Fuel Efficient Canoe Haulers

thats becoming
More common. Some new cars are making it difficult to attach towers in a good position.



Ryan L.

New or Used?
I could go either way…if it’s used I’d prefer 3-4 years old, with some good life left in it.



The roof rack on the new Highlander I looked at was so short. It started well back from the trailing edge of the front doors. To balance a canoe on the rack it would have to project well out behind the vehicle.



I love my ‘04 Sienna for it’s capacity. It holds two 17’ canoes w/o problem. Just wish it had better fuel economy, mostly 'cuz as our second vehicle it has to serve for daily commuting to work when we aren’t out paddling.

How about using a trailer?
We put a hitch on our Subaru Legacy and it works well.

canoe hauler
I have owned several outbacks over the years and they will do a fine job…right now I am loving my 4 door nissan frontier pickup…you have a lot of options for caps or racks…it is also my daily commuter vehicle. I also had an f150 for years and after I sold it I had a hard time figuring out how I could get by without a pickup

Ingenuity
To my mind, if you have four people, 2 canoes, and gear with you the majority of the time you are using the vehicle, a minivan makes sense. If, however, like most people 99% of trips are with one or two occupants, and only the other 1% is the canoe trip, I’d get a much smaller car.



I know I go on about this, but every car I have owned has been more than up to the task of getting me to the put in. I had an Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra, which is a small sedan with a four cylinder, and I took it from Manitoba to Utah with 2 canoes and all the gear for four people. One of those canoes was a tripper xl at 20’, and the gear included coolers and water jugs. for the last leg, we had all four in the car with all their gear and we drove over the mountains. Yes, it was a bit tight and we had to be a bit clever in how things were arranged. However, the rest of the year I probably saved a few thousand dollars on gas, not to mention depreciation/capital cost on a more luxurious vehicle. I’ve had three canoes on a dodge omni, and currently drive a focus hatchback. On the focus, if I have to carry more than two I use a little trailer. In the old days having an eight horse team pulling your covered wagon was pretty big. I have something like 140 horses pulling my little focus, so it really is more than enough.



If I’m willing to portage it, my car can carry or pull it. I’ve actually been considering downsizing further, because typically when four or more people are going, two vehicles are needed for a shuttle. I’m thinking my next car will likely be something like a civic sedan, though I do like the prius c and scion iQ.

why not another Sienna?
Toyota, hard to go wrong. Honda makes a great minivan but they really retain their value. Nissan makes a nice one also.



I bet you noticed a bit less room in that Highlander compared to the Sienna, huh?

VW TDI Sportwagon
Up to 50 mpg and a rated roof capacity of 165 pounds, plus low enough for easy loading. In 100K the only thing I had to do other than routine maintenance was replace a low beam lightbulb.

stop making sense!

Kayak hauler
I owned a Volvo V 70 wagon (non turbo) and hauled my kayak up to my girlfriends almost every weekend for a few years

It was a great kayak hauler and could cruise at 80 with one or two kayaks on top. It got about 27 mph with no kayak and around 24 mph at 75 with one on top

I now have A 2010 VW Jetta TDi diesel wagon which has a similar Eurorail rack set up

I get a actual 42 mpg driving 100 miles a day to work with no kayak

I got ( measured by filling tank and countin gallons used) an actual 37 mpg when we took my 20 ft tandem on the roof from Daytona Beach to Key West and back with some excursions in between

The computer mpg gage runs a few mpg high

I like my Jetta TDI wagon but I don’t get any where near 50 mpg with it for high speed highway driving and certainly not with a kayak on top.

The Volvo V70 wagon was was mor comfortable on long trips and probably better built but Volvo stopped offering them in non turbo versions and now doesn’t seem to offer a v70 size wagon at all

Elantra Touring - wagon
The Elantra Touring is actually a small wagon and not a variant of the Elantra. The SE trim comes with side rails and is available with a sweet B&M racing shifter. But it has been discontinued in the trend away from wagons. It might be tough to find a 2012, but used Hyundais depreciate much more than subarus, toyotas or hondas, and a used one could be a steal after some negotiation.



The Sportwagen TDI will be the king of fuel efficiency among rooftop haulers, but at a higher purchase price.

Any fuel efficient 4 person hauler …
… is a reasonable answer to the question.

Second TDI Sportwagon
I also own a TDI Sportwagon, the long roof line is great as is the 42MPG with 2 kayaks on the roof, 2 people and a week worth of camping gear.



I’d recommend it to a friend.

Trailer ?
Unless you get a light trailer hauled by a fuel efficient vehicle you are not going to get great mpg for what you want…



I don’t think you can get anything that will remotely come close to 30MPG and still have the space you want with 2 canoes on top and nearly a ton of cargo in it… Shrimpy 4-seater wagons appear to be too small for you and any SUV or minivan or large wagon like a Volvo V70 with 2 canoes on top will be a gaz guzzler compared to a Prius V or diesel Jetta.

I would have gotten the H Wagon if not
For its pretty bad fuel economy figures compared to what I think such a relatively small and low power car should be getting. It has the older style engine that was phased out in the current generation Huyndai cars - one reason I did not get it, otherwise a nice car and drives fine too.



For the same $$$ as what I could locally find the 2011 Hyundai Elantra Wagon SE for (or whatever the “sport” version was - everyone asked at least $16.6K before fees and taxes and registration), I got a brand new 2011 Honda Insight hybrid that gives me almost 2x the MPG with very little loss in utility comapred to the E. Touring (hatch vs. wagon). I got permanent mounts for Yakima racks installed on it for a quick conversion from rack to no rack…



Of course, that’s no help to the OP (as isn’t the Elantra too, as both cars are too small for what the OP wants)…

TDI Jetta added to list…
I have an appointment Friday to check out the TDI Jetta Sportwagon. Thanks for bringing this one to my attention. The Prius V is interesting too, but I’d have to cut back on the gear we haul (which could be a good thing in its own right).


Full Size Pick up
screw the gas mileage - its only two maybe three trips a year. I have an old Tundra that does it all. Use it at home for load of mulch, gravel, trips to dump etc.

$5 gas … changes "screw the mileage"
My concern about good gas mileage isn’t focused around the 3-4 canoes trips per year. Its the rest of the year when the vehicle has to be the commuter vehicle for one of us.



Fuel prices are going to creep higher…we may retreat briefly from the creep toward $5 gas, but prices will continue to rise… Thus my search for the most fuel efficient canoe hauler.



Sure, the Sienna is great for the few weeks a year we’re doing big canoe trips. But we’re feeding it’s fuel appetite all year round. I’m thinking the situation should be reversed. Have great fuel mileage all year round, but have to squeeze to get the two canoes and gear aboard for the big canoe trips…hence the interest in the likes of the Prius V or VW Sportwagon TDI, or Highlander Hybrid.

Same here
Mine is a full size v8. We exercise it during the winter so it doesnt get too stiff. Its now has 285,000 miles on it and a new frame courtesy Toyota. I expect it will have several more years to fulfill its canoe hauler role.



Its a great canoe hauler…gets 22 miles a gallon. We have a more fuel efficient vehicles for around town where the miles really do sneak up on you.

22??
I must know more about this full size yota getting 22 mpg. My 02 tundra gets 17 at best with the 4.7 v8



Am I missing out on an awesome trick? I love my truck to death but would love seeing better mileage.

do the math
$30,00+ for a new hybred or diesel will buy a lot of gas. When I looked at a replacment vehicle for canoe hauling,when I factored initial cost, I couldn’t justify a new gee whiz fuel mizer. the pay back extended to far into the future. FOR ME,the 8,000 used car turned out to make sense.

Turtle