2008 Hummer H3 review
December 19, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Driving around town the Hummer is very well behaved, parking is made easy with a turning circle that betters that of Ford’s Territory.
As expected there is noticeable body roll when pushing hard into a corner but for general driving, you really wouldn’t notice it.
The main problem I found with the H3 is visibility. Sure everyone else on the road can spot a yellow Hummer from 2km away, but can you spot them?
Shoulder checking is practically useless as the Hummer-style short windows do little to help. As for reverse parking, by all means tick the parking-sensors box (standard on luxury) on the options list. You’ll need it. The H3 recently received 0 stars from the NRMA for its rearward visibility.
The interior is a surprise. I expected some cheap American rubbish with safety warnings telling you to “avoid death”. You still get the safety nonsense but you also get a well finished and practical interior with a superb stereo.
The CD-player in the base model played MP3s and standard CDs, but the Luxury variant’s stereo failed to read the same MP3 disc. For some bizarre reason, the six-disc CD-player upgrade that you get with the Luxury and Adventure models cannot play MP3s!
The chrome centre console appears a little tacky at first, but it grows on you. As for the sunroof in the Luxury variant, it is easily the largest sunroof I’ve ever encountered. It is just enormous. You can almost call the H3 a convertible with it open.
As for the steering wheel, it upgrades to leather when you hit the Luxury grade, but it could do with a little more… bling.
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Thanks for that, but itll be good to hear from someone who actually owns one and has taken it on the sand before thanks, not info on one thats on the other side of the world which weighs probably 5 tonne more lol. dont mean to be rude.
I saw two on the xmas holidays. One towing mazda bt50 out. but thats not telling to much. k cheers.
i own a h3 adventure and challenge any critic with a stock 4wd to put their money where there mouth is, my h3 has been able to go where others could not, in fact i have had to pull a few up a track so we could keep going as a TEAM and I didnt even carfeully choose my drive lines….we are all entitled to our own opinion but I am happy to demostrate the cars off road capablity to anyone interested who lives in or near sydney
ps for all those that bag it out being a usa vehicle and just for bling etc, did you know it is built in south africa at the land rover plant and my land rover pals have actually advised that they built a second test track as the old test track was not a challenge for teh hummmer range even though some LR series vehicles really struggled o get around it!!
I heard that the V8 H3 would be released in Australia soon. Does anyone know when this might be?
Cheers,
Ice
UGLY….OVER PRICED….and very CHEAP build and finished!
Come on…bring the real Hummer to Australia.
Who ever bought this and they think is a nice car….you may aswell buy a JEEP Wrangler.
James, proud American….
word.
i feel ya dawg. i too sense that negativeness around Aussies… not only in non aussie cars but even in overseas movies…The usual rant…Americans always make movies that save the whole world…and im like….Well make an Aussie movie then that out does everything americans do! Mind you, they still spend their mulah to watch american movies and whinge about it…tsk anyways back to the car…
I dont own a Hummer, but lives next to an owner…and as soon as my neighbor drove it in his drive way he was kind enough to let me ogle at his new toy. My opion, it looks really tough and “badass”. It really gives a statement…kinda like “im here, no autographs pls”…cool car to have. I want one too..lol
the only thing that puts me off is the fuel consumption. yes im a cheap bast@rd when it comes to petrol but i love the looks of this hummer… one more thing its good to own one of these badass vehicle as long as you dont go any where near ignorant/haters/hypocrites who vandalizes cars like these… Is it possible? i guess not which is one of the reasons why it deters me to grab one.
EJ (Asian living in Australia)
It’s easy to be a skeptic not so easy to be an owner. I’ve owned an H3 adventure for 18 months now and are very impressed buy it. Before we bought it I did a lot of research including seeing a couple of freinds who own the “real thing” .No doubt the H1 is an incredible piece of engineering for the purpose it was designed, but totaly impractical for an every day car. Interestingly the owners of the H1 dismissed the H2 as being an overgrown suburban , which is factually what it is.True the H3 is based on a Nissan platforn but that’s where it ends.
As for build quality I worked in a car assembly plant for a few years where we built Landrovers thru to Hondas so have an idear how a car should go together,this was a big consideration as I have always found US build quality a bit tacky.
Maybe the fact it was built in South Africa might have something to do with it,anyway the finish is as good as I’ve seen for a 4×4 not an SUV.As far as bang for your buck show me another capable 4×4 with it’s features standard for $65000 on road.Yes it dosn’t alot of the gimmics others have ,it has exactly what you need.
Most of the off road I have done so far has been on the sand at Stockton beach Newcastle in standard dress it would probably chalange most other 4×4s it’s size,through experementation the best tyre presure seems around 12 psi thats the only change to go from road to off road. Leave the 4×4 locks etc alone let the traction control do it’s thing you WILL be amazed.
I’m planning more serious off road in the near future and have total faith in the H3,my partner uses it as an everyday drive , sure it’s not going to “save the planet” but it’s no worse than any other 4×4 or large V8 and loves E10.
The main faults I’ve found ,get some reverse sensors,probably fit a set of Rancho adjustable shockabsorbers,better tyres (athough this is from previous reviews).
We’ve done a few long haul road trips including towing a jag on a tandem trailer for 1000kms (max towable load for a auto)and found it to be very comfortable and well manered.
So if you want one car that you can take to the flashest hotel/resturant in SYD or the most remote place in Australia try the H3.