Too much, probably, if our cars' maximum permissible load ratings are any indication. We might be surprised to realize just how easy it is to exceed a manufacturer's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) for a passenger car or a sport-utility vehicle. That figure, when exceeded, absolves the automaker of blame in the event of mechanical or dynamic failure. Honda, for example, notes in the owner's manual of its four-passenger Element: The maximum load for your vehicle is 675 pounds (308 kg). This figure includes the total weight of all occupants, cargo, and accessories, and the tongue load of you are towing a trailer. It's not hard to imagine, in a vehicle with seating for four, as much as 77 cubic feet of cargo space, provisions for a roof rack and a 1500-pound towing capacity, handling topping that 675-pound limit. (For the sake of off-the-wall comparison, this writer's 1974 Volkswagen Beetle is rated to carry some 870 pounds.) To wit: The eight-cylinder Chevrolet Corvette and the four-cylinder Mazda MX-5 Miata each carry maximum-load ratings lower than 400 pounds. Go figure.
Source Wired
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