OK guys, you’ve sold me on the Civic.
Now – manual or automatic? I’ve always loved stick shift. Is the stick a good bet in a Civic? Does it make it 10 times more fun? (please say yes!)
Nevermind… I covered my mistake with the handy editing tool
I’ll just bow out of the discussion. The lengths of rigid kayaks seems a bit much to me for a small vehicle and while the odds are you won’t have any problems with this, the odds that you MIGHT have gone up a bit.
This is only mentioned because many years ago while traveling near Gallup NM I stopped (along with a number of other people) to see if I could be of any assistance to someone who was blown off the road and rolled 200 feet down a ravine.
Kayaks is not what did them in (too many years, don’t remember what it was), but thankfully the elderly couple made it out with only minor bumps and bruises.
Someone posted on this forum a few years ago about strapping a sofa? to the top of a mini-van for transport from Houston? and this was widely discouraged by almost all posters, including me, for the same reason.
Good luck in your decision.
Yes. My 1998 Civic has 177,000 miles and the original clutch is still going strong. I would rather drive my 98 Civic DX with a manual transmission tham my ex-girlfriend’s 2002 Civic EX with an automatic transmission. It is a lot more fun, but not really 10 times more fun. If you want a Civic that is 10 times more fun to drive, you should look at the Civic Si. It is available as a two door coupe or a four door sedan. You can also check out the Civic Hybrid. Edmunds.com did a study of all the hybrids and found that the Civic Hybrid is one of the most financially sound hybrids made. If you drive a lot of miles, you will recouperate the added expense of the hybrid in fuel savings in a reasonable amount of time, unlike the Prius, which takes so long to recouperate the added expense that it is financally unsound no matter how many miles you drive.
So if you want sporty, look at the Si. If you want fuel economy and you drive a lot of miles, look at the hybrid.
The thing to keep in mind is that kayaks are so small and aerodynamic that they don’t add much to the aerodynamic profile of the car. A canoe or a roof top carrier that is thicker than a Thule brand carrier, like one from Sears for example, would make up a larger percentage of the aerodynamic profile of the combination of vehicle and rooftop cargo. With a truck or an SUV, rooftop mounted cargo, no matter what the size, is a relatively small percentage of the overall aerodynamic profile. So with a car, rooftop mounted cargo will have more effect on handling and fuel economy than with an SUV or a truck. If the kayaks are relatively flat and light weight, they don’t necessarily pose a safety hazard. We don’t know how tall the kayaks are. peahayes has only given us the weights and lengths. I do believe, though, that the weight capacity of roof-mounted cargo on most vehicles is 100 pounds. The two kayaks alone weigh 100 pounds and that doesn’t include the weight of the rack and the equipment used to hold the kayaks in place. So peahayes, make sure you don’t exceed the weight capacity of roof-mounted cargo listed in the owner’s manual of your new car, no matter which one you select.
They may be small and don’t add much to the aerodynamic profile but they do present a lengthy broadside to crosswinds and semi-trucks. Considering the kayaks are longer than the vehicles themselves this would concern me a bit.
On two occassions crosswinds have blown both me and my motorcycle (no fairing, bags, etc.) into the ditch, luckily without dumping it.
The 16’ 6" 65 lb sea kayak is 22.25" wide/tall, and the 12’ 6" 42 lb flatwater kayak is 28" wide/tall. I checked out the dimensions of our '92 Accord, which we used to do all this kayaking & camping. It is only 1 foot longer and 48 lbs heavier than the new Civic. I searched & searched the web, but couldn’t find the GVWR of the '92 Accord. I had trouble finding the GVWR for the Civic too, but maybe it’s in the brochure I’ve got at home.
The question I have for you guys: have you ever done this yourselves? We made a 2000+ mile trip this summer in the '92 Accord and I don’t recall having much trouble. So if the new Civic is similar in dimensions to the '92 Accord, I stilll don’t have the sense that the Civic couldn’t handle it.
