Trunk (Automobile) Information @ InexpensiveVehicles.com

The trunk or boot of an automobile An automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the or car is the vehicle's main storage, luggage Luggage is any number of bags, cases and containers which hold a traveller's articles during transit. The modern traveller can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, trip necessities, and on the return-trip, souvenirs. For some, luggage and the style thereof is representative of the owner's wealth, or cargo compartment. Trunk is used in North American English North American English is the variety of the English language of North America, including that of the United States and Canada. Because of their shared histories and the similarities between the pronunciation, vocabulary and accent of American English and Canadian English, the two spoken languages are often grouped together under a single category and Jamaican English Jamaican English or Jamaican Standard English is a dialect of English spoken in Jamaica. It melds parts of both American English and British English dialects. Typically it uses British English spellings and often rejects American English spellings; boot is used elsewhere in the English speaking world Dark blue: Countries and territories where English is spoken natively by a significant population. Trunk is also primarily used in many non-English speaking regions, such as East Asia. In earlier usage, a boot was a built-in compartment on a horse-drawn coach A coach was originally a large, usually closed, four-wheeled carriage with two or more horses harnessed as a team, controlled by a coachman and/or one or more postilions. It had doors in the sides, with generally a front and a back seat inside and, for the driver, a small, usually elevated seat in front called a box, box seat or coach box, used originally as a seat for the coachman A coachman was a man whose business it was to drive a coach, a horse-drawn vehicle designed for the conveyance of more than one passenger — and of mail — and covered for protection from the elements. He was also called a coachee, coachy or whip and later for storage.

The cargo compartment is most often located at the rear of the vehicle. Storage areas are normally at the other end of the vehicle to which the engine is located. Some mid-engined cars (such as the Ferrari 360 The Ferrari 360 is a mid-engine two-seater sports car produced from late 1999 until 2005. The 360 replaced the Ferrari F355 and was itself replaced by the fairly similar Ferrari F430. For the 360, Ferrari partnered with Alcoa to produce an entirely new all-aluminum space-frame chassis that was 40% stiffer than the 355, yet 28% lighter despite a 10%) and rear-engined In automotive design, a RR, or Rear-engine, Rear-wheel drive layout is one which places both the engine and drive wheels at the rear of the vehicle. In contrast to the RMR layout, however, the center of mass of the engine itself is actually past the rear axle. This is not to be confused with the center of mass of the whole vehicle, as an imbalance cars (such as the Volkswagen Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle, also known as the Volkswagen Type 1, was an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003 with over 21 million manufactured in its air-cooled, rear-engined, rear wheel drive configuration. Its platform ultimately gave rise to successful variants, including the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia and the) have it in the front. Vehicles such as the Volkswagen Type 3 The Volkswagen Type 3, also referred to as the Volkswagen 1500 and later the Volkswagen 1600, was a range of small cars from German manufacturer Volkswagen . Initially, VW used the moniker VW 1500 rather than Volkswagen to avoid confusion with its venerable Volkswagen (1200cc) sedan, had storage compartments in the front and in the rear, above the low profile boxer engine. The mid-engined Fiat X1/9 The Fiat X1/9 is a two-seater mid-engined sports car designed by Bertone and built by Fiat until 1982 and Bertone between 1982 and 1989. Production lasted from 1972 to 1989 with the first official right-hand drive variant arriving in 1976. The Fiat X1/9 was the first affordable mass produced mid-engined sports car to employ the revolutionary use also had two storage compartments, although the rear one was very small.

Classification

Open or closed

This loadspace may further be categorised as open or closed.

