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<TD vAlign=top><SPAN class=storytitle>2006 Hummer H3</SPAN>
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<TD vAlign=top colSpan=2><SPAN class=storyblurb>To acquire a reputation on the
street, first get off it.</SPAN>
<SPAN class=author>BY JOHN PEARLEY
HUFFMAN</SPAN>
<SPAN class=photo>November
2004</SPAN>
Hummer is still a novelty brand. The mammoth H2 is the vehicle to buy if your
neighbor heads up the local Sierra Club chapter and you don't like him
at
all. It sells more on its affectations than its abilities, but with sales
drooping, the novelty of those affectations is fading. The challenge for GM is
for Hummer to earn some street cred for genuine ability before launching the
next, smaller SUV—and it's expected to be the line's bestseller—so it can
confront Jeep head on. And the way to do that is to get as far away from the
street as possible.</P>
So they brought five prototypes of the 2006 Hummer H3 to northeast
California's spectacularly beautiful Rubicon Trail—Jeep's semiofficial proving
ground, namesake of the Wrangler Rubicon—and invited four automotive writers
along on a two-day development trek up the legendary granite-and-dust nonroad.
Both camping and seeing GM engineers without their shirts on were among the
program's unique features.</P><!--
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The five H3s were culled from a group of 78 "integration vehicles" built with
"production intent" parts and used for final tuning and safety testing (half of
the 78 were destroyed in barrier crashes). They're dang close to the production
H3s that will be in Hummer dealers' Quonset huts next summer wearing a base
price of about $30,000, even though the interiors lacked some trim and graining
on the plastic and the exteriors wore dorky camouflage. The four gray H3s varied
slightly in gearing and equipment, but all ran GM's 4L60-E four-speed automatic
transmission. The sole yellow H3 had a five-speed manual transmission.</P>
Derived from the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, the H3 shares
those trucks' body-on-frame construction; double-A-arm and torsion-bar front and
leaf-spring rear suspension systems; and 220-hp, 3.5-liter DOHC 20-valve
all-aluminum inline five-cylinder Vortec engine (the only engine offered).</P>
At 186.7 inches long, the H3 is 4.9 inches shorter than a GMC Envoy; its
111.9-inch wheelbase is only 1.1 inches shorter than that mid-size SUV's.
Compared with the H2, the H3 is 16.8 inches less lengthy overall and rides on a
wheelbase that is 10.9 inches shorter. The slab-sided H3 may superficially
resemble the old slab-sided 1984-to-2001 Jeep Cherokee, but it's 19.2 inches
longer. And although GM is still paring down the H3's heft, it weighs well over
two tons. This is a smaller Hummer, but it's not small.</P>
The H3's most important components on the Rubicon
were 33-inch-tall LT285/75R-16 Bridgestone Dueler A/T tires, part of the ZM6
Off-Road Adventure package carried by all five vehicles (base H3s will get
31-inch-tall P265/75R-16 Goodyears); the electronically controlled dual-range
transfer case; and the electronically engaged locking rear differential. As was
incessantly made clear to the engineers on hand, a locking front diff would also
be a boon for rock crawlers, but they'll have to learn to work with the
traction-control system instead.</P>
The Rubicon Trail is only about 11 or 12 miles long (depending on who's
measuring and route variations), starting in the western Sierra Nevada Mountains
and running to the western shore of Lake Tahoe. It's thoroughly rugged, and the
parts of it that don't require crawling over granite boulders usually include
crossing granite outcroppings. It's literally the standard against which other
off-road routes are measured.</P>
Starting at Wentworth Springs with tires running 20 pounds of inflation, we
immediately put the H3s in low range to begin the two-day crawl and stayed there
throughout the trip. With speeds rarely exceeding 5 mph, the H3s truly are adept
and nimble climbers. There's a lot of travel in the suspension, the approach
angles are generous, the steering is precise but doesn't buck much when pounding
into rocks, the five-cylinder engine's throttle is progressive just off idle,
and the four-wheel-drive and traction-control systems work seamlessly together
under most conditions. The structure of the H3 is impressively stiff, which is
particularly evident as the truck slides off rocks to slam down hard on the skid
plates with solid thunks and few
shudders.</P>
Even in its incomplete and unfinished state, the H3's five-passenger interior
is a big step forward from that of the H2 in that it's cleanly styled, with
straightforward controls, and lacks the H2's frippery and overwhelming
self-consciousness. The squat window line and long hood limit visibility a bit,
but on the Rubicon all that really matters is that you can see your spotter's
hands.</P>
For most Hummer buyers, off-road ability means something like easily trudging
out of the muddy parking lot at a horse show; that the H3 can conquer the
Rubicon is impressive, reassuring, and ego swelling but ultimately academic.
There's nothing on the Rubicon that simulates parallel parking, commuting along
I-5, or climbing the speed bumps at Target. In fact, the trail doesn't even
offer a chance to rev the H3's engine much beyond its torque peak of 225
pound-feet at 2800 rpm or get the transmission out of first gear. Nor can we
tell you how the truck rides on fully inflated tires.</P>
So the big test for the Hummer H3 still lies ahead when it confronts the
everyday world of its potential buyers, a world in which the appeal of overall
competence never fades.</P>
Vehicle type: front-engine,
4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon</P>
Estimated base
price: $30,000</P>
Engine type: DOHC 20-valve inline-5, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection
Displacement: 211 cu in, 3464cc
Power (SAE net): 220 bhp @ 5600 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 225 lb-ft @ 2800 rpm
<DIV align=left>
<HR width=150>
</DIV>Transmissions: 5-speed manual,4-speed automatic
Wheelbase: 111.9 in
Length/width/height: 186.7/85.5/74.5 in
Curb weight: 4800 lb
C/D-estimated performance (4-sp auto):
Zero to 60 mph: 9.3 sec
Standing 1/4-mile: 16.9 sec
Projected fuel economy (mfr's est, 4-sp auto):
EPA city driving: 15 mpg
EPA highway driving: 18 mpg</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR>
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