The Trip and the H3....

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For those who say the H3 is incapable of traveling on the highway, or even worse, dangerous, I say you are full of BS. My son and I just did a 4000+-mile trip in an H3, covering all types of roads from interstates to two-lane mountainous highways to off-roading on some of the worse dirt/rock roads in the US.

Interstate travel:
From MI, my son and I, drove across I-80 to I-76 to I-70 at average speeds greater than 75. In states such as IL where the speed limit is 65, we drove 75, in NE and CO, where the speed limits were 75, we drove 80, and the so-called non-performance H3 kept right up with traffic at all times. We were able to pass other vehicles when necessary. Not as fast as passing in a Corvette, but at no time was the passing of another vehicle(s) considered dangerous.

Two-lane travel:
On the return trip, we drove to Monument Valley via 191 and 163, and we were quite able to pass other vehicles when necessary. We averaged around 70 mph during this travel. From Monument Valley we drove to Durango, CO, and from Durango, we then traveled up 550 to Montrose. For those who have driven this route, you know it is primarily a two-lane mountainous road, with steep ascents and descents, and at no time did we ever hold up traffic, and when necessary and when safe, we were able to pass other vehicles. Going down the 6% grades was performed in 2nd gear, to save on brakes. The H3 handled these roads a heck of a lot better than I ever expected.

Off-road:
We did not try any of the rock climbing that many have done, for one thing, we were on a photo trip, but primarily we had no backup vehicles to climb with and that would have been downright idiotic to attempt a climb up some of these rock hills by yourself. However, we did hit all the four-wheel drive roads in Arches, including Cache Valley trail that leads out of Arches NP, but is on BLM land.
Cache Valley trail is not much of a four-wheel drive road, as it is a pile of boulders and sand pits that are tied together; even the BLM officer thought we were crazy.
Salt Valley road to the split to Tower Arch is a washboard 4-wheel drive road that can be handled by a two-wheel drive vehicle. However, at the split to the required high-clearance 4-wheel drive road, it turns into one nasty road; not as nasty as Cache Valley, but again a road that consists of rocks, ledges and deep sand pits.


SALT VALLEY TRAIL

SALT VALLEY TRAIL AS VIEWED FROM INSIDE

The trail to Gemini Bridges (Arches), which leads off route 191, is a very steep rocky and sandy road that takes some high ground clearances. The Jeep in front of us, which was primarily stock except for larger tires, left his marks everywhere due to dragging the fuel tank shield on the rocks. Not once did the H3 drag on any rocks. Not once did the H3 ever stop due to any obstructions; including the large sand pit the Jeep had trouble in, but did manage to make it through.
There were times I had to engaged the rear locker, but primarily, for most of the roads we were fine in 4-wheel hi lock.
Schafer trail out of Canyonlands to where it meets up with the White Rim trail and Potash Road is in terrible condition; however, it was no problem, and was not a problem for my Jeep last year. Long Canyon road, which is considered a road driveable by a two-wheel, high clearance vehicle, would not be passable for a two-wheel drive vehicle. At the start of the road is a quarter mile sand pit that the H3 sunk into, and 4-wheel low was required. The remainder of the road would be ok for a two-wheel drive vehicle.

Fuel mileage on the trip was strange. It appears that the H3 does not like high-speed and wind. My son and I kept a meticulous log of the fuel mileage from Start to return, and it does appear, that at speeds above 75, and going into the wind, the H3 does not meet the figures displayed by GM. However, on speeds at 75 or above, with the wind behind the H3 (east to west travel), the H3 actually meets the figures displayed by GM. What confused us was on the two-lane mountain roads, the H3 received great fuel economy, a hell of a lot better than I would have imagined. I guess for every ascent, there is an equal descent that saved on fuel mileage.

