The Hummer H3T; yes actually on a Fit forum :)

One of those kinds of cars that either you love or you hate... there is no room for middle ground here! It can conjure up images of giant sized Tonka toys, gangster thugs or world ending pollution. In any case these threads are always the most interesting :)



The Backstory!

Alright, for those of you who don't know... I am taking one out for a test drive tomorrow. Before you start getting your flame throwers & pitchforks ready let me explain!

Last winter when I was looking for a house I discovered our city has a do-not-plow on side streets philosophy to save money. My poor Fit got stuck and in some cases the streets were impassible even with snow tires on. This basically fuels the need for an AWD/4x4 now that I live outside of downtown.

Some other needs to consider is moving materials, I have a lot of house reno's to do for the next 5 years or so. I also enjoy doing real 4x4ing when I have access to one, so that is a bonus. I still want something with an upscale finish inside, finally finding anything with a manual tranny these days is not an easy thing to do.

So I have been looking at the MDX, GLK, X5, X3, Q5, FX... and anything else with a jumble of letters and reasonable ground clearance.

With one of the cheapest price tags and a reasonably roomy interior & box, the H3T actually meets a lot of these needs.

Ok, but still; I can already hear the protesting "Oh Sugarphreak, you have lost your way! The hummer is the enemy of small cars and a poser vehicle"

Ok Ok, fair enough. but here are the facts of the matter that are all lost in perception. I am not looking at the "Alpha" V8 hummer. I am looking at the more reasonable inline 5-cylinder. Combined Gas mileage looks something like this against a few of the other ones;

Acura MDX = 17mpg (premium)
Hummer H3T = 16mpg (regular)
Infiniti FX50 = 16mpg (premium)
Mercedes GLK = 18mpg (premium)

So... not great, but not the worst and at least it uses regular gasoline.

I actually see the H3T as a nice go-between those tiny trucks and true full size pickups.

Anyway, thoughts?

 

oh good.... an el camino with a lift kit from the factory.

yeah i dislike them because the diesel version was neve released.

 

I totally agree, diesel would have made this a much better vehicle.

 

i know there must be more than an H3T that could drag you out of the snow and still keep you happy as far as the driving goes.
it all comes down to preference but the hummer just seems a little over the top.

 

function over form lol

 

I really don't see a lot of manual SUV's out there. I think the X3 (starts at 45K CAD) and the Jeep Wrangler... which is pretty uninspiring inside and not comfortable at all for winter. There is also the FJ, but that thing gets 16mpg on premium

I was looking at the GLK (starts at 42K CAD) very closely; but the H3T starts at only 33K CAD and it seems to have a lot more utility than the GLK.

One thing I am wary of is how much Hummer drivers get harassed these days.

I am not sold on the idea, it looks good on paper but it is really going to come down to how the test drive feels. I know I never really liked the limited rear visibility out of the H3, I can't tell if the H3T will be better or worse for that.

 

Do you have to get a manual truck? If you do, i'd say get a nissan xterra. They hyave the same engine as the nissan pathfinder, but come in stick. Great gas mileage too.

Personally, i'd say get the nissan pathfinder 2005+. We have had ours since it was releeased and we LOVE it. We haul everything in that car from 30 bags of concrete to 30 4x8 plywood sheets on the roof to plants to everything! It's also got amazing power!! Plus, u can use regular fuel!! I'd definitely say look into it as well.

 

Well it is an hour to the Test, I have to say after having another night to sleep on it I don't feel that confident.

Anyway back in a bit!

 

There are fullsize trucks that get better than 16mpg combined.

 

Ewwwww not my cup of tea

 

I'm not a fan of Hummers, frankly. Although, I know they can be very capable off road. When I was off roading in Moab last spring, there were three H3Ts (straight from Detroit) out on Hells Revenge. I think they were taking product photos. Anyway, they followed us down the same trails we went down, and did quite well.

I bet you could probably pick one up fairly cheap (for what they are) at this point, too.

