I am in the process of buying a geo prizm MT right now, so I can get twice the mileage :thumbup:

My point is this... much better to park the suv and find something else to drive that gets good mpg. Then use the suv only when you need it.

That does not seem right, My 3.0 v6 Idles at 0.4 in gear and 0.3 in neutral, thats when Its really cold, when warm it will drop to 0.2 in neutral.

why??? I meen... WHY???
vehicles like 4 door TDI gulf's are 5 passenger vehicles, and they are much much easier to get in and out of (unless all 3 of your kids are way over 6 feet tall with bad knees) if you want to have more room get the TDI jetta, or passat wagon, but I grew up ridding in the back of a 4 door VW rabbit, 5 of us fit just fine, with the whole family going on weekend trips with food and camping gear, with a roof rack we were even able to haul a Wind Charger wind generator, and tower, with all 5 of us comfertably fitting in the car, fold the rear seat down, and we've fit 4 new windows for the house.
Compared to a compact car with a hatch back, SUV's are unuseable peices of junk.

Why not? The Honda Pilot is a very nice vehicle (my aunt that has 2 children all grown up owns one & she loves it) It has much more room, luxury, and power than their previous CRV. The pilot has really good crash test results, has 4x4 for Virgina winters, and the EPA is 17mpg city / 22mpg highway / 19mpg combined.

If white90crxhf bought a Dodge Caravan instead, there would be no 4x4 available as an option and even the smallest engine size (2.4L 4 cylinder) only gets EPA 20mpg city / 26mpg highway / 22mpg combined. That's only a 15.7% increase for a van that will most certainly be gutless with that 4 banger. I'd say spend the extra $400 a year in gas money (assuming you drive a hefty 25,000 miles a year) and get something that will suit your taste, white90crxhf.

I'm pretty much with theclencher regarding SUVs. ;)

Unfortunately though, I'd never get 3 child seats (req'd where I live) across the back seat of a Golf, and forget about a third row. A compact minivan might work if I had 3 kids, and give better FE than a large truck.

But here's my problem: when I risk my life in a subcompact on American roads, that's a personal decision. I'm making a very different decision if I ask my family to sit in the back row of a smaller car (especially as I drive slower than the traffic). I don't like it, but I still have to draw that line. I put crashworthiness before mere mass. I also think it's just bad engineering to move a road-going vehicle's sprung weight (and its corresponding CG) up higher than it has to be. That moves most SUVs off my radar.
YMMV.

...and all that conspicuous gas consumption is just not my style. ;)

Peakster -

If you need 4x4, then don't forget to give Subaru a chance. Better Center Of Gravity and all that.

Here's the Legacy :
MPG : Automatic: 23/30 mpg

Here's the Forester :
MPG: (manual) 22 city / 29 highway
(automatic) 23 city / 28 highway

:)

CarloSW2

Besides towing a Winnabago up an icy slope, the other use for 4WD is getting yourself out of a ditch. :D

Too true! My Uncle commented when he first saw the 1964 International Harvester Scout I had just acquired: "Four wheel drive? You'll still get stuck, but will have to walk back twice as far to get help."

Wow! I had no idea that the Forester got that good of fuel economy.

I thought the forester was worst in class for FE?