In summary, the H3 was a pleasure to drive; especially when compared to a Jeep in the crosswinds of Kansas. Seats were comfortable for both of us, it had adequate power to pass when necessary and did not seem to be straining at 80+ miles per hour, or when ascending deep mountains. It did downshift quite a bit to second gear, but that would be expected and evidently did not cause any problems. At times, it did not downshift fast enough; so a little kick of the throttle gave it the needed boost to downshift. Cruise control was adequate on the Interstate and the two-lane roads that had no extreme ascents; on those with extreme ascents, it did not downshift fast enough, but would eventually catch up to the set speed.

Only problems we encountered were the one day the engine sounded like it was racing, even when descending down the roads, the 4-wheel drive failed light came on a few times, but a shut down and restart cleared the problem, and it never crippled us in any ways. (First time was descending Shafer trail, second time was on Gemini Bridge road, and once on Cache Valley trail.) One other problem was the rear hatch handle. At one point it was so packed with red dirt/sand it would not release and close. However, a quick shot of air into the mechanism cleared it and it operated fine from then on.

Did it scream up the ascents like my Vette?NO, but it is not a Vette. Was it adequate to drive under all the conditions we encountered?.YES; more than adequate, and when compared to my Jeep, it was better not only on the highway, but on the 4-wheel drive roads.

The two of us completely filled the luggage area and back seat with camera equipment and duffle bags full of clothes, computers, and other miscellaneous items such as a high-amp starter pack, DC/AC converter, tools, etc. My Jeep would not have held as much equipment and bags. However, if there were more than two of us, with comparable equipment, a luggage carrier would have been required for the top rack.

Fuel mileage, here is the actual fuel mileages from service station to service station with the types of roads listed.

From MI via I-94/I-80 (includes time on two-lane highways, side trip to East Lansing to pick up the kid, but primarily Interstate) to New Lenox, IL ? 19.566 gallons; 332.40 miles ? 16.988 mpg

I-80 to Des Moines, IA ? 18.539 gallons; 317.00 miles ? 17.099 mpg

I-80 to Greenwood, NE ? 9.832 gallons; 167.20 miles ? 17.005 mpg

I-80 to Big Springs, NE ? 19.672 gallons; 319.40 miles ? 16.236 mpg

I-80/I-76 to Tonville, CO ? 10.475 gallons; 172.30 miles ? 16.448 mpg

I-70 to Grand Junction, CO ? 13.456 gallons; 266.90 miles ? 19.835 mpg

I-70/Route 128 to Moab, UT ? 10.415 gallons; 187.20 miles ? 17.974 mpg (includes some driving around Arches National Park)

In and around Moab ? 11.609 gallons; 184.40 miles ? 15.918 mpg

In and around Moab ? 13.871 gallons; 220.20 miles ? 15.874 mpg

In and around Moab to Blanding ? 11.972 gallons; 200.50 miles ? 16.747 mpg

Blanding, UT to Monument Valley (time to drive the MV tourist road) to Cortez, CO (trip to top of Mesa Verde and back to Cortez) ? 16.296 gallons; 291.60 miles ? 17.893 mpg

Cortez to Poncha Springs, CO, via Durango, Montrose, including side trips in Durango, Silverton and a few off-road scenic areas ? 15.155 gallons; 282.90 miles ? 18.653 mpg

Poncha Springs to Colby KS (via two-lane highways and I-70) ? 18.120 gallons; 325.80 miles ? 17.98 mpg.

I-70 to KS Turnpike service area, east of Topeka, KS ? 29.584 gallons; 321.90 miles ? 15.638 mpg

I-70 to Vandalia, IL ? 20.007 gallons; 365.90 miles ? 18.288 mpg

I-70/I-69 to Fremont, IN ? 19.671 gallons; 355.30 miles ? 18.057 mpg

I-69/I-96 to M-59 to Rochester Hills (plus a side trip to drop off my son in East Lansing) ? 9.034 gallons; 168 miles ? 18.596 mpg

Average for trip: 17.269 mpg.

Temps:
Highest temps noted on the temp gage were 3/4 and that was idling after climbing a trail. The following was the temp gage after running Salt Valley Trail. Photo taken immediately as we stopped the vehicle to photograph Eye of the Whale Arch.



Now, will the tires ever be black again, and the mud flaps are a big help.