Tom,

You might just as well use the passenger seat. If you put a person in there, you'd definitely be over your load limit.

That might give you a safe place to stow the Guitars and reduce the risk that they'd sail over your head and out the windshield in a panic stop situation.

I'm always leery of loading things above the height of the seats. I've probably seen too many horror movies.

You're probably right. My brother-in-law is always telling me to tie everything down. The Fit is better than the Pilot in that respect because the gear sits lower & has less chance of getting over the seats.

Hey, this time next week we'll either be jamming or else asleep in Little Switzerland.

Cool pics Tom! Amazing.
Now that you've scaled down the vehicle, I'm seeing more Model IIs in your future.

Hi Tom

That looks remarkably like our Honda Jazz here in the UK - we bought it 5 years ago and love it.

Initially, before we had the L1 (in fact before we had any PA gear at all) the first test was 'Can we get 3 Taylor guitars in hard cases in the back out of sight?'. If the answer was no, we wouldn't even test drive the car.

Now with 4 guitars, 1 x L1 MII, 1 x B1, 2 x T1 & mics in a case, 2 x mic stands, 2 x cases for cables... everything fits in with the rear seats folded flat and we needn't pile things high.

Low petrol consumption, 85K miles on the clock, easy to drive, reliable.

Our next car may well be another of the same.

Jimmy & Val,

It is the same as your Honda Jazz. We just don't have the cool name for it here.

I agree. I can actually get a Model II, B1, acoustic guitar, mic stand, cords/gear toolbox, briefcase, laptop bag, & a handtruck behind the rear seat out of sight, so I'm very happy with it.

Tom

howdy! i was searching for the load limit information on honda fits and came across this forum. i am not a musician and this is not a music related question, but i would definitely appreciate your reponse! i drive a honda fit and am thinking about carrying 500lbs of clay from tx to portland, or. normally, i get about 35-38 mpg on the hwy. so, tom, i was wondering how things went w/ the 823lb load and whether you experienced a drastic loss of fuel economy. i know this post may be a bit of a stretch, just trying to get some more information before i take off by myself(and the clay) cross country!

thanks,
lauren

Lauren,

I haven't noticed lower mpg with a heavier load although it's logical to expect that. I'd just try to spread the load so it's not all on one axle.

Tom

Hi Tom,

quote:

... lower mpg with a heavier load ... it's logical to expect that.

Agreed!


Hi Lauren
When I saw your post last night you got me wondering about the same question. I found this.

quote:

Remove Excess Weight

Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2%. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle's weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.

Fuel Economy Benefit: 1-2%/100 lbs
Equivalent Gasoline Savings: $0.04-$0.08/gallon

Source: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml

thank you both, that is exactly the sort of information i was looking for!