Smallest car ?

[johnbamber]

hey everyone

I'm new to this forum, but thrilled to be a part of it. My question is about carting drums around.

I really like the new Honda Civic, 09 model year, coupe. It's a compact car, so my question is do any of you have an 07-09 Honda Civic coupe, and are you able to fit your drums into it?

I don't mind driving down the road with my hand on my bass drum or something, I don't mind if it's totally crammed, but my question is can it be done?

I have a 22x18 bass drum, 10/12/16 toms (i don't remember specific measurements), a bunch of cymbals, hardware bag etc...my biggest concern is the bass drum.

Any ideas?

Thanks all

[2slow]

Hey welcome to DC. I have a 2000 civic coupe have not put the drums in but feel sure i could. A worst case would be take out the spare tire and set the bass in the hole. Take a tape measure to the dealership !

[PHROGGE]

I Used To Get An Entire Ludwig Kit 12/13/16/22 & .SNARE,chrome Bag ,rug And Rocknsoc Drum Throne In A Honda Civic Hatchback(no Riders Plz)does Dat Count?....there Was No Front Head On Bass Drum And Floor Tom Fit Inside....Not As Cool As Havin A "RIMS Headset".and Simmons Sd9 Head/sm Mixer Chrome Bag .rug And Stool,,,,so It Can Be Done....trial & Error In Packing ....I Agree W/ 2slow If Ya Aint Into Physical Labor Take Yer Tape To Da Dealer...good Luck Let Us Know How Dat Works Forya

[Roaddebris]

We have a Chevy HHR and have gotten a five piece kit with hardware & cymbals, a half stack, giant pedal board, two guirtars, two adults and two kids on board. We all got there and back in one piece too.

[quikstang2]

A friend of mine has a 2 door civic that's a tad older. He's also got a massive double bass kit (at least 8 toms, 2 snares and a crap load of cymbals (I had a huge kit before and his dwarfed mine). For shows he just unbolts his passenger seat and he gets everything in his car pretty easily. It's only 4 bolts and taking a seat out of a car (and reinstalling) is probably on the top 5 list of easiest things to do to a car.

[bassist learning drums]

Maybe, you can take you drums down to the car and try it. I did that with my bass gear. It looked strange at a dealership, but I wanted to make sure everything would fit.

[johnbamber]

Yeah, as silly as it might look I think I might just go down there with a tape measure and take some measurements. I don't want to get the car home and then be up the creek w/o a paddle!

Anyone else with 07-09 civic coupe experience & drumsets??

[Bish]

Maybe, you can take you drums down to the car and try it. I did that with my bass gear. It looked strange at a dealership, but I wanted to make sure everything would fit.

Good suggestion but you have that a little backwards. If you are buying a car on the condition your drums will fit, take the car home and load up your drums. That is the only way you will know.

I've done that with several vehicles. I buy them stictly to ensure my drums fit first and foremost. I've even dragged the salesman along.

[bassist learning drums]

Good suggestion but you have that a little backwards. If you are buying a car on the condition your drums will fit, take the car home and load up your drums. That is the only way you will know.

I've done that with several vehicles. I buy them stictly to ensure my drums fit first and foremost. I've even dragged the salesman along.

Did ya get the salesman to roadie? That would trip them out!

[eddahenry]

if you have the space at home do as i do buy a small inclosed trailer a 6x4 is heaps ,smaller if you can get it
just for your kit and use that. But you really need somewhere to store it
i went down this road after years of trashing new car interiors with getting the kit in and out, now with the trailer i leave my gigging kit in it packed and lock it in the garage so when i play 2 min to hook her up and away i go

[cadesonT14]

Maybe, you can take you drums down to the car and try it. I did that with my bass gear. It looked strange at a dealership, but I wanted to make sure everything would fit.

Our Family is really into cycling and when we buy cars we take our bikes down to the dealership and make sure that they fit in the car before we buy it.

[bongobro]

I've shoehorned drum kits into a '91 Ford Tempo 4-door sedan, a '95 Mercury Sable station wagon, and, naturally, my hand drums into an '83 Chevy Citation notchback (NOT hatchback!) coupe, as well as my 2001 Hyundai Sonata 4-door...but one car that surprised me was Mrs. 'bro's new 2008 Chevy HHR. Don't know how that dimensionally compares to a Honda Civic, but you can fold down the front passenger seat as well as the split back seat and shoehorn a fairly large kit into the HHR...so there's plenty of room for the hand drums, of course (and you don't have to unbolt anything, either)!

No matter what your final decision, make sure you try fitting the drums into the car...who knows, you might get a salesman as a roadie as BLD suggested!

[reboundjunkie]

Do you guys/gals use cases for your your drums? I would imagine that nicks and dents can in some cases become inevitable lugging the whole kit around no matter how careful one is.. I would think taking good care of our babies is paramount..

[pastor_bob]

I don't know about the other guys, but I would never pack up the kit in the car without cases. The smaller the car, the more I would go with soft cases, but I would still make sure the drums were protected.

[DamageDrummer]

imo....ditch the Honda and get something else.... sounds like you need more horsepower and 4 doors, which allows easier access to the rear seat, where your bass drum sits. no matter how many drums you can fit into it....remember, its still a Honda!

