Good call.
Lower profile tires = Lower load rating

There's always a tradeoff for lower profile tires, and that's one most people don't consider. Too low of a profile tire is especially dangerous in trucks and large SUVs.....a lot of people do it and it's a disturbing trend.

 

XLR is a 2 seater. Cut the 760 in half, you get 380. Not too far off what the XLR is.

 

So they should add extra reinforcing to all new cars to handle a minimum of 350 pounds per seat. This would mean that the Mini could handle a 1400 pound payload. They could put in a V6 engine to compensate. But with some advanced materials, they ought to be able to keep weight down to 3100 pounds. I suppose it would mean the new Camaro would be over 4000 pounds. To get the mileage back, they could add a hybrid system with a few hundred pounds of batteries. Of course, you'd need a few extra inches in length to add room for the battery packs. But with advanced engineering, you could keep the weight down to 4500 pounds.

 

The vehicles are engineered to a much higher standard. The government just has some silly calculation that determines what goes on the label. As mentioned earlier, we don't see any cars falling apart b/c we weigh too much.

 

No ****! Kinda pathetic....

 

So true...

 

It's not the structure that we worry about - it's the load rating of the tires. And it's the tire and auto manufacturers that drive the GVWR, and not "some silly calculation" by NHTSA. Violate this at your own risk, and hopefully you know what to do when a tire blows out at the worst possible time.

 

hmm, this thread made me wonder what my dad's Corvette is rated for since my wife and I are heavier than the couple listed and the XLR is on the same chassis as the C6. I cannot find any weight limit listed on the website. I don't see anything listed on the XLR's website either...

 

True...my mistake. In my own defense, however, I'll point out that for someone with a background in finance and accounting, the only difference between "rent" and "lease" is the length of the contract.


I'm sure you are right, a lot of dealers and a lot of car salesmen know next to nothing about the vehicles they sell...my point was, however, that should any manufacturer consider using the rating as an excuse for an accident then they also have an obligation to point out the rating, at least in a more prominent place than a small tag on the door frame.

I'm also not quite so sure that these are just "recomendations"...I have a feeling there are a lot of people out there modifying their cars (especially wheels and tires) and giving no thought to how that affects load limits...if load limits have already been lowered because the manufacturers have gone to much bigger wheels and lower profile tires, imagine how much more load limits are being compromised!

Again, I don't like playing to the lowest common demoninator but people, as a group, are simply not as mechenically inclined or knowledgable as the used to be...fewer and fewer people are exposed to such concepts (in school or the workplace) as they once were - I dou't that 1 in 100 people even know there is a relationship between a vehicles load limits and its tires/wheels!

 

You realize that this is all dependent upon the tires right? It doesn't matter what the manufacture had on there if it gets changed by a customer. I don't think this is a manufacture problem. The customers want bigger rims. If people don't know how to maintain their car, or the limits of their car, how is that the manufactures fault?

 

Where in the quote you cited did I say it was the manufacturer's fault? It's not a matter of fault; it just is what it is.

If a vehicle's load limts have already been negatively affected by the manufacturer going to bigger wheels/lower profile tires (their motivation for doing so, aside) and then Johnny (who is only interestd in looking cool) comes along and goes to even more extreems while giving no thought to how it further affects load limts; then that is a big problem waiting for a place to happen.

It is not the manufacturer's "fault" but the manufacturers DO have a responsibility (and for that matter, so do the aftermarket wheel and tire manufacturers and those who sell them) to let customers know the potential dangers...the sad fact is, most people don't know how to maintain their car or their cars limits and don't have a clue when it comes to issues like this.

 

Just for kicks, while I was over at my parents' house this weekend, I checked the door jam on my dad's 2001 Corvette convertible. Sure enough, it said max load of 399 lbs.

That means that any time he and I are riding in the car, we are exceeding the weight rating (he's ~230-240, I'm ~205-210).



I'm sure there are LOTS of 200+ lb Corvette owners who, when combined with maybe a 100-200 lb wife (well, 95-105 lb supermodels if they are members of this site, of course) and a suitcase or two, are regularly exceeding the GVWR of the Vette.



That seems perverse to me.

 

But they are telling people. It is on the car. I don't think you can ask a car manufacture to come up with warnings for every possible change to a car that could have a potential danger and tell all of their customers about it.

Now, to the companies who make after market parts, I think they should provide information like this, and they probably are. I would take a look at the tires to see what information they provide on the tire or on the sticker that comes on the tire. What I don't expect is that someone who sells the product to explain verbally the limits of the product.