Something I pondered today...

[seany87]

We had a decent lightning storm early this morning and it got me wondering - Cars are supposed to be very safe to be in during a storm as it makes a faraday cage, oui?

I was wondering how this would apply to my car, the pistonheads favorite - the MX5, if it took a hit directly on the top.

Would the lightning zap through the fabric roof and fry me and the missus, or would it simply act in the same way as a closed roof car and travel through the soft tops metal supporting frame, around the car body etc?

If the latter, would the metal hood melt or distort and if not, why not?

[seany87]

Lets just say for the sake of this question and my curiosity the lightning had to hit the car dead centre, i.e the metal roof frame and not the car body - wouldn't the fabric roof be burnt away to some extent? Would we not receive any injures subsequently i.e flash burns or a shock?

Cant imagine having a million volts zap a few thin metal tubes a couple of inches above your head be too healthy whether or not our resistance to a strike is high.

Thanks for the responses so far, quite interesting