Car n Drivah! Alpha First Drive

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http://www.caranddriver.com/previews...-h3-alpha.html




First Drive: 2008 Hummer H3 Alpha - Previews

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The littler Hummer now packs a V-8 punch.

BY STEVE SILER, June 2007

After two years of lion styling with housecat horsepower, Hummer?s runt of the litter finally gets a V-8 variant, dubbed H3 Alpha. With 300 horsepower and 320 lb-ft of torque, the Alpha?s 5.3-liter V-8 is the mill the H3 should have had all along. Surprise, surprise; we like it better even though we still don?t love it.

Not enough Power?

When Hummer introduced the H3, it was steadfast that its new baby had plenty of grunt, although we certainly wouldn?t have used that word to characterize the 220 horsepower of the original inline-five. Still, without admitting fault, the 3.5-liter was hastily bored to 3.7 liters for 2007?and horsepower rose to a still-not-enough 242. We kept bitching.
Why were we being so hard on it, GM wondered? Man, had they driven it? On the road? Sorry for being so demanding, but we?ve never found 0-to-60 times in the mid-10-second range to be terribly stirring, especially in the day and age where there are SUVs that can be going a mile a minute from a dead stop in half that time. Granted, most of ?em aren?t worth much off-road, but still?.



Turns out, even 300 horsepower under the H3?s chunky hood may not be enough. Sure, we were doing our on-road driving at more than a mile above sea level, on high-speed two-laners between northern New Mexico?s noted (but fabulously unspoiled) Rock Garden off-road area and Durango, Colorado. But even with two aboard and no luggage, the Alpha?s 4900 pounds asked more of the wheezing OHV V-8 than it seemed willing to give. Backing that up is Hummer?s claim that the Alpha hits 60 mph in a just-okay 8.0 seconds. That?s slower than the much larger (albeit much more powerful) 2008 H2, which can hustle its 6650 pounds to 60 in a reasonably impressive 7.8 seconds with a 393-hp, 6.2-liter V-8 and six-speed automatic.
Much of the blame for the H3?s lackadaisical thrust can be attributed to the modest gear spread of the H3?s four-speed automatic, which was retained on account of insurmountable underhood packaging constraints. Hummer engineers admit?begrudgingly?that we?re going to be stuck with it until the next all-new H3 comes along, which won?t be happening any time this decade.