Word: thunk
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Clunks That Go Thunk...
Stanford and Michigan State-to work exclusively on doors. Ford, Chrysler and G.M. test and refine their thunks in soundproof chambers that are sealed like bank vaults. Stereo tapes are used to record the effects that subtle design changes have on the sound. High-speed movies are made to study vibrations, and oscilloscopes gauge the thunk's duration. The automakers also employ automatic slamming machines, which create sounds ranging from what G.M.'s Hedeen calls the "angry-wife slam" to the "husband-coming-home-late-at-night slam." The former is 50 foot-pounds, and the latter three...
Company chiefs like to test the thunks themselves. Chrysler Chairman Lynn Townsend sometimes drives subordinates to distraction by slamming doors repeatedly in the ear-splitting confines of a testing garage. American Motors Chairman Roy Chapin likes to go into his company's executive parking area to try out the thunk. Ford has a jury of product-development specialists to pass judgment on thunks...
...quality of the thunk depends on many factors: the rigidity of the car's body, the locks, the soundproofing in the door, the carpet on the floor. Heavier cars tend to have sturdier thunks, but lighter models can do well if aided by a few gimmicks. Special bracing inside the. door can improve the thunk, but technicians do not know just how or why. "There's a lot of black magic in this thing," says John Adamson, an American Motors' vice president...
...American Motors, says Adamson, is "a clump-not a clink, clatter or clunk, but a clump." Of course, he concedes, "we will never reach the ultimate sound." Undeterred, scientists continue to chase across farm fields by dark of night, stethoscopes in hand, in pursuit of the elusive, perfect thunk...