I just went through this, with the same train of thought! I went with the Honda Ridgeline. Best of luck!

I LIKE the Ridgeline but again, the mileage isn't that great. 15-20 v. 20-26.

True on the mileage....but for me, the comfort of carrying 5 passengers, a full foldable rear seating area perfect for sliding your bike inside, and still a small truck cargo bed with lockable trunk.....mmm, mmm, it got me. Not taking anything away from the Toyo.....just looked it up online, looks perfect for an SUV with bike holding capabilities!!!

Ha Ha, great by cayman!

I really really like my Honda Element. The way the back seats fold up for tons of room for bikes. And the plastic floors means I don't worry about putting the mountain bike in when it is covered in mud. I can roll all my bikes upright into the back of it (except for the 29" single speed).

I should mention also that the back seats are full size seats which is nice too.

The only down side is that it only has four seat belts (because of the way the rear seats fold).

Risk of thread-jacking be damned... If you want to know what I think, the problem is not the price... the problem is the consumption. Reducing consumption will do little to reduce the price of gas. High price is here to stay, as speculation drives the price of oil up due to the perceived inevitable shortage of oil in the coming years. Instead of trying to drive down price by decreasing demand, we should try to increase demand for alternatives. I'm certainly not perfect in this, but I do what I can.

Tell your government that you won't sit by while they let the oil lobby talk them into letting America's wasteful, use more mentality continue...

/rant

An interesting video on it from Chris Lieto's blog...

ethanol is a bit of a hoax (i use that word hoax very lightly) and reeks of farm lobbyist influence (calling it "bio-ethanol" is just greenwash). it doesn't really put a dent in the petroleum market and it abuses the agriculture market by overloading it for producing fuel instead of food

100% biodiesel is however something that is a real alternative without changing too much technology. the lower blends have the same problem as ethanol, relying on petroleum again and also putting more particulate into the air than conventional engines; although Mercedes and VW just announced cleaner diesels for next year. Biodiesel does have the problem of putting a burden on the agriculture market, though the lack of harmful offgassing makes it better than ethanol.

the electric or electric hybrids still use power, though it's buried in the grid, and they don't off gas as much...they really are temporary or interim models of transportation until the real breakthrough occurs.

fuel cells look promising but few companies are pushing it as a viable market to pursue...honda just started advertising in the US for a fuel cell car available this year.

Whether or not we think that Fuel Cells are THE solution, they are a step in the right direction. IMO, bio diesel, and ethanol offer little to help the cause except for reducing foreign dependency. The Farm lobby and the Corn lobby are just as real and dangerous as the Oil lobbyists.

I would really like to see us develop more options like the FC cars and see how those end up affecting things. Perhaps it's not viable, or profitable, or whatever... point is that eventually, the industry's willingness to take risks similar to the FC vehicles will eventually lead to a better option which will be cheaper, more efficient, and more profitable for them. At least, that's what the Free Market economic models are supposed to say, right? If someone can come up with a way to make cars run better, cheaper, faster, longer, they will be the winners.

Until then, I'll be busy driving my '93 Honda Accord into the ground.

I'm not a fan of fuel cells as I don't believe their efficiency is really worth it. The "hydrogen economy" would be a complete waste and I'm glad that is almost dead. Ethanol as its being done now is IMO a blight on the economy.

I agree with tri-ac that biodiesel is where it's at right now. A lot of progress is being made on producing it from algae which would remove it from being an agricultural burden.

I do think that electric is the way to go, though. Kill off a few coal fired plants and replace them with nuclear and renewable sources (especially as solar increases in efficiency) and there'll be power enough for everyone without dumping massive amounts of pollutants.

In the mean time, I'll stick with my Corolla and keep on hypermiling

TROLL!!!!!!!! It's so obvious that you wrote that article. I like the mustache, btw.

That was an interesting article. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people claim to be all green and are condescending to anyone who drives a car or uses air conditioning or whatever. But I'm all for making positive change. I definitely don't think we're making the most of what we have.

I don't think the situation is as bad as many would like to believe, but there are always going to be plenty of paranoid people. If it's not global warming, it's aliens. If it's not aliens, it's little cameras in all our TV's that the government uses to watch us. Honestly, someone was once telling me that you should always put a blanket over your TV when you're not watching it so the feds can't see you.

I read another article where the hypermiling techniques were being evaluated by a law enforcement official...it was funny to see his reaction to some like engine off coasting, which is clearly dangerous in traffic. But hey, some of those people get upwards of 80-90mpg

One thing I do is turn of my car when I am waiting for the train. OK, unless it's an Amtrak. But if it's a big cargo train, my car goes off immediately. It's amazing how many people just sit there in their cars wasting gas for more than 5 minutes... Even if it's only a couple of minutes, it's better than sitting there idling. And, I don't buy the "excuse" that starting-up your engine does more damage than leaving it running, or that the surge from starting it will actually burn more fuel than idling.

I don't want to be one of those smug "greenies" that preaches about how everyone needs to stop driving. Let me be clear: I drive >20 miles a day. For me, it is unavoidable. I wish I could do something about it, but I can't. I can't afford a hybrid. I certainly can't afford an Electric Vehicle... This is why I call upon the government to do something. >>steps onto Democratic soapbox<< It's the job of the government to help people find ways to be more energy efficient, or better, to encourage the private sector to develop solutions that will help fight global warming, and to provide incentives, and assistance to actually make these products accessible to the average American.

Think about this... for all the problems American car manufacturers are having, why are they not trying to do something about this? And why is the government not doing anything to encourage them to find a solution? Clearly, Honda and Toyota have discovered that being efficient sells cars. That's a large portion of their market. Why have American manufacturers largely ignored this market, and instead, opted to subsidize their gas-hogs (read:Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler)? If the government is so willing to subsidize corn (for HFCS and Ethanol), why don't they divert some funding to help car makers come up with something different? Wait... I know... it's because the corn farmers lobby that they want more money to grow corn. But the car makers lobby that they just want to keep doing whatever they hell they want to... Don't get me wrong... they have a reason, right? For an already struggling company, it's much easier to keep doing what you are doing. The combustion engine has been the same for a long time... why reinvent the wheel, right?

Yeah, they did the same one with lightbulbs being turned on and off...Always turn them off if not needed

i thought the beaded seat cover was just a taxi thing...who knew they were so green all these years?

We just bought a 2008 Honda Element. LOVE IT!. Put a little Saris Thelma for longer trips and we just got back from a 1/2 IM in GA and everything fit perfectly, including all our doggie stuff!

Had previously decided on a Rav 4 but the guy there was so rude and were going to rip us off on my hubby's trade...I asked the guy 2x to change his tone with me (one of those who just think women are dirt) and he flat out told me no he won't...told him to go bring my husband's car around and we left. Bought the Element the next day. The Honda people gave us a more than fair offer on the big ole 1999 Eddie Bauer Expedition and really were wonderful to us. We almost bought an Odyssey, but we don't have kids yet, so we'll hold off. We thought it would be cool to have bikes and 4 people in at the same time!!

Element is great on gas, fun to drive, and very comfy! We got the SC.