I'm still trying to reconcile "starving student" with "race car" and pickup commuting, both of which consume enormous amounts of money, right?
What is this crappe about an economical car costing $5000? I can find cheap and even literally FREE eco-cars all day long, and I have, and I will continue to do so. They pay for themselves practically from the first mile!
Re: carpooling: absolutely! I did it when I was in school back in the day and the concept is probably still valid.