i asked this in another thread elsewhere, but has anyone seen an rx8 with the hood open? it seems to me the hood would be hinged in the front. a traditional rear hinged hood would make it difficult to work on an engine which is placed so far back.

what do you think?

I saw one pic that showed it with a front AND rear hinge - a 2-piece hood. The front hood overlapped the rear one - it was weird looking. I hope that doesn't make it to production.

That was the RX-Evolv. There haven't been pictures of the RX-8 with the hood up yet.

Thanks for the correction, Styjan. It had been a while since I saw it - guess I forgot what I was looking at :)

A front-hinged hood would be the nicest looking and give easier access to both the engine as well as front suspension parts. It would also go well with the suicide doors. My $0.02 worth.:o

What happens with a frontal collision, does the hood go forward and into cabin?

Yep. Which is why you don't see them anymore. Can't think of a single car that has a front-hinged hood on the market right now.

For crash tests of buckling points, the hood must hinge at the cowl. Or it would take two heavy-duty latches at the firewall/cowling to prevent the "horizontal guillotine". No one wants to manufacture something with that liability.

I believe Corvette and Vipers hoods hinge from the front.

http://ebay0.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_8a2af1e0fefa30efbdad251a148b136e/i-1.JPG

http://209.98.185.93/ebay/folders/02Z06/MVC-055S.jpg

great pic of the viper styjan! i thought it did but i didn't have time to look for a pic.
side note completly off subject...
your avatar shows the rotor moving clockwise. i thought i saw that animation with it rotating counter- clockwise. which way do it go? :confused:

Oh yeah, forgot about the Viper.
Check out how heavy-duty that hinge looks! Nothing like the old first generation RX-7 hinges, or the hinges on some GM produces in the 80's and early 90's where the hood swung from the front.

I created that animated gif from a movie on the Mazda USA site with the RX-8 stuff. Thats the direction it spins.