[Zeta]

if i were you i would pack up my kit in its cases (like before a gig) and take them down to the dealer and see how they fit

[begtimm561]

bass in passenger seat, maybe the snare on floor, if you have a bag, then stack the rack toms and put em behind you, buckle them, then get the floor tom next to them. them cymbals next to the drums, hardware in trunk!

[Church Drummer]

if you have the space at home do as i do buy a small inclosed trailer a 6x4 is heaps ,smaller if you can get it
just for your kit and use that. But you really need somewhere to store it
i went down this road after years of trashing new car interiors with getting the kit in and out, now with the trailer i leave my gigging kit in it packed and lock it in the garage so when i play 2 min to hook her up and away i go

A trailer is a great option, only down side I see in your situation is that I have an 2004 Civic 4 Dr. Sedan and they don't recommend trailering with it, it will void the warranty. The unibody on the Civic just isn't designed for a trailer hitch. I haven't tried fitting a kit into the Civic, since my other car is a Jeep Cherokee, and I use that. I pretty sure if I had to I could put the kit in the Civic. On mine you can fold the back seat down which should make the longer pieces fit easier.

[bassist learning drums]

I've shoehorned drum kits into a '91 Ford Tempo 4-door sedan, a '95 Mercury Sable station wagon, and, naturally, my hand drums into an '83 Chevy Citation notchback (NOT hatchback!) coupe, as well as my 2001 Hyundai Sonata 4-door...but one car that surprised me was Mrs. 'bro's new 2008 Chevy HHR. Don't know how that dimensionally compares to a Honda Civic, but you can fold down the front passenger seat as well as the split back seat and shoehorn a fairly large kit into the HHR...so there's plenty of room for the hand drums, of course (and you don't have to unbolt anything, either)!

No matter what your final decision, make sure you try fitting the drums into the car...who knows, you might get a salesman as a roadie as BLD suggested!

I had a 95 Merc Sable wagon!! Fit my bass gear great. Decent car until the engine burned up. Donated it to FATHER JOE Villages!

[quikstang2]

Definitely get cases. Preferably hard cases. It'll make cramming them in a small car easier and worry you much less.

I'm gonna have to agree with the "don't buy a Honda" comment above. I've got a Ranger with a camper shell (short bed: 6 feet) for my kit and there's plenty of room. I'm getting reports of the new trucks (2.3L 5-speed) getting 30mpg too. Not bad for a fairly inexpensive truck. I've also run into a few HHR owners that turned out to be drummers and they love those things. I've also used a Focus wagon to move my kit around in. Keep in mind I've got a double kick set and my old set was bigger than my current one, so you might not need a wagon (which they don't make anymore anyways).

I had a 95 Merc Sable wagon!! Fit my bass gear great. Decent car until the engine burned up. Donated it to FATHER JOE Villages!

Let me guess... the 3.8L Essex V6? I've destroyed 2 of those. Oddly enough, the third is still running strong.

[holycow77]

I've found that 2 door cars are better than 4 when it comes to drums. They have much larger doors which allow for much larger things to fit into the back.

I get my 5 piece into a tiny little 3 door Daewoo with 2 adults. (can fit 3 if someone holds something) no problems. The car looks kinda like this:
http://img74.imageshack.us/img74/7355/3004071550vv3.jpg

[kay-gee]

I put an entire set into a Smart Car...but then I'm a minimalist when it comes to drums.

all the best...

[bongobro]

We have a Chevy HHR and have gotten a five piece kit with hardware & cymbals, a half stack, giant pedal board, two guirtars, two adults and two kids on board. We all got there and back in one piece too.

Ya know, I didn't see that until just now--but you're right about the amount of space you can get out of one of those things, RD! (Uh oh...this may be a first--we finally AGREED ON SOMETHING! )

I don't know about the other guys, but I would never pack up the kit in the car without cases. The smaller the car, the more I would go with soft cases, but I would still make sure the drums were protected.

AMEN on that...

I had a 95 Merc Sable wagon!! Fit my bass gear great. Decent car until the engine burned up. Donated it to FATHER JOE Villages!

You didn't mention which engine, but we blew head gaskets and freeze plugs on ours (3.0 "Vulcan" engine) and the transaxle had to be rebuilt, both between 115,000 and 118,000 miles...limped along to 132,000 on this one, which was traded in on the HHR...thought the 3.8 "Essex" engine was the one that was the bad one, but...

I put an entire set into a Smart Car...but then I'm a minimalist when it comes to drums.

all the best...

Yeah, a set of bongos!

Couldn't resist, man!

[quikstang2]

I've found that 2 door cars are better than 4 when it comes to drums. They have much larger doors which allow for much larger things to fit into the back.

For some reason this thread randomly popped up in my thoughts today and I thought the same exact thing.
Also, the seat tracks on a 2 door vehicle have more travel in either direction to get more space for large objects going in the back.

[funkymcstain]

i just started using a bigger HW case (to handle HH stand) that is just a hair too big, but with the old one i could fit a 5 pc with an extra snare, band monitors, the mic/cable box and a short legged passenger in a 4 door saab 900. it would have been close if my kick was bigger than 20x16

i use my gmc safari conversion van now so i can make use of my larger cases. one is a big flight case w/ casters that holds the kick and 3 toms (one trip is better than several). i pulled of the captains chairs out to make room for it and the big HW case.