yeah meh checked their website and saw it was 5spd auto oh well!

 

pssst. someone guess a hummer h3t...

 

Shush!! lol

 

ahah i win!

 

lol, yeah you got it!

I figured I would give the 5-cylinder version a try. It is pretty well priced compared to the SUV's I have been looking at and it should be easy to swing a deal right now on top of that. Even with the off-road package and a ton of options it is cheaper than the GLK by a lot! I could really use the utility of the box now that I have a house.

Unlike the H2 the H3 can actually go off-road (like my Jeep, I would actually use that functionality too!) & also is a lot easier on the wallet when you refuel.

My main concerns are that the 5 cylinder won't be enough power (230hp VS 5000lbs!!), the chopped windows will likely reduce visibility & also the fit & finish inside. I still want a comfortable and refined interior.

It is pretty damn cool looking though!

 

5 cylinders? what the.. haha

 

Is a good idea! an inline-4 is too wimpy for torque... inline-6's tend to have too much and it limits the revs. A 5 cylinder should give good torque & be able to get reasonable revs out of it (in theory)

 

i thought it was a v8

 

That is the H3T "ALPHA".... which only comes with an auto

The gas-guzzler factor starts to come into play with that one

 

ohhhh ok haha. are you gonna buy it, or is it just an option?

 

omfg Nick I don't think I can be your friend anymore if you end up buying this thing :P

I think I just vomited in my mouth a little.

 

Oh don't make me run your little civic over with it

I actually like the look, it is kind of like a seriously bad ass Tonka truck. With the way the economy & trends are going I don't think you will see anything quite like it ever again. Rest assured I won't be putting on 22's or something stupid like that.

Probably not, but we will see. I get sold on a car when I drive them, as an example I test drove a Fit with zero expectations of buying one.

 

my bad was looking into those for a while, extreme slowness...

 

[quote=Sugarphreak;674699]Oh don't make me run your little civic over with it
quote]

you'll have to catch me first :P

Not a huge fan of Hummer since the Chinese bought them and an H2 backed into our Accord this winter. I hear they have a lot of blind spots.

 

Is it a truck?

 

So I tested out the Q5 & the H3T this morning.

They SLASHED the prices on the H3T they have in stock to the point where I am almost falling over. The final price with tax is less than the sticker price by like 3K!! Plus they are going to pay the first two payments for us... then we will pay it out with a transfer of cash.


The H3T was starting to scare me a bit; the more I thought about it I kept seeing this huge truck with crappy fitment, quality and a lack of power. Combine that with the shitty visibility I remembered from the H3 SUV version and I almost didn't even go.

Ok, but now I am glad I did! The visibility is much better with the truck version. Huge mirrors were added for the tow package & with the rear window right there it made it way easier to see out.

I was getting ready for a sloggy drive when suddenly I realized it had a reasonable amount of power... turns out the 4-speed automatic is a total hog and most of the reviews done panned the power as a result; now on the other hand the manual tranny makes the 5-cylinder much better. It was a very well mannored manual to be honest.

Fitment... I looked carefully for plastic shittyness but found none. The dash is faily upscale with a nice brush nickle finish around the gauges. I found a bluetooth control button hidden away on the left side (yah!) and noticed a mike right above the driver to talk. Power seats, comfortable & bolstered... although not leather. The steering wheel was a suprise, it was smaller than I expected, but it was very thick and meaty feeling. The seating position was even a bit more car-like than the Fit! My only real complaint was the shift knob... which luckily can be changed

On the road I was really suprised, the front and side visibility was good & the truck handled suprisingly well. I like that the window is a bit forward as it kept the sun off me while I was driving. The rear seats had TONS of space, more than most crew cabs IMO.

Whoops, lunch... will talk about the Q5 in a bit

 

good for you

 

Are you going to do much towing? Towing with a manual gearbox can be interesting.

If they had a full-bed version, and if our old Cherokee would stop being so darn reliable and bulletproof, I might consider one. Fugly, but in a cool way.

 

I don't have any immediate plans to do towing, although I don't doubt it is more challenging with a load on the back!

They have a 5-foot bed, it is a bit small but they had an Arctic Cat quad in it no problem at the dealer. I could see it coming in handy for me, there have been things I have had to borrow my little brothers Ranger for in the past.

Yeah I miss my old Cherokee, even though I just had a modest 3" lift that thing used to go everywhere!

 

Right: About the Q5

So I showed up and the guy at Audi is one of the nicest salesman I have met so far. He shows me the Q5, it is just a base model but it is pretty swanky. I pop in the key and start it and take it out for a spin.

You would not believe the turning radius on that thing!! Way better than the fit, it can do a full turn in a half street! I also was encouraged to push it a bit around some corners and it held like nobodies business. Very sporty and it got up to speed incredibly quick.

The interior felt like a space ship, so many buttons and scrolling rollers on the steering wheel with 3 separate displays for information popping up things like crazy I was getting overwhelmed just trying to change the radio or turn the fan down. Honestly it was way too much, simple controls FTW!

The cargo room left a lot to be desired as well, I think the Fit has way more space in the back when you compare both with the seats down.

One big thing I noticed between the two test drives was that under the baking sun the H3T provided a more shaded seating. With the Q5 I kind of felt like I was piloting a glass tube, with the front window stretching past my head and the giant sized sunroof with no thick sunroof-block, just a perforated mesh my arms were practically burning from the sun the whole time.

It was a nice SUV, but I have to say very impractical for anything other than showing up the neighbors... who all own Lexus's around me anyway.