10/07/08

• Price31,995
• We like...Where it'll go off-road
• We don't...How it drives on-road

Huge US-style off-roader is great when the going is rough , but poor  when it's smoothDrive one of these, and folk who dislike big off-roaders will absolutely hate you. Is it worth all that negative emotion? Well, if you need a gung-ho car that’ll go where few others can, possibly.

The Hummer H3 here isn’t actually that huge. It's the smallest Hummer available, fetching up shorter than any Land Rover other than the Freelander. It occupies no more road space than a Ford Mondeo estate. And, if you’ve a mind, it has the ground clearance and the muscle to tackle muddy and rocky terrain that would leave most other  4x4s sputtering and floundering. It’ll wade through  two feet of water, mount a 60deg slope and traverse a 40deg incline. And if despite everything you get it stuck, it has the biggest towing rings you’ve ever seen, mounted front and back.

You may even fall for its toy-truck looks. But before that happens, you have to consider it all-round. There’s its 3.7-litre petrol engine, teamed here with a four-speed auto gearbox. That’s great for when you’re going cross-country. But not so good when you’re trundling down the shops or to the post office. Which, let’s face it, will be most of the time. And then there’s the costs associated with 19.5mpg overall, dropping to 15.1mpg for in-town jaunts. To say nothing of its high CO2 emissions, meaning you pay £300 a year road tax currently, and more next year.

The H3 rides more smoothly than you might think, thanks to its chunky tyres as much as whatever the suspension ds. But it lumbers rather than dances, its slow steering limiting any attempt you chance at driving it quickly through a bend. And its slow steering, while just right when edging down a rocky slope is annoying when threading across town. At least its tank-like shape makes judging its corners straightforward, although its narrow windows and poor rearwards view make parallel parking chancy.

Inside, it feels very old school, from its big button stereo to its quaint, umbrella-handle parking brake jutting from the dash (just like a Citrn 2CV’s). The chunky heater dials are big enough to work with gloves on. There’s generous seat space width-ways but the chairs are set low so that the driving position is more stretched-out than you’d expect in such a tall vehicle. One oddity of our car was that the speedo and mileage recorder measure in kilometres, although, as you can see from our pictures, the car was UK-registered and had the steering on the right. The temperature and compass direction read out built into the driver’s mirror glass is another weirdness. Leather seats, heated in the front, are standard but the trim elsewhere is built for hard use, not for looks.
The load area is small and accessed by a heavy, side-opening rear door. The rear seats fold to extend it but they don’t push fully flat.

Hummer dealers? There are just eight full dealers across the UK and two service-only outlets. At time of writing, the make forms part of the General Motors empire, which also includes Vauxhall, Saab and Chevrolet. But it’s no secret that GM may sell off Hummer as the company battles to turn a profit once more.
If you really need a vehicle that’ll go where few others can, the H3’s a prospect. But for other uses it’s too heavy, too awkward and too costly to fit easily into your life.

• Engines3.7-litre
• Power244bhp
• 0-60 mph12.0sec
• Economy19.5mpg
• CO2g/km327
• Insurance groups20
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags2
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: