I don't have the full W&B data for all of our four DR400s to hand, but the Ecoflyer really is a 2+2 aircraft. (2 adults, 2 kids). The loading options are very similar to the DR400-120, although it's a lot faster than the -120, obviously.
Here's an example.
PH-SVT DR400-140B (NVFR equipped): empty weight 657,64, MTOW 980 kg.
So you have only 320 kg. to play with. With four standard (85 kg) adults that means no fuel whatsoever. Take three adults, or two adults + two kids and you can almost fill the 110l tank (89 kg - note that the Jet-A specific gravity is higher than avgas). With a fuel consumption of 20l/hr (70%, about 110 kts IAS), that's over five hours endurance.
If you want a proper load hauler, like A&C said, you might want to consider the -160 or -180 avgas burner.
PH-SVQ DR400-160 (NVFR equipped): empty weight 631 kg, MTOW 1050 kg.
That allows you to take four standard adults, and 110 liter (main tank) full of fuel, for an endurance of nearly four hours (33 l/hr fuel consumption @ 65%/115 kts. IAS). Leave on adult on the ground and you can also fill the saddle tanks (2x40l), raising your endurance to almost six hours. (Ours does not have an aux tank under the rear seats but that would increase the endurance even further.)
In both aircraft I have found balance never to be an issue. It's just the MTOW of the Ecoflyer that's very limiting.
A few other comments, in addition to A&Cs post. At our club, the DR400s are hangared each night, while the PA28s, C172s and the R2160 live outside all year round. That may tell you something. And obviously you need to be careful with the wing fabric. Don't just plonk your bag on the wing, for instance, and carefully stick to the wing walks. Pointing out that the wing surface is fabric is part of my standard passenger brief.
Regarding creature comforts, I find the DR400 very nice to sit in. The view is great (much better than a C172 or PA28), the panel is logically laid out, and depending on the model and panel fit there's storage bins in the panel. What I don't appreciate is that the front seats not only slide back and forth, but also tilt backwards a bit at their rearmost setting. If you're relatively tall (I'm 1.86), that gets tiring after a few hours.
Regarding maintenance, occasionally the discussion flares up about the nosewheel strut. This is designed so that it locks in the dead-ahead position when fully extended. After landing, it requires a certain pressure on the nosewheel before the lock disengages and you have nosewheel steering available.
With a properly maintained nosewheel strut this should not be an issue, but if the oleo is improperly serviced it may require a forceful dab on the brakes to disengage. Particularly if the aircraft was loaded with an aft CofG, and you make a greaser of a landing. Some pilots don't know this, and end up barreling off the runway (and hitting the PAPI, as in our case a few months ago) due to a lack of nosewheel steering. So it's one of the things that should be covered in the checkout, as something that you need to be aware of.
Last edited by BackPacker; 14th February 2013 at 08:04.