I may purchase an Insight. I am wondering about
arrangements for transporting toys such as bikes and boats.
Does anyone know about racks that have been
successfully used to transport bicycles, either on the roof on
off the rear?? I saw that Yakima (the brand I now use
on other cars) doesn't cover Insights on their fit
page. <br><br>Also, has anyone seen an arrangement for
transporting a canoe or kayak on top? Thanks.

It seems that you may have missed the point. The
Insight is purposely limited in its design, the focus
being fuel efficiency - and therefore a clean machine.
To add a rack is only to increase drag on the
vehicle, and thus reduce gas mileage. Further, it is only
a three-cylinder engine (1500cc I believe) assisted
at acceleration with an electric motor, so it would
seem to not have much in the way of towing
capacity.<br>I am not an owner, however I have extensively test
driven the Insight and the Prius. These are very fun,
economical, and environmentally clean cars, but lack
substantially as utility vehicles. There is a place for size
and power on our highways (read SUVs' - probably not
a friendly term on this forum) in my opinion, but
for what your stated needs are, you will most likely
be looking at a Civic (EX) at the minimum. Stick
around though I have herd of rumors that hybred mini
trucks and vans are in the works - Likely with much
larger engines (and much less fuel efficiency). I think
there is also in the works a hybred Civic slated for
some time 1993 (?).<br>Best of luck to you, I hope you
find a place for a friendly Eco vehicle like the Prius
or Insight in your home. <br>PS: To contradict
everything I said above, I recall now that the Prius has
rack fittings and bike racks. However, I also recall a
long and rather flaming thread toward someone who
inquired about adding a sunroof - much of the attack was
based lower fuel efficiency. I guess then it is how you
want to spin your purpose.<br>Robert

If you take the rack off when you're not carrying
a kayak, then what's the prob? 70HP should be more
than adequate for carrying a couple of kayaks or a
canoe on the roof @ highway speeds. Sure, fuel economy
will be worse when you're carrying stuff on the roof,
but it'd still be better than what you'd get in a
pickup truck.<br><br>I believe that the gas engine in
the insight is 1.0L, not 1.5. Some civics have 1.5L
4-cyl gas engines, which may be what you were thinking
of. <br><br>There are several hybrid pickups and at
least one hybrid SUV in the works from US
manufacturers, with production dates in the very near future.
I've not heard of such vehicles from Japan.<br><br>I
think that the hybrid civic is due out in 2002, not
1993.