Most economical 4 x 4

How much does your van weigh, but generally for van towing you are better off with a turbo diesel. You also do not give us your budget.
But 3.2 Pajeros come highly regarded as do prados although I find the Paj much better to drive , although the engine is a bit noisy and the Prado wins on resale.
Cheers Pete

If considering utes for towing you don't need 4wd at all. It does depend on what use you are going to put it to though.

Some 4wd are also AWD and drive the front wheels unnecessarily all the time. Prado is one.
Some 4wd only use 4wd when you require it. Isuzu Mux and most ute varieties.

You haven't said if it has to be a wagon/ute or tray.

You mentioned petrol use. If buying a petrol vehicle, while cheaper, it will cost more to feed it than a diesel.

A VW Amarok is great on fuel WHEN EMPTY but isn't the best option if towing as the usage increases markedly.

Isuzu Mux or the Dmax ute may be one of the most economical for towing that sized van, usually are the most frugal.

If you drive sensibly the fuel use will be OK, if keeping up with some other van towing people the fuel use may increase 1/3 more.

A new Fraud Ranger or Mazda BT50 will easily tow it but they will use more fuel again.

With a Dmax the use for that size van during normal towing should be no more than 12-13/100.
Auto is best for towing in all vehicles and you will need a transmission cooler fitted to get rid of auto fluid heat.

You have left out some fairly important information, are you looking at new or used vehicles & what is is your approximate budget?
Also what are your other preferences, utility or wagon, manual or automatic etc?
Subject to knowing the above, Prado D4D would be hard to beat.

What's the empty weight of your Jayco

the most economical 4x4 is the one still in the dealers yard, if you are going to worry about economy, well maybe 4x4s and caravans aren't for you.
CARAVANs=horsepower=fuel. If you don't want to use fuel don't go.

Johno.
Fuel economy and caravan are not usually used in the same sentence. If you want to tour in comfort and economy you should sell the caravan and get a van like a VW transporter or a Mercedes Sprinter. Eric

Diesel KIA Sorento would do it at 12 litres per 100ks. A good second hand highly capable 2008 4wd Sorento would cost you about $18k

You say a 16.7 ft caravan. Is it a pop-top? If so, I have exactly that - a jayco 16.6 ft pop-top. 1180 kg tare weight. I use a NW Pajero diesel nowadays to tow it. I get 12.2 L/100 km consumptionon flat country, no winds. I used to tow it with a NL Pajero running on gas. I used around 18 L/100 km for that, over 100000 km of towing.

Now, having quoted these figures, there are lots of variables to consider. No 1 is speed. I used to travel at around 90 km/h with the old Pajero. The new one I travel nearer 100 km/h. Knock the speed back by 10 km/hr and you will improve consumption by at least 10%.

Another factor to consider is the van itself. When we bought it, I specified a shorter towbar. It is 200 mm shorter than standard, and I think this makes a big difference in airflow. When I drive on a wet road with the van, the rear window stays absolutely dry, except when I stop. The Pajero must act as a good windbreak for the van. Also, being a poptop, the van is just slightly taller than the tractor.

The old Pajero towed the van very well, but the new one - there is no comparison. It has power to burn - if you want to use it.

Another hit & run thread, at least 5 people have asked questions to try to help the OP & no reply, if people can't help them selves why should others try to help them?

The new Jeep Grand CRD will pull 3.5 tonne and gets in the 8's for fuel economy when not towing. That gives it a head start on most cars and you did ask what gets the best economy.