering about the structual integrity of the car itself. I know I got side air bags but I the doors just feel flimsy! I guess I am ranting and raving LOL

yeah really, what's so wrong with light doors if it's made to absorb impacts same as heavier doors? If you're concluding a car's build quality by the weight of its doors, try a camaro, I bet those HUGE doors must weigh a TON!!! :D

heheh, I am thinking that a heavier door will provide more safety than a light door. Makes sense right?

Not necessarily..
A door made with spongy lead sheets will way hella more than one constructed with steel safety beams wrapped .. which one would you trust to stay out of your lap in a side collision? ;)

Thats true but check what I found. Not to start a flame or anything.. It is just weird that the door is so light

Weight Matters - All cars must meet US Department Of Transportation standards for crash-worthiness. Larger and heavier cars, however, are usually safer in a collision than smaller ones. If a heavier vehicle collides head-on with a lighter one, the lighter will suffer substantially more damage.

well that is just plain simple physics.....like DUH! hit a P-5 head on with a tank...which one will get more damage...yeah that is extream...but you see what I mean? lol

to be fair....you would have to compare the actual physical size of the two doors...their length, height, thickness....sure our doors are light....but DAMN they aren't very big either! another good point to this is that them being lighter they won't wear out the hinges so fast.....I once had a camero that did exactly that with those MONSTER heavy doors....it sucked.

just listen to the door when you close it.....it sounds solid as a rock....I love that sound. Light or not....they are solid.

Re: Build quality of P5
 

Don't worry about the weight at all, I work at a steel company that specializes in making automotive exposed sheet steel, among other things for cars. The weight isn't as important as the "strength" of the steel If you think the stuff these days is thin and light, wait till you see what happens in 10 years when all the stuff in research right now hits the production lines. I would suggest the following website if you want to know more.

http://www.ulsab.com/

Stocker.

That's one thing I hate about my 99. For some reason, the rear doors sound like a tin can when you close them, seriously. The fronts sound fine, but they are not as solid as say, a VW. I've had a chance to look at some 2001 Protege's and Protege5's and for some reason they feel a little more solid both front and rear when you close the doors. Hmmm..

The VW GTi I tested sounded like shit when you shut the doors. They are really heavy and clunk real loud when you shut them. My friends beetle sounds like poop too. I love the way the p5's light doors sound when you shut them. They sound similar to BMW's and Lexus's doors being shut. I don't think either of those too are car company's are ever accused of being "cheap"

I think our doors sound solid...
 

Our doors might weigh less, but honestly, I think our doors sound pretty solid when shutting them. I don't hear any rattling or tin can sound when I shut my P5 doors which is what I liked about the car. I'd rather have lightweight but strong doors than heavy ass doors that provide the same protection. Our car needs to be as light as possible considering the amount of power it puts out. The real ?? is a crash test comparison of the two vehicles, or two vehicles in the same class.

you could always remove the door panel on the rear doors and put some sound deadening material on the inside skin of the door.....that would help dramatically....

BUT...if you do...just enusre its not ABSORBANT....or the water that WILL get in your door will be absorbed by the material and start to promote corrosion of your door insted of going to the bottom of the door and draining out the holes.

I do think a crash-test is the best way to compare two vehicles. A solid piece of steel for a side door (or any component) would be a bad idea. That thing would be so stiff if a car hit you the door would just get rammed into you.....owch.

The weight of the steel is also irrelevant. The strength of the metal, like stocker mentioned, is important, but even more important is the toughness of the steel. The toughness of a material is its ability to absorb energy and is a combination of strength and ductility. A tool steel which is very strong is useless in automobiles due to low toughness and corrosion resistance. So the word strength can be misleading. Automobile steel (thankfully) is the cat's pajamas in terms of steel. It is usually an HSLA (high strength low alloy) steel, so it has the great strength of higher carbon steels while containing very low amounts of carbon and other doping additives. Since those things generally lower a material's corrosion resistance and ductility, auto steel is steel corrosion resistance and energy absorbing.

Well, sorry for the ramble, but I think auto steel kicks. And to stay on thread, I would rather have the Pro5's lightweight doors than some old-skool depleted uranium door anyday.

Thanks guys for your input! Much appreciated! Oh well, I love the car anyways. Plus the Proteges had a decent crash test. As long as it lasts awhile I am happy!