12th Dec 2005, 23:48

You get 17mpg with a 5 cylinder? That's pretty bad. I heard the thing was pretty unstoppable offroad like its bretheren, but had lousy mpg ratings and was underpowered for such a big vehicle.

13th Dec 2005, 12:16

The H3 must be totally underpowered with the straight 5 cylinder power plant. Why did GM go with this motor? They should have made the straight 6 cylinder motor from the Trailblazer the standard choice, with a small V-8 an option. You really have to question this decision. The towing ability must be poor next to the other suv's in its class.

13th Dec 2005, 16:38

If they built the H3 with a 6 or 8 cylinder motor the MPG would be worse and more people would whine. The truck is underpowered if your expecting a diesel truck or a sports car. Good thing that's not what the car is built for. I regularly tow my 4000lb boat with mine and it does quite well. Offroad, no other stock truck can beat it.

14th Dec 2005, 07:36

In my opinion, the H3 is a nice looking product. I simply do not understand how anyone can defend this choice in motors! A 6 or 8 cylinder motor would not have made the mpg necessarily worse at all. Look at how hard your 5 cylinder motor is working to move that suv down the road! Let's face it, the 5 cylinder motor was a bad decision, and one that GM will regret. The Colorado and Canyon that share the H3 platform are also equiped with this poor choice of motor. Check out Consumer Reports some time and see how well they rated this motor (poor). GM had better wake up and realize that the competition is pulling away in a hurry.

14th Dec 2005, 09:11

I agree, the inline six would have made a more appropriate engine. However, don't put much stock in what "Consumer Reports" has to say. I have trouble taking seriously an organization that also "rates" health insurance providers and toasters.

14th Dec 2005, 14:38

I have been driving my H3 for 1500 miles now averaging 17 mpg. GM made a valid decision with the 5 cylinder engine. It is adequate for most towing and truck applications. The naysayers will complain and consumer reports will typically bash anything made in USA.

There are OEM performance products out there for folks who feel the the need for speed. Lets be honest and say that the H3 for 30k is a better machine than those station wagon looking overpriced imports. Go test drive one and see for yourself! The competition cant touch the off road capability. On Star system is another unbeatable feature.

15th Dec 2005, 12:32

I am a certified GM sales associate and I agree that the 5 cylinder isn't the fastest, but that's not the intent of the H3. Face it, if you buy a Hummer, you are not a street racer. Now it sounds bad to have the 5 cylinder in the truck for the fear of being underpowered. The H3 is designed to be an off road vehicle, not a street rocket. There is talk from GM to release the H3 in 07 with the HEMI 5.7 V8 and then bring in the 4.3 straight six Trailblazer engine, but that is just talk from the factory. The 5 cylinder is likely to be dropped all together which would certainly make me happy. I admit, I don't like that engine at all either. It's too coarse and sounds unrefined. I think that even though it's adequate for off road use, it's not enough to please the crowd.

15th Dec 2005, 16:43

Just to be clear here.

99% of any Hummer's (H1, H2, H3) given life WILL be spent on highways, in parking lots, and taking kids to soccer practice, yet now you are saying they are designed to only go offroad?

Thank you for admitting Hummers are not valid transport for American roads.

16th Dec 2005, 03:56

Did the GM sales associate that responded mention a 5.7 Hemi, in a Hummer H3? That is a trademark of Daimler-Chrysler, how can GM use that motor in the future? You can currently get the Hemi in a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I do not think people are saying the Hummer H3 should be a street racer, they are just complaing about the obvious lack of power and performance with the straight 5, especially when the competition offers so many options that are better. In fact, I recently saw a test of suv's (maybe Motor Trend?) and the new Nissan XTerra was the favorite. The article said the new XTerra offers an impressive bang for the buck. The test included the Hummer H3.

16th Dec 2005, 09:12

Yeah, but Motor Trend's (or Car&Driver's, or Road&Track's) "favorite car" will always be the one from the automaker paying them the largest sum of "advertising" money. The most important, and most effective (as shown by the previous commenter) advertisement Nissan paid for in that issue of whichever magazine, was the article in which the "unbiased auto experts" praised so highly their product, rather than the full-page ad on the previous page, which most people turned right past. After all, we haven't the time to look at mere ads; we've got to read the article, which must be true. It's in print, after all.

16th Dec 2005, 15:14

That's absolutely true. I remember instances where a car publication's (I think it was C&D) on a certain car changed over the course of a few months, and of course that coincided with an increased amount of ad spending by that automaker.

Then there is the old axiom that even their long term tests aren't even realistic. I remember when they had a mid-1990's BMW 540i with the horrible V8 that couldn't take American high sulphur gas. Well, when their engine died BMW immediately gave them a new one. Now do you really think the consumer would have such luck?

I was told AutoWeek was the most unbiased car publication in America, which is why I subscribe. I also like England's CAR because they are not afraid too bad mouth the cars, the manufacturers, or even the dealers they take their cars to. Of course, they have their own prejudices against American cars, which is why the new Pontiac Solstice is getting great reviews in America and is totally dumped on by CAR.

4th Jan 2006, 21:58

Sales consultant back again (Not looking to sell, but just to clear up the "HEMI" issue) : The talk of the 5.7 "HEMI" was a 5700 engine with Hemispherical combustion chambers. It is going to be similar to the previous generation Corvette's engine with a little modification to the intake and internal parts to increase torque and durability. It is supposed to put out around 365 hp and have somewhat of a competition on Jeep's Grand Cherokee SRT8. It will be known as a Vortec 5700 series engine. Either that, or the 4.3 Liter V6 will be the top end engine and the 3.5 inline 5 will receive a boost and remain part of the line.

5th Jan 2006, 11:14

Still don't believe "sales consultant".

Where do they plan on placing the engine? The 5 is packed in there already. Have read comments from Hummer G.M. stating that the Hummer will never be know for it's speed, but it will for it's climbing ability.

Who cares if the truck won't do 120 mph? It will always out wheel a Jeep Commander.

Quit making up stuff.