How much does the Delica weigh?

[The Pinkfingers]

I did a search on the forum and keep seeing two tons / tonnes. But which "tons" are we talking about?

Is that 2000 lbs?
4000 lbs?
2000 kgs (=4400 lbs)?

[marsgal42]

Have a look at your registration paperwork. It says how much ICBC think your Delica weighs. Gumdrop is 1960 kilos. Just under 2 tonnes, in other words.

Since pounds and tons have been obsolete in Canada for 35 years, I don't see the confusion...

...laura

[konadog]

Since pounds and tons have been obsolete in Canada for 35 years, I don't see the confusion...

If only it were true! I think there has been a steady regression away from metric. Too bad. And if you want to know exactly what your bus weighs stop at a weigh scale or the dump sometime - I've weighed all my rides this way

[mararmeisto]

Depending on your model and trim package, between 1.7 and 2.1 tonnes. The gasoline vans are the lightest, and the Super Exceeds are the heaviest.

marsgal42 is correct, we haven't used tons in Canada since Trudeau, but 1 tonne is equal to 1000 kg.

[marsgal42]

I'm always amused at the discussions on fuel economy where people insist on miles per gallon, despite a metric odometer, gas sold by the litre, and ill-defined units (U.S. gallon? Imperial gallon?).

CBC radio's token business report had a segment on this this morning. They ascribed slipping use of metric to our neighbours to the south, a lack of government commitment, and general resistance on the part of the older generation.

Top Gear (and U.K. car magazines, generally) are bilingual in this area: speeds and distances are in miles (U.K. road signs are still in miles), power is in horsepower, but all other dimensions and capacities are metric. The French and German car magazines are, unsurprisingly, 100% metric.

...laura

[The Pinkfingers]

Have a look at your registration paperwork. It says how much ICBC think your Delica weighs. Gumdrop is 1960 kilos. Just under 2 tonnes, in other words.

Since pounds and tons have been obsolete in Canada for 35 years, I don't see the confusion...

...laura

Hmm, there are more than a few non-Canadians who use the forum - hence my question as to which of the three "tons" people referred to. Also, our deli is on the boat - no registration papers.

[loki]

it doesn't make a "ton" of difference as I'm pretty sure the types of tons are

There are three similar units of mass called the ton:

• long ton (simply ton in countries such as the United Kingdom which formerly used the Imperial system of weights and measures) is a weight ton or gross ton, and is 2,240 pounds (exactly 1,016.0469088 kg). In the UK and most of the areas which used the Imperial system, the metric ton (1,000 kg), which it is conveniently very similar to—less than 2% difference—is the only form of ton legal for trade.
  In the iron industry in the 17th century and 18th century, a ton shortweight was the standard 2,240 lb, whereas a ton longweight was 2,400 lb (the hundredweight being 120 lb).
  The long ton is used for petroleum products such as aviation fuel.
  Deadweight ton (abbreviation 'DWT' or 'dwt') is a measure of a ship's carrying capacity, including bunker oil, fresh water, ballast water, crew and provisions. It is expressed in metric tons (1,000 kg) or long tons (2,240 pounds, about 1,016 kg)[1]. This measurement is also used in the U.S. tonnage of naval ships.
  Increasingly, metric tonnes are being used rather than long tons in measuring the displacement of ships. See tonnage.
• short ton (usually called simply ton in North America or sometimes called a net ton) = 2,000 lb (about 907.18474 kg).
  Harbour ton used in South Africa in the 20th century, equal to 2000 pounds or one short ton.
• metric ton, usually referred to as a tonne, is 1,000 kg (or 1 Mg) or approximately 2,204.6 pounds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ton

[jrman]

Guess I'm either lucky or cursed...being born in 1966 and remembering when my father was jumping for joy as we arrived at a gas station in Sicamous to see the price of fuel approximately 25% of his expectation - only to learn it had converted that day to price per litres...(summer of 1977 I think)...well, I struggled to change over, but am for the most part happily "bilingual" and maybe it's because I'm involved in the export markets (not USA but offshore). No matter what....I truly hope we don't backslide....metric is the only way as far as I'm concerned. And, the only Tonne that automatically crosses my mind is 1000 Kg's so guess I'm more converted than even I thought!