Just make sure you don’t exceed the weight capacity of roof-mounted cargo (usually 100 pounds). Kayaks are not only aerodynamic from the front. They are also pretty areodynamic from the side and the best defence against crosswinds is judicious control of the accelerator. If you drive at a speed that is appropriate to the conditions, you will be fine. Just slow down when you experience high winds and when you approach a semi on a two lane road.
What is the best way to load the kayaks for a long trip – bottoms out or bottoms in? I had an instructor have me mount the kayak bottom in, but it seemed to me that it made the kayak less aerodynamic because the points at either end were sticking out into the wind instead of in (sorry for the utter lack of nautical terminology here!).
I don’t really know. Only an aeronautical engineer could truthfully answer that question. Maybe you should call Tom and Ray or e-mail them. They seem to love answering this kind of question. I think they have a friend who is an aeronautical engineer that they call for questions like this. If they don’t respond to you, you might contact the Engineering Department (or the School of Engineering) of the nearest university. If you e-mail the right professor, you might get a knowledgable answer.
You could try it both ways and have someone follow you in another vehicle. If one way seems to create lift on the kayaks, do it the other way so that you don’t add unnecessary stress to the straps or hardware that holds them down.
Theoretically, the bottoms up would create the least lift, but since the kayak is pretty streamlined I don’t think it matters agreat deal. With a small, tall car like the Fit, I would be more worried about strong side winds.
I have to confess having carried a full size sofa on the roof of my 1965 Dodge Dart for 150 miles; it had a sturdy roof rack. But he wind gusts made driving very tricky. Mr. Bean, a British comedian, did a stunt carrying a large arm chair on top of a mini (old style). He did not go very fast!
Your Honda Accord had a good height/weight profile, so you probably did OK.
Mmm… a simpler way might be to ask a kayak shop! 
Now let me be sure… do you mean a Dodge Dart, or a Dodge Dartre?
Yes, but you might ask three different kayak shops and get three different answers. (I have seen kayaks mounted on their sides on top of cars.) You can’t trust any of these people to admit that they don’t really know for sure. You also can’t trust them to give you an answer that doesn’t comes from the seat of their pants.
The Fit is 18 inches shorter than the Civic, which makes it a better car for the city. Depending on the models of it and the Civic you are considering, it may also be cheaper. Gas mileage is nearly the same (very good) for both. In every other way, the Civic is a far better car, especially for long trips with lots of people and stuff. The Civic version that is the most fun is the Si. Check it out before you make your final decision.
I’m glad to hear that someone besides me thinks a manual transmission is fun. Go for it.
On the subject of size, my wife and I wandered all over Colorado for a couple of weeks camping some nights and staying in B&Bs the others. Our car was a 1987 Civic hatchback which was one inch shorter than a Fit. We had enough room for our clothes, camping gear and a big cooler, but no kayaks or bikes. With any more people, we would have needed a bigger car such as the Subaru Legacy wagon which replaced the Civic.
I had a '90 Civic hatch, and I did everything in that car! Good for you. There is no reason that Americans should need SUVs just to go camping!!! Unless, of course, they’re bringing their upright grill, their satellite dish, their TV, their … you get the idea. I’ve seen it all.
Dodge Dart; the hardtop with the long sweeping fenders, and large round headlights. How French or artistic it was I don’t know but I was stopped by the Quebec, Canada, Surete on a holiday trip; not for speeding, but the trooper had never seen one like this before and wanted to see it close up. Since it had the V8 and the bucket seats he asked a lot of questions.
peahayes,
I have an '07 sedan automatic. It drives just fine for the most part, and its still fun. The one thing to note when choosing stick or auto (and don’t know if its the same on the Fit) is that the Civic is throttle-by-wire.
I thought I read in some other car review websites that they found a delay in throttle response and it caused a bit of over/under-rev when shifting gears in the manual. I couldn’t find that review. I’d test drive the car to see if you can live with it.
HY
Civic and fun don’t really belong in the same sentence if you ask me(and I own one)