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our test drives or view them all

Hummer H3

YOU might have thought Hummer would be on a bummer sending me its ugly H3 - a self-confessed 4x4 doubter, a sceptic when it comes to American designed cars and smarting along with everyone else at record-level fuel costs.

Added to that this gross machine from "across the pond" seems geared more for the spiv about town than the country gent.

But in spite of myself I have to admit the funereal black 2.2 tonne Hum-vee that rolled into my drive lodged in a corner of my heart.

Maybe it’s because it’s not an American product. It’s built in South Africa. Or maybe the guys who designed the "baby" H3 Hummer made a serious attempt to make the 4.8 metre long five-seater Euro-friendly.

Or is it because this slimmed-down Yank Tank is just a big softie – comfortable and a bit of fun in a dismal motoring climate?

Whatever the cause, Hummer-fever took root within 24 hours and against all the odds I was sorry to see the 15mpg leviathan leave. As it disappeared I realised just what Arnold Schwarzenegger once saw in his fleet of Hum-vee vehicles – and equally exactly why he gave them up two years ago.

Packed with character and well-built, the H3 is not the monster Hum-vees beloved by Arnie, but shares the same characteristics – it’s big, pollutes heavily and guzzles petrol. No wonder he told the iconic 4x4 badge "You won’t be back!".

There are fears General Motors will axe the Hummer brand in response to rising fuel costs and the mighty 4x4’s un-green credentials.

But the H3 is not the "public enemy No 1" you might expect. OK, its average fuel consumption swings between 15mpg and 19mpg; OK, so it cost £104 to fill the 87 litre tank and OK, so it left a CO2 cloud of 346g/km behind it – but it raised smiles from most people and cruised majestically along roads taking up no more room than a British Range Rover Sport. In fact the near 3.7 litre straight-five Vortec-engined petrol H3 is 6mm shorter than the 2.7 litre V6 turbodiesel Range Rover Sport and weighs almost a quarter of a tonne less. It is only 6mm wider than the admittedly sophisticated British challenger and costs substantially less in my Luxury specification test vehicle at just £32,995 compared to the Sport’s £38,495.

And considering the Hummer has a relatively simple 242bhp all-alloy five-pot petrol unit compared to the Sport’s highly-developed 188bhp twin-turbo diesel the H3’s average 19.5mpg was not all that bad compared to the Brit’s 28mpg with more expensive diesel fuel. Mind you the Range Rover Sport is cleaner with emissions of just 265g/km – but in reality there’s little in it.

Driving the H3 was a bit like driving Inverness Castle – conspicuous, heavy and needing to be defended. It’s not particularly brisk and, despite massive door mirrors, visibility is dire through its slit-trench windows.

While most people seemed to like the Hummer’s hunched look, masses of chrome and Tonka Toy wheels, there were those who reacted badly. No one let me out at junctions and one pious north Toyota Prius driver travelled as slowly as she could in front of me and positioned herself so there was no way I could pass. Teaching me a lesson, no doubt!

I can understand why. The H3 is intimidating. Its huge chromed seven-slat grill and high bumper line make it look predatory from the front – not a friendly image in your rear view mirror.

But it’s a pussy to drive. The test car’s four-speed automatic transmission is so smooth that its slushy changes make it feel like a CVT. Noise levels are incredibly low and the general level of comfort and ambience in its sombre black-leather trimmed cabin is outstanding. With the rear seats folded it can swallow almost 1600 litres of cargo.

I found myself content to bowl along at 55 to 60mph in this chunky 4x4 enjoying every expensive mile. Speeds above 60mph are accompanied by rear axle patter on all but smooth surfaces.

The squared-off wings are deformable plastic to take off-road knocks, the basic live axle and leaf spring rear suspension is rugged with 219mm of ground clearance along the underside and impressive approach (37 degree), departure (34.6 degree) and breakover (23.5 degree) angles for tackling the rough stuff. And when you venture off-road this muscle-bound beast really shines.

Simple electronic 4x4 control allowed me to sidle down tarmac and slip into high-ratio lock or low-ratio lock at the push of a dash button. Taking to the mud and slime of a steep Moray moorland track proved the H3 is more than just a brash kerb crawler – it has incredible off-road crawlability.

In low-ratio lock this near 2.3 tonne monster simply brushed aside boulders and ruts. I never felt its 32-inch outside diameter Goodyear Wrangler tyres slip once, even though my heart was in my stomach on some extreme sections. Better still was the H3’s towing gear – huge lugs front and rear to help extract it from the worst or, more likely, allow it to rescue lesser off-roaders from the mire.

It’s a tough customer off-road and left me thinking I could have tackled the most challenging moor track in Moray even if I’d had its maximum 1.6 tonne towing limit hooked on the back!

When it comes to technical finesse, Europe has Hummer beat. The chassis is "old world" engineering, but works well enough. It handles reasonably, but not nearly as crisply as a Range Rover Sport. The dash is bland and covered with hard plastic and the switchgear and instruments are light years behind the best from "over here". The interior lighting is so poor that reading a road map would be a challenge.

But for all that the H3 is very well built and mounted on a strong chassis. External trim is solidly attached – the crass chrome grille is better fitted to the Hummer than the flimsy plastic apology adorning the Range Rover Sport.

There’s a general feeling of solidity all round the car. It has a good safety package, the engine is very torquey and refined and when it comes to reliability a confidence-building four-year/60,000 mile warranty is encouraging, as are 10,000 mile servicing intervals. It also boasts a surprisingly tight turning circle.

In six-speed manual entry-level SE guise the H3 costs a reasonable £26,495 and £30,495 in better equipped Adventure trim. My exceptionally well appointed £31,495 Luxury version came with a £1500 four-speed automatic. All in all, great value. Options are plentiful but can add massively to the bill. Buyers might want to personalise and tailor the H3 to their own needs and Hummer is "there to help" – like £2057 for a Kenwood sat-nav system, £1068 for a Delta light bar, £467 for a performance air intake and, unbelievably, £1059 for a spare tyre cover!

But for all its "more bangs for your buck" the H3 will remain a rare sight on Scottish roads. We only have two dealers – one in Glasgow has sold five this year and the other in Edinburgh just three.

Hummers may be the epitome of automotive political incorrectness with falling sales, but it’s not the ogre you might think.

As an affordable and comfortable icon with reasonable off-road ability, style, fun and comfort it really is in a rare class of its own.

Rating: 6/10

 

FINAL THOUGHT:

It would have been easy to write off the Hummer H3 is an example of brash, political incorrectness with about as much right to roam Highland roads as Robert Mugabe has to chair the Electoral Reform Society. But it’s not nearly as poor a machine as I expected. The H3 may be the baby of the ultimate Yank Tank family but it is genuinely well put together, impressively simple in both design and concept and really comfortable. Silly "slit-trench" windows exaggerate the feeling of poor interior space, but individual passenger room is generous if you want to stretch out. The H3 is the "acceptable" face of Hummer for Europe and an alternative for those 4x4 lovers who want something different. But at under 20mpg and emission levels of 346g/km, the reality is that the days of vehicles like the H3 are as doomed as the dinosaur and destined for extinction.

 

CAR FACTS – Hummer H3 Luxury Automatic

Price: £32,995

Capacity: 3653cc

Power: 242bhp

0-62mph: 9.8 seconds

Maximum speed: 98mph

Economy: Urban 15.1mpg; Combined 19.5mpg

CO2 emissions: 346g/km

ESP: Standard StabiliTrak

Insurance: Group 17