 

on Top Gear they said it had like a surburban frame so the ground clearance isnt too good ?..

 

lol, I don't think it has a ground clearance problem! It has over 9"

Still, I am not looking for a full size truck

I think the reason it doesn't get better mileage is it has full-time awd.

Cut & Paste from my local thread on the test drive:

They SLASHED the prices on the H3T they have in stock to the point where I am almost falling over. The final price with tax & lots of options is less than the base sticker price by almost 3K!! Plus they are going to pay the first two payments for us... then we will pay it out with a transfer of cash.


The H3T was starting to scare me a bit; the more I thought about it I kept seeing this huge truck with crappy fitment, quality and a lack of power. Combine that with the shitty visibility I remembered from the H3 SUV version and I almost didn't even go.

Ok, but now I am glad I did! :D The visibility is much better with the truck version. Huge mirrors were added for the tow package & with the rear window right there it made it way easier to see out.

I was getting ready for a sloggy drive when suddenly I realized it had a reasonable amount of power... turns out the 4-speed automatic is a total hog and most of the reviews done panned the power as a result; now on the other hand the manual tranny makes the 5-cylinder much better. It was a very well mannored manual to be honest.

Fitment... I looked carefully for plastic shittyness but found none. The dash is faily upscale with a nice brush knickle finish around the guages. I found a bluetooth control button hidden away on the left side (yah!) and noticed a mike right above the driver to talk. Power seats, comfortable & bolstered... although not leather. The steering wheel was a suprise, it was smaller than I expected, but it was very thick and meaty feeling. The seating position was even a bit more car-like than the Fit! My only real complaint was the shift knob... which luckily can be changed :p

On the road I was really suprised, the front and side visibility was good & the truck handled suprisingly well. I like that the window is a bit forward as it kept the sun off me while I was driving. The rear seats had TONS of space, more than most crew cabs IMO.

 

so whatre you gonna do

 

I am still debating;

I went and test drove a Q5 today as well; right away you can see the details that Audi put into it. Tons of gizmo's & power, a pleasure to drive. It was disappointing with the cargo space though, it was less than the Fit. Very sporty and almost down right fun to drive little SUV though.

The final price between the two cars was 20,000$. That is like the cost of a Fit, it is hard to ignore despite how nice the Q5 is.

The H3T offers a lot more utility & I really like having a manual transmission.


I looked really closely at the Xterra a few times now, even had a chance to drive one about a year ago. A couple of things I didn't like was interior & plastic bumpers; although the big turnoff was the seating position & road handeling. It felt like it was designed for a much larger person than myself. I don't know, I just didn't find it comfortable to drive.

 

Wow people really hate this thing; I posted up I was taking it for a test drive on my facebook page and I got a lot of negative responses

I almost kind of feel bad for the poor thing, it's like the older brother (H2) made such a bad name for his family it ruined his life too.

 

Wow this was a tough decision.

With the Canadian government announcing a carbon offset program I figured I would show my support & buy in too! I have decided to offset the Hummer H3T with my Honda Fit :)

lol, but seriously I am picking one up tommorow. I spent a lot of time reviewing features, price & utility against probably 20 some suvs/mid size trucks; the H3T is really the best combination of upscale interior & utility. It even fits into my garage no problem!

 

post pics 4x4ing! I am looking forward to this, uh, fall's snow driving review.

 

Will do! I might have some as soon as next week, I am going out camping next weekend so I might show up & surprise my buddies with a new toy, lol. They have been pressuring me to buy a Jeep for a while now so I can go on trail rides with them. It may not be a Jeep, but it should do the trick!

I was not planning on buying until the fall, but they knocked like 6200$ off the price for the remaining 2009's in stock. They only had one standard in stock, it was black.
Looks a bit like this...

 

i like the H3, the H3T isn't my fave tho, but congrats :) i hope you like it! please tell me you're planning on getting rid of the wheels though, you could swap the wheels and tires striaght across from most gmc fullsize trucks, and they have nicer wheel options :)