Open loadspaces are those found in station wagons A station wagon is a passenger car body style similar in terms of passengers to the sedan/saloon style but incorporating a full-size back cargo compartment accessible via a fifth door instead of the standard sedan trunk slot. Station wagons are not to be confused with hatchbacks, whose difference lies in the size of the said compartment, with (estate cars) and SUVs. Closed loadspaces have a decklid The decklid is the cover over the trunk/boot of motor vehicles that allows access to the main storage or luggage compartment. A hinge allows the decklid to be raised, while devices such as springs hold it up in the open position and are typically those found in saloon (sedan A sedan car or saloon car (British English) is a passenger car with two rows of seats and adequate passenger space in the rear compartment for adult passengers. The vehicle usually has a separate rear trunk (boot in British English) for luggage, although some manufacturers such as Chevrolet, Tatra, and Volkswagen have made rear-engined models. It) or coupé A coupé or coupe is a closed car body style, the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time. Coupés are often hardtopped sports cars or sporty variants of sedan (saloon) body styles, with doors commonly reduced from 4 to 2, and a close-coupled interior (i.e., the rear seat placed further forward than in a bodies. The loadspace is separated from the passenger compartment by rigid elements of the vehicle body and trim. Closed trunks are generally trimmed in simple materials whereas many station wagons are trimmed with higher cost and better looking materials as the loadspace forms an extension of the passenger compartment. In order to achieve privacy and or protect the contents of the vehicle from theft or excessive heat, a loadspace cover may be fitted, This may take the form of a rigid parcel shelf, typical of many hatchback A Hatchback is a broad term for a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate — and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box design, the body style typically vehicles; or in the case of station wagons, cars and many SUVs A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. Usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle, some SUVs include the towing capacity of a pickup truck with the passenger-, a roller blind A window blind is a specific type of window covering which is made with slats of fabric, wood, plastic or metal that adjust by rotating from an open position to a closed position by allowing slats to overlap. Metal window blinds are often used outside of the house or business to protect against theft, temperature, vision, bad weather and fire in a removable cassette.

Increased variability

To increase the flexibility of the trunk loadspace, the addition of folding rear seats increases the size of the trunk and so allows the occasional transport of luggage that would have otherwise required a much larger vehicle. Some manufacturers of smaller and even saloon/coupé-bodied cars offer this flexibility to their otherwise closed loadspaces and so blur the lines of definition by adding folding rear seats to allow the occasional transport of bigger loads.

Active and passive safety

Active safety by luggage retention

The loadspace can contribute to the active- and passive safety Automobile safety is the study and practice of vehicle design, construction, and equipment to minimize the occurrence and consequences of automobile accidents of the vehicle. Active safety In engineering, active safety systems are systems activated in response to a safety problem or abnormal event. Such systems may be activated by a human operator, automatically by a computer driven system, or even mechanically. In nuclear engineering, active safety contrasts to passive safety in that it relies on operator or computer automated may be promoted in vehicles that are partially loaded. Here the use of lashing eyes to restrain luggage can prevent or reduce damage to the vehicle and its occupants in severe manoeuvres. In driving while cornering 'in-extremis', the prevention of sudden weight transfer due to poorly loaded luggage can be enough to prevent the vehicle losing grip, and potentially avoiding thereby an accident; active safety.

Passive safety by luggage retention

If a crash should occur, lashing eyes can reduce the severity of outcome of the accident by keeping the luggage in the loadspace compartment and thereby preventing projectiles from harming correctly restrained passengers in the passenger compartment. These lashing features may be in the form of fixed or foldable loops or in the case of certain European vehicles (for example BMW X3 The BMW X3 is a compact crossover SUV marketed by the German automaker BMW, based on the BMW 3-Series E46 automobile platform, and now in its first generation. BMW designed the X3 in conjunction with Magna Steyr of Graz, Austria — who manufactures all X3's under contract to BMW, BMW X5 The BMW X5 is a mid-size crossover SUV introduced in 1999. It was BMW's first SUV also known as "Four-by-Four" (4x4) in the UK. It features all-wheel drive and is available with either manual or automatic transmission (automatic only from 2006 model year). A range of gasoline inline-6s, V8s and diesel engines are offered, and various VW Volkswagen is one of the world's largest automobile manufacturers. The company is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen is the original marque within the Volkswagen Group, which includes the car marques Audi, Bentley Motors, Bugatti Automobiles, Automobili Lamborghini, SEAT, Škoda Auto and heavy goods vehicle manufacturer and Audi Audi AG is a German manufacturer of a range of automobiles, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand, German pronunciation: [ˈaʊdi] models) combine sliding loops in a rail system to allow optimal positioning of the lashing eyes. At the same time this eases the integration of accessories for loadspace management; dividers, bike carriers etc. into the interior of the vehicle, a principle that has been applied in cargo vans A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground, also referred to as a light commercial vehicle or LCV. However, in North America, the term may be used to refer to any and air transport Many cultures have built devices that travel through the air, from the earliest projectiles such as stones and spears., the boomerang in Australia, the hot air Kongming lantern, and kites. There are early legends of human flight such as the story of Icarus, and later, somewhat more credible claims of short-distance human flights appear, such as for many years.

