Posted on Monday 1 October 2007
Whether you love it or hate it, the Hummer certainly has a unique look. Boxy and aggressive, every incarnation has looked like it’s ready to punch onlookers in the face. Purchasers of the UK’s new right-hand drive Hummer H3 should expect onlookers to return the favor, in a nation known for its hatred of SUVs and virulent pro-environment movement.
Last year, London mayor Ken Livingstone proposed a daily £25 (US$50) tax, aimed at curbing pollution from SUVs and sports cars, to be levied upon entry into the city. Early this year, Richmond upon Thames council in London announced it would triple parking costs for gas guzzlers. Just this summer the UK began trials of new pollution detecting cameras. To put it simply: government in the UK doesn’t appreciate big, heavy, gassy cars, no matter how ugly or mean they look.
Despite being the smallest of the Hummer line, priced at £26,495 (US$53,771), the Hummer H3 still weighs in around 4,700lb (2136kg) at the kerb. With EPA estimated combined cycle fuel efficiency of about 20mpg (11.76L/100km) from its 244hp 3.7L motor, and CO2 emissions of 327g/km (manual) or 346g/km (automatic) it’s not going to win any green ribbons either. But then those who buy one in the UK will probably already know that, having crossed through the ring of protesters outside the dealership.
I would think the H3 wouldn’t be released in England not because of the anti SUV movement - which is pretty much communist Livingston and his stupid friends - but because the H3 is a big crapmobile that shouldn’t have been built to begin with.
The H3 is such a silly machine. It has niether the off road capability of a Hummer, nor the power of a regular SUV, and the styling makes the interior cramped.
So much better off buying a Jeep Wrangler unlimited (a very capable vehicle) or a regular Ford Explorer (very roomy, safe, and can tow well if needed). H3 is just so bad at everything except trying to look cool…
I like it. Hummer’s products display imaginative design, if nothing else. Though rumor has it they’re good off-road…
I never liked the Hummer H2 and H3. The people that drive them are simply trying to look cool, especially truck drivers for some reason. I’m a Brown guy living in Brampton, Ontario, Canada where there is no shortage of brown truck drivers that buy Hummers to look cool. It got so bad that the police actually started an investigation into how truck drivers that don’t make much money can afford to buy such a worthless vehicle; they though the truck drivers were into some kind of drug running. Personally, I don’t care how much gas someones vehicle uses, that’s their problem, but Hummers make bad drivers. The brown guys in Brampton drive their Hummers with their seats all the way back, they can hardly see anyone beside them! Driving my mom’s 1998 Cavalier, I almost got run over by an H2 because the idiot in it couldn’t see that I was beside him and he almost changed lanes right on top of me. Thank God someone invented horns a long time ago! Then the jackass looks at me like it was my fault! This is why brown people get a bad name, idiots like that guy that think they’re perfect.
I have also heard that Hummers are good off-road but a Jeep Wrangler is better and it costs much less.
Hummers are exactly as good off road as the Chevy Tahoe SUV that they share running gear with. That is to say not very. I’ve seen many at our off-road park spinning tires and high centering, their owners perplexed that the badge on the back doesn’t come with the H1’s capabilities…
That just proves how ignorant Hummer owners really are. Most Hummers have never seen an off-road park, let alone a patch or grass. Yet their owners drive around as if they can crawl over anything there is, including your car.Hummers might sell well but GM should be careful about how they handle the success because big, gas guzzling, poorly made vehicles are what got GM into the mess they’re in now. I’ve only been in a Hummer H2 a couple of times but the first thing I noticed was how cheap the interior looked. It was like a leather version of the Aunt’s Pontiac Sunfire, I honestly expected better from a $50,000+ vehicle, no matter how useless it is.