Has anyone weighed a 2005 MCS, loaded, with a full tank of fuel?

 

Loaded with what, one might ask?

 

Loaded - all options.

 

I have access to digital corner weight scales. Once our car arrives I will post some weight info.

 

I read somewhere (a thread on NAM, I think, but it might have been at motoringfile.com) that European laws regulate the publishing of vehicle weights, and the weight in your manual conforms to those regs. (What is it? 2768 pounds? Something like that.)

As I recall, the post said that's "fully loaded" (so sunroof, HK, nav, etc.), a 75 kilo (165 lb) driver, and all fluids, including a full tank of gas.

I'm not sure all the above is true, but I'm pretty sure that's what I read.

 

If that's true, it's a couple hundred lbs. lighter than I expected!

 

For comparison, you might see if you can find a copy of the Jan '05 (I think) Motor Trend. They road tested a bare bones MCS as part of a comparison test, and might have published the curb weight of that specific car in the test.

(I haven't seen the article.)

 

I've seen weights of barebones, I want to know what loaded tops out at, in real driving config.

 

Open your driver's door and look on the inside frame towards the back seat (not the door, but the body of your car). There's a chart there with random information, including the weight of your specific car. A loaded MCS is nowhere near 2678 pounds...think about 1000 (yes, one thousand) pounds more. My '05 has the premium, sport and winter packages (no navigation) and tops out at nearly 3500lbs according to that chart. So it would seem that once you load up on the options, things get quite hefty.

That said...my MCS is still FUN AS HELL to drive, so don't think it will take away from that. You're still gonna take turns faster than anyone else on the road and grin every time you see a cloverleaf exit/entrance ramp to a highway....you're just not gonna win many autocross events against the guys who ordered the bare-bones racers.

 

I think that's like gross weight, ie, loaded to the maximum cargo capacity, maximum fluids, maximum number of occupants, etc.

The actual weight of the car should be significantly less than that.

 

Not near my car, so I can't check to see what the exact numbers relate to...I just know my jaw dropped when I first noticed them a few months ago. I've had no reason to look again, though. As soon as I started it up and drove it, the grin was back and the weight was irrelevant.

 

The curb and GVWR are in the owners manual.
For an S they are 2,678 and 3,494 respectively, giving a cargo capacity of 816 lbs.
Options may add a few lbs here and there.


The short versions:

Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) refers to the maximum loaded weight of a vehicle, including fuel, fluids, and full payload.

Curb weight: The weight of an empty vehicle, without cargo and driver and passengers, but including maximum amounts of fuel, oil, coolant and standard equipment, including the spare tire and tools.


The long version:

What is "curb weight" versus "gross vehicle weight" and do they affect a car?

Now, many of you are thinking to yourself – “How does a woman know so much about this CAR stuff?”, especially something like curb weight and gross vehicle weight. Well, I’ll tell you! See my ex-husband was a weights and standards officer before he became a regular police officer, so I got really educated when he brought his work home every night. One thing I never want to be accused of is being ignorant!

Now, with that out of the way, I’ll explain to you what curb weight is and gross vehicle weight in an attempt to try to explain to you how this would affect your vehicle purchase.

Curb Weight is the actual weight of the truck without any passengers or cargo in it. It’s the base weight that is used in subtraction to calculate the total weight of the vehicle with passengers and cargo.

Gross Vehicle Weight is the total weight of the loaded vehicle. This includes the vehicle itself and the cargo that is loaded within that vehicle.

Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings are the ratings that are calculated by the manufacturers as to be the amount of weight that the vehicle will be when the vehicle itself is weighed filled with gasoline and loaded according to manufacturer’s specifications.

When a weights and standards officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a truck or other vehicle is exceeding the gross vehicle weight ratings for that vehicle, he will stop the vehicle and weigh it using portable scales which are underneath each axle. Then there will be a simple math calculation to determine whether or not the vehicle exceeds the gross vehicle weight rating specified by the manufacturer and by law. If there is a violation, there will be a ticket issued.

Naturally since this was many years ago when I first learned about these things, I did some research to determine if there was any other additional laws in place which have changed since my ex-husband was a weights and standards policeman.

I’ve found that there were major changes to the Motor Vehicle Act which affects vehicles which were manufactured before January 1, 2001 who have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 5500 kilograms. It appears that there’s going to be a more serious crackdown of violators of the law for vehicles that are in violation of the law and more serious restrictions for vehicles manufactured after January 2001.

However, in lieu of a ticket, officers will be issuing notices to vehicles manufactured before January 2001, if the officer feels that the vehicle exceeds the recommendations. The owner will have 30 days to be in compliance with the regulations or have additional possibly prosecution.

All of this means really this in plain English. If you’re going to use your vehicle to do hauling, then the government wants you to make sure that you use a vehicle that complies with the manufacturer’s recommendations. They’re doing this in order to crack down on unsafe vehicles on the road that may cause accidents due to overloading.

As long the consumer is aware of the ratings of their vehicles and loads them properly according to the manufacturer’s recommendations then there should be no problem with purchasing a vehicle regardless of whether or not it was manufactured before or after 2001. Therefore, I see that the concern about curb weight and gross vehicle weight only has merit when you’re referring to trucks that will be used for hauling cargo rather than passenger cars.[/font]

 

Yeah, I know all that...that's why I want to see if anyone has an actual weight in driving form with all options. I know what the book specs are, and I know they are low by a little bit, as they are figured from the base model.

 

I weighed my 2003 MCS fully loaded,full tank, 160# driver 2960 pounds. It should be similar on the 05

 

Thank you very much, that's what I wanted.

 

Here's an earlier thread, with actual weights of specific cars:

Mini on the scales....what's your Mini weigh?

 

this is NOT a universal definition. the eu dictates that the published curb weight include a driver and baggage weight. i forget what the exact eu number is, but that 165 pound number seems familiar. the mini curb weights INCLUDE this driver and baggage weight.

i believe, but am not sure , that the japanese curb weights are allowed to EXCLUDE the weight of the spare tire and tools.

 

I would not dispute that there are different standards throught the world. Seems strange to introduce that type of variability into a standard, though. Thus the curb weight of my MCS with me and my bags could well be a hundred pounds more than the curb weight of my MCS with my wife as driver and her bags.

If the MINI curb weight includes that of the driver, then is the stated carrying capacity of 816 lbs really 816+165 = 981lbs, or does the MINI curb weight vary in the EU?
Given the 2,678 number comes from a US manual, I would assume that is without driver. Does the EU manual state the curb weight as 2,678 + 165 = 2,843??

Note that the 2,678 lbs (per the manual) assumes 'all optional special equipment', not the base model as stated by kaelaria.