Prius as paddling vehicle

aargh · Post by **aargh** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:36 am

Anyone have any experience with how Prius or similar vehicle does with a few boats on the roof? Does it ruin the mileage? Is it a dog?

Thanks.

Aargh!

jrsh92 · Post by **jrsh92** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 11:17 am

Where was that picture of the contest to fit the most boats on a car each with one corresponding paddler inside? I think that was if not a Prius a small car in a similar vein. So, you can get like 27 boats on it or something. It'll be fine.

kaz · Post by **kaz** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 11:19 am

Not a Prius, but I have a '95 Honda DX that gets 40 mpg without boats, and without a roof rack. With 3 canoes(13' to 18.5') on top it drops to 31 mpg. That's based on a recent 3,000 mile road trip.
JKaz

Sir Adam · Post by **Sir Adam** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 11:51 am

A local slalom paddler around here uses her Prius to transport her boats usually. Not sure the impact on mileage.

When I drove misc. sportish cars my mileage generally dropped by about as much as Kaz (7-10mpg in my case) over long trips on vehicles that got 35mpg -40 mpg normally (40 mpg was really behaving myself and trying to max mileage).

Alden · Post by **Alden** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:17 pm

I have never seen a Prius with a boat on it, but I will say that here in Washington, Priuses actually used to come with an "Obama/Biden '08" bumpersticker already attached.

Not sure if Toyota still does that.

AB

philcanoe · Post by **philcanoe** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 1:34 pm

if you know Marshall (C1) from Atlanta,

he even sleeps in his, with front seat folded down... (not that I would)

milkman · Post by **milkman** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 2:54 pm

A friend of mine has a Prius and uses it to transport 2 solos or one tandem and occasionally two 16' tandems. The fact that he continues to this must mean that the car can handle the load. I'm sure it impacts mileage, but the mileage is still better than normal cars.

My concerns would be the low ground clearance and not having all-wheel drive for mud and snow. This same friend has a Subaru and uses that car for his canoes when conditions dictate.

Todhunter · Post by **Todhunter** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 3:55 pm

I just put a Thule rack on top of my 1990 Civic Sedan with 78" load bars - I should easily be able to get two OC-1's up there now. The 78" bars are crazy though - they stick out about a foot past each mirror, and I have banged my head really good on the front one a few times. The interior is there but by no means immaculate - it will be great for wet paddlers and gear.

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:38 pm

I have an Escape Hybrid and I carry whatever I want on it and still get great milage.

It has high clearance and has proven to be a tough vehicle on back roads to and from the river.

I highly recommend it.

jim

esprit · Post by **esprit** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:44 pm

I have an Escape Hybrid and I carry whatever I want on it and still get great milage.

It has high clearance and has proven to be a tough vehicle on back roads to and from the river.

I highly recommend it.

jim

TheKrikkitWars · Post by **TheKrikkitWars** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 5:48 pm

At the risk of heresy, wouldn't getting a more European style medium sized estate (station wagon?) make more sense, I know several people driving these who are getting 40-50 mpg with boats, closer to 60 without. Thats higher that the prius's quoted mileage of 50 mpg.

Of course I don't know how you'd feel about driving a car in the 1.7l to 2L diesel or 1.8 to 2.2 petrol range.

jrsh92 · Post by **jrsh92** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 6:45 pm

Not sure it matters too much, but I'm pretty sure in MA there are laws preventing 78" bars on a Prius, for example (because they stick out so far). I think all you need is some sort of flag or something, like technically there should be a flag on the back of a long touring kayak that sticks out far behind your car... that said I've never heard of anyone actually getting pulled over for this, just heard it mentioned when talking about roof racks in general.
Also, if you stand them up leaning against each other you could fit 4 full sized touring kayaks on a Subaru with short length bars using some fancy stacking techniques... If you can secure a boat standing on it's edge it'll generally be less deep than it is wide... if the car's big enough for the first one you'll be able to squish a few more in

Bob P · Post by **Bob P** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:22 pm

TheKrikkitWars wrote:At the risk of heresy, wouldn't getting a more European style medium sized estate (station wagon?) make more sense, I know several people driving these who are getting 40-50 mpg with boats, closer to 60 without. Thats higher that the prius's quoted mileage of 50 mpg.

Of course I don't know how you'd feel about driving a car in the 1.7l to 2L diesel or 1.8 to 2.2 petrol range.

Unfortunately, we in the US are diesel-deprived. The only available diesel sedans are VW, BMW and Mercedes Benz, none of which get the fuel mileage of their European counterparts. That is going to change in the next few years, but right now not much choice.

Diesels in the US

dan. · Post by **dan.** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:46 am

I drive a prius.

My Airhead C1 fits inside nicely with the seats down.

I have put a prospector, a zephyr and an Ocoee on top. Milage went to 8L/100KM.

With a zephyr ususal milage was 6-6.5 L/100KM

I drive with the roof rack on full time and get 5.1 L/100KM 90% highway driving.

Ground clearance sucks. Definatly not an off-road vehicle. If you are driving to places with sketchy put-ins or take-outs I would reconsider. If you are paved all the way, it is a pretty decent car with lots of very usable gear space.

milkman · Post by **milkman** » Mon Oct 12, 2009 2:52 pm

I was out this weekend with two Prius drivers. They each were carrying two solo canoes on their cars for a 1.25 hour drive to the take-out. They said they got about 38 to 42 MPG on the freeway driving around 65 MPH.

C-Forum

Prius as paddling vehicle

Prius as paddling vehicle

Ford Escape Hybrid

Ford Escape Hybrid

Prius holds boats pretty well.