My beef with the wimpy 220hp engine is indeed relative. In a world of Hemi powered Jeeps and fast cars, the pokiness of the H3 is not good. Sure, not much out-of-the-box will beat its off-road prowess, but most off-road destinations require a lot of on-road travel, so street performance IS important.
One of the cheapest SUVs today, the 2005 Xterra, sports a 265hp engine, that can propel the X from 0-60 in 6.5 seconds. While I don't expect any Hummer to offer numbers like that, it would be nice to see the H3 move from the bottom of the pack in acceleration to somewhere in the middle.
I love the H3, its engineering, its exterior design, its terrific interior, but it's just that engine that keeps me from signing up for one. I'm not interested in the high-power forced induction Alpha version of the H3, I just want a better powerplant that can motivate 4700 pounds of Hummer confidently in traffic.
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