benyl
09-17-2007, 10:44 AM
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In this day and age of Americans considering smaller and lighter vehicles than ever before, a new report from USA Today suggests that the machines themselves might not be up to the challenge of transporting our ever larger bodies.
As one consequence of the Firestone tire debacle in 2000, automotive manufacturers have been required to designate maximum weight capacities (including both passengers and cargo) on all 2006 or newer model vehicles. These limits, printed on the driver’s side door frame, seem almost dangerously small in certain cases.
Happy owners of the world’s most popular convertible, the Mazda MX-5, (nee Miata) might be surprised to learn that car’s total capacity is only 340 pounds. At a mere 170 pounds per occupant, with nothing else on board, it would seem that many (most?) Americans are pushing the limits of the Mazda every time they go for a spin. Honda’s S2000 is nearly as bad, affording a mere 400 pounds of capacity.
While manufacturers claim that limits are intentionally low and that a margin of safety is engineered into every vehicle, there is no mandate for an automaker to disclose where the real limits lie. With the weight of the average U.S. citizen still on the rise, knowing the exact point at which a vehicle becomes unsafe would seem paramount.
Are manufacturers doing enough to inform their customers about a vehicle’s dynamic limits? Have your say in ‘Comments’.
(Click on the link below to read USA Today’s list of vehicle passenger and weight capacities.)
+ USA Today: Car weight limits are a big, fat problem (http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-09-13-overloaded-cars_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip)
http://news.windingroad.com/car-buying/too-wide-for-our-rides-american-drivers-may-be-eclipsing-vehicle-capacities/
(http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-09-13-overloaded-cars_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip)
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In this day and age of Americans considering smaller and lighter vehicles than ever before, a new report from USA Today suggests that the machines themselves might not be up to the challenge of transporting our ever larger bodies.
As one consequence of the Firestone tire debacle in 2000, automotive manufacturers have been required to designate maximum weight capacities (including both passengers and cargo) on all 2006 or newer model vehicles. These limits, printed on the driver’s side door frame, seem almost dangerously small in certain cases.
Happy owners of the world’s most popular convertible, the Mazda MX-5, (nee Miata) might be surprised to learn that car’s total capacity is only 340 pounds. At a mere 170 pounds per occupant, with nothing else on board, it would seem that many (most?) Americans are pushing the limits of the Mazda every time they go for a spin. Honda’s S2000 is nearly as bad, affording a mere 400 pounds of capacity.
While manufacturers claim that limits are intentionally low and that a margin of safety is engineered into every vehicle, there is no mandate for an automaker to disclose where the real limits lie. With the weight of the average U.S. citizen still on the rise, knowing the exact point at which a vehicle becomes unsafe would seem paramount.
Are manufacturers doing enough to inform their customers about a vehicle’s dynamic limits? Have your say in ‘Comments’.
(Click on the link below to read USA Today’s list of vehicle passenger and weight capacities.)
+ USA Today: Car weight limits are a big, fat problem (http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-09-13-overloaded-cars_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip)
http://news.windingroad.com/car-buying/too-wide-for-our-rides-american-drivers-may-be-eclipsing-vehicle-capacities/
(http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-09-13-overloaded-cars_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip)
http://news.windingroad.com/wp-content/plugins/email/images/envelope.gif (http://news.windingroad.com/car-buying/too-wide-for-our-rides-american-drivers-may-be-eclipsing-vehicle-capacities/email/)