Change in the Weight of Cars?

[lazabby]

This past weekend I was talking to a fellow Delorean owner about the weight of the cars. He has an earlier model than me and the weight on his VIN plate is less than mine. I never noticed before but the earlier VIN plates have the weight as 3,180 pounds. All the '81s have that weight. Starting with the '82 cars the weight went up to 3,244 and stayed at the weight to the end. Anyone know why the weight changed?

[Josh]

That is not the weight of the car, it is the gvwr.

This weight is the total weight specified that the car can handle when fully loaded (full of fluids, luggage, driver, passenger, etc)

I would assume it was underrated then later adjusted.

[Jonathan]

Weight has nothing to do with it!

[OverlandMan]

Wasn't the original weight of the car empty around 2,700 pounds?

[ritztoys]

Howdy lazabby,

I have a local scale near my home, my car was empty, had approx. 1/4 tank of gas and all fluids normal..............# 2820 :thumbup: (Auto Trans)

[Jonathan]

Here's a thread with plenty of the weight distribution info in it from members that have researched it and/or weighed their cars on individual scales.

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?6030-What-do-these-cars-actually-weigh

[Dangermouse]

Copied from the internet:

There are dozens of factors that can be used to calculate GVWR, which isn’t to say that all manufacturers use the same list. Most obvious is the suspension, including spring rates, shock valving, anti-roll bars, etc. Braking capacity is another critical variable. Chassis design, wheel and tire size and rating, engine horsepower and torque, transmission capacity, differential gear size and ratio, driveshafts, axles, wheel bearings, CV joints—all these and more contribute in some way to the vehicle’s capacity to haul a load.

Of course, interestingly in our case, if you subtract 2743 (curb weight inc a tank of gas) from 3180 (GVWR), you only get 437lbs for everything you might want to put in the car, including the driver and passenger.

So two 200lb passengers can only carry 37 lbs of spares, tools, beer etc.

And if you and your passenger weigh 250lbs each, you'd better own an '83. :)

[louielouie2000]

The manual transmission cars were claimed to be 2,712 pounds dry- ie: absolutely no fluids- no gas, oil, etc. Hence the cars are heavier when weighed by owners. The automatic cars are heavier still; I've read conflicting accounts of 80-150 pounds more.

Regarding the gross vehicle weight going up for the '82 and '83 model years, the only thing that comes to mind is the frame strengthening recall. I believe '82 & '83 cars were equipped with those parts as a production change, so possibly they could be rated to carry more weight because of it. Just a theory.