one way to increase FE...

[Erdrick]

is to reduce your weight. Weight piles on from a lot of different angles. People may strip down their cars, but how many people forget to check the bathroom scale for possible improvements?

Check out this little blurb on the subject...
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...ded-cars_N.htm

As an added bonus, I tacked on a poll to this. Let's all be honest now...

[baddog671]

Im 165ish but 6foot, so I'm good there :P.

I took about 115lbs off the car's original weight...

[kamesama980]

yea, I can see both sides of the equation tho. saying a 2 seater caddy (comeon, who drives caddies... on average, not young small people).

At the same time, the car's engineered for a certain thing and it WILL handle differently with more weight in it. the manufacturers are just covering their asses for when someone says "my car handles like mush" they can say "well you overloaded it"

I work in performer flying effects (among other things) lifting peter pan, wicket witches, jesus, and angels. there's a HUGE F'ing liability to deal with as you can imagine. Sure the weakest part is at least 8 times the expected performer weight but we still tell people not to mess around with the systems when we or the designated operators aren't there. we've got a pretty inclusive liability waiver ;-)

The limits are kinda retarded though. I can fill my car to the limit with space to spare in the trunk and only me

[GasSavers_Red]

I'm fairly light weight for my size, 6' 130ish or so lbs.

kamesama980 what do you consider the limit? Payload or GVWR?

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by Red

I'm fairly light weight for my size, 6' 130ish or so lbs.

kamesama980 what do you consider the limit? Payload or GVWR?

Unless they botched the math, GVWR should be the car with full fluids plus payload/passengers. I packed my trunk solid (and it's not a small trunk) with tools, not light ones either, then loaded 8 tires in the passenger area. most recently anyway...

Now I've got a pickemup truck for that kind of thing. The cressidas getting new rear suspension anyway...the rear shocks didn't so much like the trip I just mentioned. it's being slowly relegated to 'fun' car

[oneinchsidehop]

Originally Posted by Erdrick

is to reduce your weight. Weight piles on from a lot of different angles. People may strip down their cars, but how many people forget to check the bathroom scale for possible improvements

As an added bonus, I tacked on a poll to this. Let's all be honest now...

This hurts... when I moved back to VT I was racing bicycles and weighed in at 153, now I'm 211. Forget FE for a moment, this sucks.

I need to start commuting on bike, or change my screen name to lard4ss.

[Thermactor]

Used to weigh 245, now humming around 167

[GasSavers_Minger]

I weigh 165, weighed 155 when I started driving...not being in track has killed me as far as weight goes =/

[Erdrick]

I have pretty much, since the beginning of high school, weighed the same. We are talking 10 years here. Makes me wonder if I have an extended family of tape worms living in me. I have started to gain recently though, but thanks to the Wii Fit, I am starting to normalize again.

[VNelson]

Originally Posted by kamesama980

Unless they botched the math, GVWR should be the car with full fluids plus payload/passengers.

Seems to me that most people aren't carrying much payload when they drive. If so, being overweight probably doesn't reach the car's GVWR and present a hazard.

On the other hand, I have seen estimates of the enormous number of gas gallons it costs to haul around overweight Americans. Here's a link:

http://www.news.uiuc.edu/NEWS/06/1024auto.html