maximum weight

[timbo59]

My wife just bought a 2010 2nd generation model from her sister-in-law in NY, who simply got tired of always trying to find parking for it in Manhattan. I'm flying up to NY next week to pick it up and drive it back to Florida, but have one problem - I wanted to detour to Atlanta on the return journey to pick up some hard-to-get tile from a distributor there, and am now worried about whether I might put too much strain on the Insight by doing so. It's only 14 packets of tile to cover an area of about 200', but according to my calculations those 14 packets will weigh in at about 50lb each, for a total of 700lb. Throw in my considerable size and we're talking around 900lb, which is equivalent to four large adult males!

Aside from the fact that the mileage will go out the window, am I putting too much of a strain on the car driving it 800 odd miles with so much weight, or should it be able to handle it okay?

Thanks in advance.

[Dakine]

Looks like 907 lbs not including driver weight. So 907 less your weight and other cargo. You have 7 lbs to spare!
2010 Insight Specs

Your lucky you don't have a gen1 as you would have been limited to 400lbs which includes the weight of all passengers. I sometimes need to deny access to heavier passengers due to this limitation - but I encourage them to lose a little weight or take a test drive alone.

I wouldn't haul that amount of tile in most vehicles - but that is just me.

[Cobb]

I help a contractor and have loaded down my car. Basically it hangs lower and takes longer to accelerate and stop. I hear the i1 guys can load down there vehicles with no problems.


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[Need4Speed]

I don't recommend putting it all in the trunk. Some on the front passenger floor, front passenger seat, rear seat floor, etc, some in the trunk.

[timbo59]

Thanks for that - I was looking everywhere for that information.

907lb, plus driver weight, gives me plenty of latitude.

As for the tile, no, I wouldn't normally toss it in a sedan, especially my wife's new baby, but I had a really hard time sourcing this tile and Atlanta was the closest I could find any. It would cost the equivalent of what we're paying for it to have it specially shipped down, so as I'm having to come down from NY with the car it seems like the smart play to detour over and kill two birds with one stone. I'll just be sure to bring a blanket and sit the tile down in the space behind the front seats to make sure the weight's evenly distributed.

Thanks again....Tim

[jcbesq]

and don't even think about using ECO mode !!! I'd keep it in S too

[timbo59]

@jcbesq - you lost me - I've never even been behind the wheel of one, so I'm not quite sure what you mean. I have read somewhere or other that the car has various 'modes' to put it in, so I assume your reference to 'ECO' is economy mode, right? That makes sense - I'm not going to get much economy out of the car with the equivalent of a few linemen sitting in the car! But what does 'S' mean? I'm going to basically have to learn as I go when I get up there and pick up the car in NY - I'm taking my GPS with me to help get out of the city from the Bronx and on my way to Atlanta (I've never driven in NY) so I'm not exactly going to be in a position to really get to know the car in a casual way!

[Cobb]

I use Eco mode unless I need more power or heavy traffic. S means sport mode. Just drive the car and watch the traffic, you will be ok.


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[timbo59]

Sports mode, eh? I'll bear that in mind.

As for the traffic, trust me, if you can survive driving round downtown Athens, Greece, during the middle of the day you can manage anywhere - we've done it a number of times, and survived!

My point was more about the fact I'd have to concentrate on my driving and directions, rather than playing with the car's controls.

Thanks again.