I was reading through the manual and confirmed on the sticker on the driver door side, that the Clarity is rated to carry only 850 lbs total for passengers and luggage. That doesn't seem like a lot. If you happen to have 5 passengers with no luggage that would be an average of 170lbs per person. I can imagine me and my brother in law in the front (he's a big guy) and we'd be more than half the allotment for the rated weight. Makes me worried about doing a road trip with 5 people in the car and luggage. I know not everyone is 170lbs, but still it seems lacking in carry weight.
Never really thought about it before. This was the first time I was reading it in any car I had purchased. My previous 2 cars I didn't even think about it. But apparently 850lbs seems standard for mid-size cars. https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/09/the-heavy-reality-of-car-weight-limits-and-weight-capacity/index.htm https://www.manualslib.com/manual/979164/Honda-2016-Accord.html?page=416 It just didn't seem like all that much. Maybe it's my bro-in-law that is skewing things. He's not allowed in my car then... lol
Those are a standard calculation, it is like 150 lbs per person plus 100 for cargo. Every car is calculated the same way. I wouldn't worry about exceeding it some, but maybe add some tire pressure if you regularly run near that rating. Or even get a higher weight rated tire when you replace them.
Original tires are 94V which are rated 1477 lbs per tire and 149 mph. The Clarity weighs 4000 lbs, plust its 850 lb weighting puts it under 5000 lbs. Unloaded with its 57/43 weight distribution each front tire needs about 1200 lb rating. Fully loaded it might need 1300 lb rating. My hunch is you could exceed the weight limit by about 500 lbs before you exceed tire ratings. You can get tires for the Clarity with up to 1653 lb rating. I would do that if you regularly exceed the rated weight limit. 98V or W speed rated, but they will probably cut efficiency and comfort.
Road trip with 5 fully grown adults in the clarity or any other sedan sounds like the back seat might be over crowded
Does that mean the tire is good for more weight when traveling at lower speed? Don't think I will ever drive 149mph on road. When in college, me and 4 friends drove from San Diego to Seattle in a Civic with trunk fully packed in a road trip. It would be luxury if that was a Clarity We were fully grown but not big though.
A couple of years ago we (5 adults, 4 of us over 6 feet tall) drove Baltimore, MD to Nashville, TN in our 2010 Civic Hybrid. I'm certain that would be a lot more pleasant in the Clarity.
Although I LOVE the spaciousness compared to my Prius, I don't think anyone would want to take a 5 adult road trip in the Clarity. That center seat rider has to straddle the center hump in the back. It is great for taking the gang to lunch or a shopping trip, but I wouldn't put an adult in the middle of the back seat for an hour long drive.
Maybe some, but wouldn't count on it I personally wouldn't worry about it unless holding way more than rated. Even four 250 lb people would only exceed the weight limit a little. If doing that all the time I might get a 98V tire, but probably only when I wore out my others. Or maybe if hauling trunk full of bricks or something every day.
