Matt Clara wrote:

What do you want to talk about? I'm interested in a discussion
of vehicles with good fuel economy that can carry a lot of gear.

I suppose you'd have to define "a lot," because a car may not be big enough
and you need an SUV, etc., but if a car will do, I'd recommend a Volkswagen
Passat TDI stationwagon. They're full sized cars and the TDI with manual
transmission gets upwards of fifty miles to the gallon. You can drive a
Passat from Michigan to Florida and back on a tank and a half of fuel. The
engines will last 250,000 miles and more if treated properly. The rest of
the car will fall apart around it, but that engine'll just keep on goin...
I have a Jetta TDI, and it's too small. The Jetta wagon would have been a
better choice.

TDI means diesel, right? Have you experimented with biodiesel?

Currently I have a Trooper that never gets over 21 mpg. If I needed to
replace it before the 2008 Highlander Hybrid appears, I guess my choice
would be the Ford Escape hybrid or Toyota RAV4, both 29 mpg.

Jetta wagon isn't really big enough for rafting.