the new Hummer H3 - a "mini" version of the classic.
get this they promise better fuel economy from now on the H3 reportedly will average 20 MPG on the highway!!!

 

Remember, this is from the same people who brought us the Cadillac Cimarron back in the 80s (a Cavalier with scaled down ugly caddy bodywork?). GM designers seem to do some particularly weird things during fuel crises.

 

Hey, it's a step in the right direction IMO. Enough 'huge for huge's sake'. MINI taught the world that you can do quite a bit in a little bit of space and gave us the most capable, configurable and enjoyable small car ever. It didnt have to be huge, but we can still stretch out in it. A smaller Hummer debateably is one that would be more capable in what it was designed to do off-road (but I am willing to bet that more than 80% of them never go any further off road than rubbing their tires on a curb while parallel parking).

 

I predict that they will be one of the first in the ditch this winter.Maybe thats what some hummer and SUV owners think is off-roading

 

Lotsie, you got that right. Around these parts people absolutely do not know how to drive in snow. Many feel that all they need is an SUV and they are set. It seems now that in more than 2/3 of the situations where I see a vehicle in the ditch, hanging off a guardrail or piled into other cars it's an SUV.

But hey! They show those things busting through snow banks and eating up snow covered roads in their advertising, right?

 

I saw this moron transporter at the Anaheim Auto Show yesterday. At $30,000, it is much less money than the original so more idiots will be buying them. The only upside is that it is totally unsafe so it may accelerate natural selection. Can’t you tell that I just love SUVs?

 

Rick - a bit harsh, and not exactly accurate. "totally unsafe"? not compared to some lesser engineered, less manuverable monstrosities on the road.

 

OK, it is the IQ of the drivers that make it unsafe. I live in Hummerville and I constantly see them smashing into stuff. Maybe the drivers are inspired by the movie Bad Boys and they believe that it is OK to drive like idiots.

 

This damn thing is still big enough though. It's still rated as being the biggest mid-sized SUV out there. Guessing it's using the inline-5 from the Canyon for this.
So now which is it really. Has GM finally listened to the public and media about the H2 being too damn big, and fuel-wasteful by coming out with this H3, or are they just trying to fill the world with a smaller version for those people looking for a mid-size SUV, outside of their regular H2 customers? Either way ya look at it, there's going to be more Hummers out there now. Big ones and bigger ones. Great. Just my couple a pennies worth.
Cheers,

 

i somewhat agree with Rick, this past summer i was almost run over by a very small woman driving a big H2 with i think 22" wheels on it! i was walking across the street and she was turning right as i was crossing on her right side- she didn't even see me! she had no business driving that monstrosity when she could hardly even see over the dashboard. but her ONE child in the backseat in the baby seat was very safe.

 

I do agree that it seems big SUV drivers like to ignore the rest of the world with their "my SUV is HEEEEUUUUGE and thus I am safe and can ignore all you little people" disorder.

 

Is that the disorder that puts them in the ditch

 

ignorance is bliss, right?

 

Last winter the MINI was sold as a luge up here.BMW was pushing winter driving in a MINI.The car is a good winter car IMO,not great,because it is low to the ground,so deep snow is hard to plow through.But on snow pack,this is one GREAT car:smile:The car goes where ever you point it on snow and ice.
At speed on a highway,some drifting snow,the car can dodge around road kill
and not miss a beat,or brake and miss live road hazards

 

Yup.......the same disorder that deserves a size 13 boot to the head.

 

I guess this post sums up the underlying reasoning for owning such a behemoth when it is otherwise unnecessary. People have a feeling that if they wrap themselves up in enough steel they'd be more impervious to damage in a 'me vs. them' situation. Sadly, some people I have talked to think this way; they got themselves a big SUV almost as a WMD in an automotive arms race. They believe that this gives them the upper hand in an accident, regardless of who's at fault. "My baby's life is more important than anyone else out here". Sadly, some have found out that having three tons of steel encasing them does not a safer ride make.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I don't hate, nor do I regularly bash SUVs. Every one of them has a purpose, and when used as such, are wonderful vehicles. An Excursion or a Suburban is ideal for those who tow trailers and haul around a lot of gear. People in these parts use them for pulling horse trailers, campers, etc. Sadly too, a family of three living on a cul-de-sac in MegaSuburbia USA who has an Excursion and never hauls more than a week's groceries in it is a total waste. I see far more examples of the latter. Likewise, it would be crazy for someone to try and pull a horse trailer with a MINI.

The Hummers (in all their incarnations) were designed to do very well in off-road situations. Same with Range Rovers, the Porsche Cayenne and the Mercedes G-500. Now comes the conundrum. Picking the G-500 as an example. At nearly $100 grand, with some of the most lavish interior appointments and luxury touches, who would WANT to take it off road? True, there will always be the very well-to-do rancher who will take his megabuck ride around on his land conducting business. But unless someone has far more dollars than sense, one does not buy such a vehicle to beat up regularly in the Rubicon or Moab.

 

Been thinking of having a license plate frame made up for my MINI:

"Friends don't let friends drive SUVs"

On another note, I heard recently that someone (NTSB? Crash Institute? Some insurance group?) has determined that if you're involved in an accident in an SUV, your chances of dying are 11% higher than if you were in a regular car. Has something to do with rollovers and a high COG.