HTF Car of the Week (1/02): 2003 Hummer H2 (1 Viewer)

[Chuck C]

2003 Hummer H2

Just take a look at it. What a BIG beauty. Long ago, Hum-Vees were merely a play toy for the rich and famous where prices for the towering military truck were in excess of $100,000. Even if you owned one, they really weren't that practical on city streets. Then in 1999, GM bought the rights to the Hummer Brand. In 2000, the conecpt for a more user-friendly, cheaper Hummer called the H2 was born. It's on sale now starting at about $49,000.
The H2 is effectively a Chevy Tahoe with the big Hummer look and those big Hummer style tires (LT315/70R17 tires). The H2 comes standard with a 316hp Vortec 6000 6.0L V8 with plenty of torque@360ft-lbs. 4-Wheel Drive and Dual air bags are also standard. If you browse the offical H2 website, you'll find several luxury options such as heated leather seats, 6-disc CD changer stereo with 9 speakers, and a sunroof!
Personally, I see these things at least once a week whereas I'd see the H1 once a month (probably the same guy too). BUT DOES IT COME IN OTHER COLORS THAN YELLOW!!!
Discuss

 

[Greg_Y]

What's the difference between a Humvee and a Hummer?

I want the one that Henry Rollins drives in Jackass: The Movie. That thing looks pretty nice.

 

[Matt Stryker]

Not to nitpick, but weren't they selling the hummer 1 with Goodyear MT (military tread) tires? Those tires look cool, but I doubt they are as good in the slop as MTs.

The H2 does look pretty cool, but I think a lot of the unique feature/cool of the Hummer was the wide body/crazy off road ability (central tire inflation, ability to climb incredible grades, etc) and the fact that there was nothing else like it on the road. To me, this should be placed against like SUVs (Tahoe, Expedition, Sequoia) instead of with the orignal hummer.

The interior does look much less spartan, and I'm sure it rides a lot better on the road. The orignal Hummer I rode in could only make it up to 65 with a lot of luck; this one should be able to cruise at high speed pretty easily.

Paxton needs to get a supercharger developed for the H2; the one they make for the Escalade gets something like 445 HP and around 490 ft/lbs of torque out of the same 6.0 block.

 

[Jay H]

I think they just show Yellow H2s in their ads, I've certainly seen a bunch of black ones. In fact, I think about 80% of the H2s I see are black.

Personally, for $49k I'd get a base E46 M3, but that's just me.

Back to the H2, I do like their commercials!

Jay

 

[Todd Hochard]

Urban Assualt Vehicle gone bad. I find no redeeming qualities in it. I'll leave the rest of my opinion out of this.
Todd

 

[Francois Caron]

Reminds me of the New Beetle. It ain't the original Beetle, and it never will be.
Give me the original hummer with the parachute hooks and the military grade tires! I want to throw it out of a cargo plane and drive it wherever it lands!

 

[Brian Kleinke]

It's kinda the pintical of SUVs eh?
Everytime I see these I think of The Rock.
And how many people who own these take em offroad? There's some type of Hummer just up the street where I work. And I'm in a town of 10k.

 

[AllanN]

Give me a military HUMVEE (with possibly more comfortable seats). Im not looking for luxury in a vehicle like that. I want to travel through 5 feet of water. Crawl up 10' steps. IMHO the H2 is the "New Battle" for non-teenage men. Save your money and get get a Tahoe instead of a HUMVEE knock off.

 

[Scott L]

I think it looks cool but doesn't have enough of a rugged/aggressive look, which it should, especially the back. The colors would look better dark, such as dark maroon or green, rather than bright and shiny which remind me of a little jeep. I think they came close to pulling off a rugged machine being available to the public, but didn't quite nail it with the H2; it looks like a playtoy.

 

[Max Knight]

I love the H2, and wish I could get one (no money for new cars right now :frowning! There is a really good hummer h2 forum over at www.elcova.com/h2
The word is that the H2 is almost as good as a hummer off-road in many situations, and better than a hummer in a few. Lots of hard core wheelers over in that elcova forum, and some great photos of the beast in action.

 

[Todd Hochard]

Lotsa 4-wheelin' in Brooklyn, eh Max?

 

[Van Patton]

No,no,no, and no!!! For all those believing the H2 can tear it up offroad then just look at this. I know no one buys this to go offroad but this really should not have the hummer name on it. The H2 costs $60,000 or so. You take $14,000 and buy a used 2000 or 2001 Jeep Wrangler Sport. Spend about $850.00 on 35" MT tires, $2000.00 on a really nice lift, $3000.00 on lockers, new gears,roll cage, etc. For roughly $20,000.00 dollars you have a vehicle that will go ANYWHERE you point it. Here's a couple links of pics that show just what a Jeep is capable of 1 2 3

 

[Cam S]

I like the old hummer MUCH better. To me, the Hummer is the definition of off-road ruggedness and the go anywhere kind of vehicle. The new H2 is just a production chassis with a hummer body on it. Doesn't do it for me.

 

[Josh Lowe]

It certainly is a big.. square?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'll bet the H2 is great getting over the curb to get the kids closer to the soccer field for their practice.

 

[Brian Perry]

Dual air bags are also standard

I hate when advertisers say this--dual air bags are required by law and shouldn't be allowed to be promoted as special features. It's like saying, "comes with brakes."

 

[Tim Markley]

I saw one of these on the way to work this morning. I'm not sure why anyone would ever buy one.

 

[Max Knight]

Hey Todd, you wouldn't believe the size of some of the pot-holes here! I saw one swallow a mini just the other day....

Yeah, not too much wheeling to be done in Brooklyn, though some people apparently go out to the Pine Barrens of Soprano's fame to have a little fun in the dirt.

 

[Clinton McClure]

It's still a play toy for the rich and not half what the original Humvee is.

 

[Tim Markley]

Yeah, not too much wheeling to be done in Brooklyn, though some people apparently go out to the Pine Barrens of Soprano's fame to have a little fun in the dirt.

Maybe they can find that Russian guy and we'll finally know whether he's dead or alive.