2008 Hummer H3 review
December 19, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Our fleet of heavily modified off-roaders included a Holden Jackaroo, a Holden Rodeo, a Toyota Hilux, a Toyota Landcruiser SWB, a Mitsubishi Canter 4×4, and a bog stock, straight off the showroom floor, Hummer H3 Luxury. Yes, that’s right, the Luxury.
The first job was for the air-conditioning to be up to scratch. It was. The forecast was for a 39-degree day, with the hills easily reaching 5 degrees above that. Put simply, it was going to be a scorcher. Thankfully, the massive sunroof’s tint took the bite out of the sun, notwithstanding the aircon’s competence in maintaining an arctic climate inside the car.
On the highway heading out to the hills, the Hummer behaved like any dedicated off-roader – excesses of tyre roar, body roll, stiffly sprung ride, and dive under hard braking. Thing is, it’s not a very plush car for around the city.
But all that fades into the background as we reached Sawyer’s Valley Tavern. The group congregated, adjusting tyre pressures to eliminate chance of rocks piercing tread. Once set, we took off, following scrub tracks and century old trails, until the bush cleared, and the powerlines appeared.
Initially the track seems fairly easy. Rocky sections are dry and coarse, with sharp edges, and we’re careful to limit our speed, not wanting to use up the tailgate mounted spare. As it turns out, it was beneficial to begin where we did, as it enabled familiarity with the H3’s characteristics.
The large perforated leather steering wheel is only adjustable for height (unforgivable in a $60,000 car) but the driving position suffers little. Thankfully, feedback is fairly good, allowing accurate placement of the wheels. It’s quite direct too, with an outstanding turning circle for a four-wheel-drive (11.3m). On changing surfaces, the steering responds in kind, giving you the confidence to push on further, and explore other abilities.
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.