I read this on here just a minute ago from someones review....

Is that true?? I couldn't even haul 3 of my guy friends then, Im right at 200lbs....

I can see it now,

Friend: Hey man, can I get a ride to the movies with yall?

Me: Nope, sorry man, my 4 seater car only holds 3 people...=/

 

man dude, the fit can handle way more than that. two of my brothers and i are all at 200 lbs and my buddy that's about 250 all rode in my Fit. sure the car was slower than usual but it didn't have a problem handling that weight. you just gotta keep the revs higher than usual.

 

Check out the capacity of most other cars. They are all around the same.

 

The manual for my 09 says 850lbs.

 

It's 850 total.

And here's a fun fact from a blogger:

Monday, October 13, 2008

regarding that Element i had...

…one thing i remember that astonished me given how much cargo room the 2005 Honda Element I once owned had. I read the owner’s manual front to back, as I do with every car I own, and I swear, if memory serves and I’m pretty sure it does in this instance, the maximum cargo carrying capacity INCLUDING passengers was 650 lbs. that’s right. you were not supposed to exceed 650 lbs. of passenger / cargo weight. do you realize how little that is? you put 4 linebackers in the 4 adult-sized seats and you’re over the weight limit by 300 lbs. or more.


the reason i bring this up is because when perusing the 2009 Fit’s owner’s manual, that total weight limit (there is a name for it, but i forget, GVWR? gross vehicle weight restriction or?? anyway) is 850 lbs. that’s right. the Fit is designed to hold more than the Element.
anyway, just thought I’d pass that along.

Posted by brian at 8:22 AM 0 comments
Honda Fit

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I decided to check on that Element figure, and found a review of the 2004, that mentions 675 as the total weight limit:
http://www99.epinions.com/review/200...t_192553324164

And a much older thread discussing that 675 limit:
http://www.elementownersclub.com/for...read.php?t=532

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We now know the answer to this question:

Which can carry more weight?



Looks can be so deceiving!

 

any car you use will require more power to pull more weight. You can feel the difference when some of my co-workers get on the car with me. I'm close to 300lbs and they're in 200+ range... car suffers going up the hill but then again, its a small 4 cylinder, not a v8...

 

Ya the 850 limit really surprised me, along with the inability to tow anything. With me being 235 and with alot of my other friends being around 200 my car is only safely a 3 seater. Has anybody went over the weight limit, and by how much?

 

I'm fairly certain this is just a "recommended" weight so Honda can cover their ass.

I drove to Las Vegas from San Diego with 4 people plus luggage. I'd guess that's around 900 lbs. The car was slow, but it was fine all around.

 

Wait, so, can the Element *officially* tow anything? No, I guess?

 

i'm pretty sure it's rated for like 1000 lbs or am i sorely mistaken?

 

Looks like 1,500 according to wikipedia. I'm not sure what to think about towing stuff with the Fit. I've heard so many contradicting theories.

 

i can say that after Hurricane Ike, I went to Home Depot, and purchased materials to rebuild a 60' run of wooden fence that had blown down during the storm. I folded all of the seats down, including the front passenger seat, and loaded ALL of the wood in one run. I can say that it did look pretty funny among all of those Silverados and F-150's, and it was pretty low to the ground, but it hauled it all.

i love this car.

 

From the third link I posted:

"There have been numerous posts here that say the manual states a 675 pound load (passengers, cargo, etc), including tongue weight of any trailer."

and

"Maximum weight of trailer with load should not exceed 1500lbs. and the tongue weight should not be more that 10% or 150lbs which you must subtract from the 675 weight limit. This is the manufacturers stated limits which are always very conservative. However, the E was not designed for towing heavy loads anyway, so why worry. I tow a 200lb. motorcycle trailer with a 600lb motorcyle for a total of 800lbs. and if the tow is set up right, the tongue weight should be 80lbs. This gives me 595 lbs for me, the wife and whatever else we need and that's plenty."

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Well, there's reason #2 for not letting a co-worker/regular lunch dude near my Fit if I'm driving...the bastard is around 335 lbs. Reason #1 being his legs are like tree trunks, and known for destroying interiors of small cars as he gets in and out. He blew-out an interior panel in a guy's brand new Suburan a few years ago...the expression on the proud owner's face was priceless.

 

I've driven with four plus luggage and the Fit handles the weight fine. A little slow up hills, but the Fit is always slow up hills. I'm sure if the shocks blew out and I told Honda that I was over the weight limit they wouldn't cover it under warranty, but I don't think it's much of a safety issue.

On the plus side, it's a good excuse to tell the friends that don't pitch in on gas... Sorry, we're over the maximum weight with you in the car, maybe next time.

 

maybe get a trailer for the 4th person.

 

get some coilovers with high spring rate and high performance tires and you'll be able to load up the car more....unless something else breaks. hahaha.

 

i guess if you look at it this way it might make some sense... we have 2 kids. 2 kids will fit fine in the Fit with their child seats.

but if we had a 3rd kid, we can't fit them all + the wife so we would get a bigger car maybe a Odyesse or something.

so why not get a bigger car?

 

I didn't know what the right term was, and it's "payload"...
This is a neat site, with vast gaps in the data, but still interesting:
HowStuffWorks "Honda Payload"

It's not just Honda, there are all kinds of makes and models. Right vehicle for the job. That's what everyone needs. We just went through the SUV trend, but it was NOT what people needed.

The Fit is no massive linebacker. Nor is it a wide receiver. If folks want brute power to haul big things and people, the Fit isn't a great choice. If folks want zippy fast performance to reach 80 on the onramp, neatly plowing into the semi in the slow lane, the Fit is not the car for that either.

What are ya...Gallagher? You want a slice of watermelon, you don't use a sledge hammer to get it. And you don't use a nail file to break rocks. Right tool, right job.

A car is a tool. Figure out the MINIMUM requirements needed CURRENTLY and go from there. And that's for YOU in YOUR life. If it is imperative to haul around a lot of weight, for fun, for work, then rethink what kind of vehicle you need.

Because each vehicle has it's position. How hard would anyone have to think about hauling cow manure in the Fit? It stinks. Really bad. And if that was your job, you would not want it in the passenger compartment.

Get it yet?

 

It is not the engine capacity that limits the maximum load, it is the strength and design of the suspension that limits load. The engine has way more than enough power. Very important, the brakes also won't work as well, at a higher load. The engine has enough capacity to haul over 1000 pounds uphill, without any appreciable increase in heat, or wear. Modern cooling systems are all over-engineered. Yes, you may have to keep revs higher, but there is plenty of power. However overload the vehicle, and the car may take a longer time to come to a stop, the brakes may overheat and fade with repeated stops, the car may lean around corners, and how the car feels when you turn around corners may feel very different. Tires may wear unevenly, and faster. Bumps and potholes may cause the car to lose traction, and may be felt more strongly. Smaller bumps may cause the car to scrape bottom. All these things affect safety.