[Green1]

I'd like to think I'm bilingual, but it's not truly the case, I just use different measurements for different things...

I measure trip distances in kilometers, but the size of the room in feet. I measure elevations in metres, but I know my height in feet and inches, I buy my milk by the litre, but use it in cups or ounces. I weigh myself in pounds, but small objects in grams, I measure temperature in Celcius on my thermostat, but Fahrenheit in my oven. I measure pressure in psi, and fuel economy in litres/100km, my paper size is in inches, but my margins are in centimetres...

And the really weird part is that I really can't convert between all these units without some serious thought...

I think Canada has simply ended up messed up in this department, we have too much influence from the US, and it hasn't allowed us to really go metric.

[jrman]

Green1 - I totally hear what you are saying, we are products of the same generation I guess. My children (10 & 15) are far more "metric" than I am which is to say the struggle to convert back to imperial units. After reading your post, and considering I do all the same things that you do - the only difference is that I have been forced to learn the conversions due to my business, but without that influence, I too would probably be frustrated by the "pseudo metric" situation we have in Canada today. It is quite bizarre really, but clearly an indication of our reliance on the USA. In my industry, the entire forest management side is 100% metric, while the sales side of finished forest products (85% of which is destined for the US) remains completely unchanged from the imperial units used when the industry first started in our lands long long ago.

[Green1]

In my industry (telecom) everything is imperial, however someone somewhere decided that our schooling needed to be "updated" to metric, and by someone who knew nothing of the business, so instead of being told that an aerial terminal should be placed "about a foot" away from the pole it suddenly became "305 mm" (like anyone is ever going to measure it!) our pressurized cables that have a convenient 10PSI in them were suddenly 68.95kPa (despite all our gauges being in PSI) it was ridiculous!

You say your children are more metric, do they weigh themselves in kg? and height in cm? I'm sure they must know what a 4x8 sheet of plywood is though, would they know it's metric dimensions?

[konadog]

I was born in 1963 so I'm right there with the using both systems for different things, though I really wish I was totally metric. I just love the way the system is based on 10's and all linked and is truly systematic. Just makes more sense and feels tidier and less cluttered. No units based on the length of some king's foot, or the weight of his favourite cat, or... And what's with the Fahrenheit water freezing at 32 degrees I like metric water that freezes at zero! Very pleased the delica has only kms on the speedo and that all the wrenches (not that I use many ) are metric. Fractions?! Ugh, no Thanks! A side note - It bugs me that most of us say "kill -om-itter", rather than the proper "kilo-meter"

[Green1]

. And what's with the Fahrenheit water freezing at 32 degree

it actually made just as much sense as celcius... or at least would have had they been right...
the theory behind the Fahrenheit system was that 0 was the coldest it could ever possibly get, and 100 was body temperature... quite logical when you look at it that way... unfortunately they missed on both counts, and on one end by a rather large margin (as I constantly have the joy of discovering every winter!)
really no more arbitrary than celcius using zero as water freezing and 100 as water boiling. (in fact it's one of the few units in imperial that I don't find frustrating, mainly because it's not divided up in to weird numbers (I can never remember how many yards in a mile, or pounds in a ton, etc)

[ghmorris]

And metric fuel mileage is just as weird. Officially in Canada its litres per 100kms, but lot of people on the board list in kms/litre... I prefer miles per imperial gallon, but I was born in '53. Not sure which century simetimes tho!

George

[Schwa]

And just to confuse matters, my signature shows US MPG for my vehicles, I have to convert it to US measurements, then it displays it to me in metric, but not the general public (US based site)... I would much prefer some sort of localized mileage tracker system, but I'm too lazy / busy to find/start one at the moment.