How is the rising cost of gas affect your surfing?
I am surfing less often. (2)	20%
I am surfing closer to my home. (2)	20%
I am considering a ride-sharing with other surfers. (2)	20%
It does not affect me. (4)	40%

Be sure to click the Vote Now link above after you cast your votes.

The price of the gasoline, especially in California, has hit over $4.00 a gallon recently. Let's take a quick survey and see what other surfers are doing to cope with it and post your opinions too. Select all that apply to your situation (but be honest!)

I'm still thinking about buying a Honda Fit.  I'm currently driving a Honda Odyssey.   Right now, the gas prices are only affecting the way I think about car purchases, not in the way I think about driving to most activities.   I was taking the cost into account when I was taking the family snowboarding this past season.   However, that is a much longer distance.  Even with the gas prices, I would still like to get a 4wd vehicle for snowboarding.  I wonder what the most fuel efficient 4wd vehicle is?

Did somebody say YARIS? I also bought a Yaris about 6 months ago, and I really enjoy it as well. Lots of fun to drive...and I do a lot of driving for surf so had to do something about my gas bill (and my carbon footprint!). Like Craig says gas prices affected my car purchasing decision, but not my driving habits...I'm still driving as much as ever, just doing it with a lot better MPG.

One distinction I should probably make is that most of my driving is to work, as I moved close to surf. So, my driving habits have somewhat changed: now I walk to surf, and drive to work. Opposite of before. But better prioritized, if you ask me!

Its interesting that this topic came up because i have been thinking about getting a new car soon.  i have always wanted a wrangler, but they suck as far as gas mileage goes and they dont have a lot of storage space, but they look like a lot of fun to drive.  right now my main beach cruiser is a 73 duster and its not the most reliable car, but i can fit a lot of people and boards in it.  im also looking at the honda element as a new car.  they have 4wd and they are ok on gas.  they have a surfboard rack as one of the options.  you can add on a lot of extras on them and make them fun.  i dont know, im kinda broke right now so it might have to wait. 

The Element is a considerably more expensive car than the Fit.  The 4wd capability will add even more cost.   I definitely think it's a better car, but it costs more.  On the Honda site, the low-end 2wd LX is $18,980.  The 4wd LX is $20,380.  4wd gas mileage is 19/24.

The low-end Fit with automatic transmission is $14,750 and the gas mileage is 27/34.

Although I've never tried it, I suspect that the Honda Fit can hold a 8'6" longboard inside the vehicle.  It's not clear how big a board the Element can hold.

How big a board can the Toyota Yaris hold inside the vehicle?  That's  a cute vehicle.    The gas mileage is 29/35 and the cost for automatic is $12,250.  Manual is $11,350.

There also seems to be more cost involved in buying a new car in the SF Bay area.  Is it possible to buy these cars for the MSRP prices on the Honda web site?  There always seems to be a lot of markup.  There's also the costs of tax and license.

I love this thread because I too am starting to think about replacing my very well-loved, but well worn subaru - and also considering smaller cars like the Yaris as well as larger cars like the Element and Subaru Forester. Unfortunately I'm a longboarder and need to be able to transport a board up to 9'6".  I'm happy to carry it on top, but not sure how safe it is on the smaller cars.  Anyone have any idea how long of a board a car like a Yaris can carry on top safely? I've known two people who have almost lost their boards while on the freeway (one of them actually did) so I'm a little paranoid.

Also anyone know how long the new Mini Clubman might be? I love that car (even though I'm sure it's completely impractical). 

~J

I think that if you have hard racks, the 9'6" is easy to transport without too much drama.  If you have soft racks, there's a bunch of irritating things that can happen.  One of them is that the straps tend to vibrate in the wind and create weird noises as they hit the car roof at high speeds.  If you're worried about the buckle slipping, you can tie a half-hitch knot on the loose end to another part of the soft rack.

Another consideration is whether the trunk or hatch of the car is easily accessible with the board strapped to the top.  BTW, do you have a Subaru Forrester now and can you fit a 9'6" in the car?  With passengers?

While we are on the topic of racking the board on top, we should all be aware that doing so does significantly affects the gas mileage. I had a longboard on top of my car on a trip back from LA to here and it knocked at least 1 MPG out of the car. Especially bad is to speed 70+ MPH on I-5. On this past trip, I did not take my longboard and I averaged over 23 MPG on 101.

On a long haul, also, I usually do not bag the board. It will make a bit more efficient aerodynamically and it will not give much noise at all. I only bag the board again when I am staying overnight and put the board inside the car.

If the cord makes noise, make some twists along the way to allow the space between the board. It is acting like a reed on a woodwind instrument.

Normally, when I am going surfing alone in my car, I do not rack the board on top but put it inside.

As for the rack coming out of the car, that's very scary. I don't care about what happens to the board but I am really worried about what happens to other cars and passengers. It is a big lawsuit awaiting!