Barrier nets/grids

In vehicles with open luggage compartments, some are fitted with metal grids or guards to retain loose items in case of collision, or to simply create a bulkhead between the load in the trunk - for example animals - separated from the otherwise unprotected passenger space. Another solution for items that have not been restrained is the loadspace barrier net. These may be directly attached to the body structure or, in vehicles with loadspace cover cassettes, as a combined loadspace cover and barrier net (ger. Kombirollo), the net confining luggage to the loadspace in case of emergency braking and minor crash A traffic collision is when a road vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other geographical or architectural obstacle. Traffic collisions can result in injury, property damage, and death impacts. These nets have the advantage over metal guards that they can be rolled-up when not in use, taking up much less space than a comparable guard. A guard may however be tailored for an even tighter fit to the body interior contours than a roll-away net.

Additional functions

Beyond carrying luggage, the trunk/boot of most passenger vehicles commonly contains various other components often behind the trimmed surfaces of the interior. These components may be accessed by the customer or the service personnel through (in some cases lockable) hatches in the trim, or by removing carpet and support boards etc. Typical components:

Dangers

Children trapped in trunks can die of suffocation or heat stroke. Once in the trunk, they may not be able to get out, even if they entered through the interior, because many rear seats only release to the trunk from inside the passenger area.

Shelves and boards

Some vehicles offer configurable cargo conveniences such as a shelf or board. They often serve various purposes. The multiposition rear shelf on the Chrysler PT Cruiser The Chrysler PT Cruiser is a retro-styled compact automobile that was first launched by Chrysler as a sedan/hatchback in the late 1999 and as a coupe/convertible in early 2005 (for the 2005 model lineup) can be used as a table for a picnic In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance, and usually in summer. Descriptions of picnics show, a second cargo layer, or a security screen. The Citroën C3 has a foldable segmented false floorboard that compartmentalises the cargo area, makes loading easier, and evens out the load floor when the back of the rear seat is folded down.

Central locking

The locking of the trunk may be achieved together with the passenger compartment.

Main article: Power door locks Power door locks allow the driver or front passenger to simultaneously lock or unlock all the doors of an automobile or truck, by pressing a button or flipping a switch

Remote opening

Some cars include a function to remotely open the trunk. This may be achieved through a variety of means

release of the latch whereby the doorseals push the decklid away from the lock, the trunk is then open, and the lid may not have revealed the opening.
release of the latch whereby a spring pushes the decklid away from the lock and open, the trunk is then open, and the lid reveals the opening.
release of the latch and actuation of a drive, whether hydraulic (BMW 7 Series The BMW 7 Series is a line of full-size luxury vehicles produced by the German automaker BMW. Introduced in 1977, it is BMW's flagship car and is only available as a sedan) or electric (BMW X6 The BMW X6 is a mid-size luxury Sports Activity Coupé released for sale in the second quarter of 2008 by German automaker BMW. The X6 was marketed as a Sports Activity Coupé by BMW. It combines the attributes of an SUV (high ground clearance, all wheel drive and all-weather ability, large wheels and tires) with the stance of a coupé (bold), which pushes the decklid away from the lock; the trunk is then open, and the lid reveals the opening. This may then be electrically closed again.

related terms:	Trunk	Active Safety	Passive Safety	Vehicle
	Boot	Automobile	Mid Engined	Luggage Retention
	Compartment	Passenger Compartment	Rear	Loadspace

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