[rescue] What a load of...

[Francois Dion]

On 9/27/07, Dan Sikorski <me at dansikorski.com> wrote:
> Francois Dion wrote:
> > Disapointing. I was really expecting close to 2000lbs. They make the
> > cars out of tin nowadays? So I'm baffled by such low numbers. Let me
> > look at a Chevy Avalanche. 1190lbs! ??
> >
> I don't find this at all surprising.  Minivans are intended to move
> families, and children weigh much less than your average 175lbs.

But I see them loaded with stuff besides all the kids, and a roof box
too... And with the gas tank full etc. Surely we are talking more than
1200lbs? Even with 5 people and some luggage, you can easily reach
over 1000lbs without trying. At that kind of load, they typically are
riding pretty low in the back.

> On top
> of that, I'm not sure you could physically fit 8 175lb people in a
> minivan.  They're not going to spend a lot of money building them up
> with a lot more capacity than 99.9% of their customers will use.
> Besides, car manufacturers make trucks for people who want to move
> cargo.  Use the right tool for the job.

The avalanche is a truck tough... What's a normal capacity for a full
size pickup truck? 3000 lbs? I've asked around and several thought
their pickups were only rated for 1500lbs in the bed, surely that cant
be right.

But my point was that if they are going to make "cars" that have less
weight carrying capacity and can fit less people than cars from
previous generations, that surely they must have improved in some
other way, even if everything else stayed the same. I'd expect them to
weigh less, have better fuel economy (>25 mpg) etc.