With featherweight construction and manual steering, the Alfa Romeo 4C looks like a fun machine to pack with a weekend’s worth of stuff and take to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Poconos, canyons, or whichever geographical area near you has good roads. However, you may have to be careful if you want to bring a passenger because this carbon fiber machine might not be ready for them despite having a passenger seat with a seat belt and everything. Let me explain.
Just like pickup trucks, each and every passenger car sold in America has a payload capacity for the total permissible weight of passengers and luggage. Usually, a combination of structural and tire loading factors are the reasons behind these limits, and they normally accept a sensible amount of occupants and cargo. A new Camry is rated to carry 1,131 pounds, and even my Porsche Boxster is rated to carry 529 pounds, according to the sticker under the frunk lid.
In contrast, the Alfa Romeo 4C has a comically low payload capacity. For instance, this 2015 4C Launch Edition sold on Bring A Trailer displays a payload capacity of just 344 pounds and the later Spider models with the removable roof shave that absurdly low figure down further.
According to the CDC, the weight of an average American man aged 20 or older is 199.8 pounds, and the weight of an average American woman aged 20 or older is 170.8 pounds. Split the difference, and you end up with an average weight of 185.3 pounds. No big deal, right? Well, if you were to put two people of average weight in an Alfa Romeo 4C, they’d handily exceed the maximum payload capacity before we even split hairs about belt buckles and wallet construction adding ounces here and there.
Now, this seems somewhat important considering that the Alfa Romeo 4C has a carbon fiber tub, and unlike steel, carbon fiber doesn’t exactly have shape memory. You know how when you gently bend a piece of steel with your hands, it bounces back? This fancy plastic doesn’t exactly do that. Considering that replacing the carbon fiber tub — the structure that everything else bolts onto — would likely total the car, I certainly don’t feel like risking finding out the hard way what happens when you overload the vehicle for a prolonged amount of time.
Granted, it’s unlikely that any structural issues will arise from fitting two average-weight occupants into an Alfa Romeo 4C and continuing normal operation, but a more pertinent matter is liability should things go wrong. If anyone is injured in the event of a crash, insurers might cock an eyebrow if the car’s payload capacity was exceeded.
In any case, should you wish to take an Alfa Romeo 4C out for a weekend getaway with a passenger, you might want to use a scale as part of the planning process. Oh, and even if you don’t have access to an Alfa Romeo 4C, it probably isn’t a bad idea to take a quick look at the sticker on your vehicle detailing exactly how many pounds it can carry.
(Photo credits: Alfa Romeo, Bring A Trailer)
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There’s clearly nothing wrong with the weight of the average American.
I went on a work trip to the USA for two weeks and gained 3kg (7lb). That’s 5% of my weight.
The way you eat there is fucking insane.
It’s half the food/portions, and half the complete lack of walking (except in a few cities like NYC and SF).
You buried the lede. The real headline should be “Holy Crap! The average American now weighs 199.8lbs(m) 170.8lbs(f)”
You buried the lede. The real headline should be “Holy Crap! The average American now weighs 199.8lbs(m) 170.8lbs(f)”
Comments read like revenge of the midgets.
Truth. I was excited about my 65-pound weight loss recently until I read these comments and realized I’m still apparently a disgusting fat American whale blob.
Comments read like revenge of the midgets.
Truth. I was excited about my 65-pound weight loss recently until I read these comments and realized I’m still apparently a disgusting fat American whale blob.
Fun fact from the manual:
“The maximum load limit for the luggage compartment, in addition to the kits provided, is 33.1 lbs (15kg).”
So… be thin and pack light, I guess.
Fun fact from the manual:
“The maximum load limit for the luggage compartment, in addition to the kits provided, is 33.1 lbs (15kg).”
So… be thin and pack light, I guess.
Citation needed. One of the reasons they use carbon fiber in so much stuff for biking is precisely because it flexes well, and it does so while weighing much less than steel. In fact, I suspect carbon fiber is very similar to steel in this respect. Unless you bend it to the point where you compromise the structure it will snap back to shape just fine.
Citation needed. One of the reasons they use carbon fiber in so much stuff for biking is precisely because it flexes well, and it does so while weighing much less than steel. In fact, I suspect carbon fiber is very similar to steel in this respect. Unless you bend it to the point where you compromise the structure it will snap back to shape just fine.
May I sugest that Italian engineers have precisely thought this through and no room for the spouse is no coincidence?
May I sugest that Italian engineers have precisely thought this through and no room for the spouse is no coincidence?
I’m 145 lbs and my wife is 100lbs. #winning 😉
I’m 145 lbs and my wife is 100lbs. #winning 😉
Ya’ll looked at a ND Miata lately? Mine says 340lbs