The Hummer is beyond any doubt the most distinctive SUV in the world and it is astounding to see that a vehicle designed for use by the military back in the 1980s now has a growing world-wide following in its 3 civilian versions. In fact, only this month, GM announced a partnership with Avtotor for the production of the 2006 Hummer H3 in Russia, which GM views as its greatest potential market at this time.
Everyone will understandably recognize the original Hummer 1 and the scaled-down Hummer 2, both of which maintained the trademark box shape of the original military vehicle. But is the Hummer 3, scaled-down even further and with a distinctive shape of its own, a true Hummer or is it merely joining the multitude of other SUVs being offered today?
Most Hummer 1 and 2 owners aren't concerned about the fact that, Although the off-road capabilities of the Hummer are unrivalled, its on-road performance is certainly nothing to write home about. It takes up more than its fair share of the road, visibility is terrible, parking is next to impossible and they simply refuse to think about its fuel consumption. The appeal of the Hummer lies simply in its size and unique appearance.
Now the Hummer 3 obviously retains many of the trademark features of the H1 and H2, not least the small military style windows which afforded the occupants of the military vehicle a degree of protection but that give today's drivers such poor visibility. But its smaller size and less box-like appearance now put it up against such competitors as the Toyota 4Runner and Honda Pilot and it is possible that a large number of potential Hummer owners will start paying a little more attention to the competition when making their purchase.
So has GM made a mistake with its design for the Hummer 3? Naturally, only time will provide the answer to this question but as we veer away from the distinctive shape and size of what many would call the real Hummer, owners are going to look more and more at the performance of the h3 in comparison to its competitors and here the Hummer H3 is going to come up a little short I fear.
In spite of the fact that it will still win hands down as an off-road vehicle, the Hummer 3 is sadly underpowered for on-road driving. With a 3.5L 5-cylinder engine developing 220 hp, it would seem to be on a par with such vehicles as the Chevrolet Trailblazer until you compare the weights of the vehicles and find out that the Hummer 3 is some 900 lbs heavier. Acceleration is very poor to say the least and you should not even flirt with trying to put your foot down if you're going uphill.
Naturally there are ways of overcoming this problem such as the tune-up kit manufactured by Geiger in Germany. This kit includes a supercharger that will boost the H3 up to about 325 hp and greatly improve its acceleration, but should it be necessary to go to the expense and time of modifying your new vehicle? Perhaps this is one difficulty that GM should have addressed from the beginning rather than leaving its potential customers to solve the problem themselves and at their own expense.
SUVs are becoming increasingly popular around the world and this is clearly an expanding and highly lucrative market. The Hummer has carved out a distinctive niche within this market and the success of the Hummer 1 and 2 is not disputed. The question at present is whether the Hummer 3 will allow GM to continue making inroads into this market or will begin to give ground to the competition.
For more information on the 2006
Hummer 3 and for details on
Hummer prices visit HummerOnline.info today.
