Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Environmentalists take aim at GM's civilian version of US military Humvee

The original Hummer borrowed heavily from the HMMV (military version) and had a bit of class or coolness about it. The H2 is a far cry from that military vehicle and is ugly to boot. I don't like them at all and I think they shouldn't have tried to make it better and stuck with the original.

D
 
Personally, I really dont like those Hummers. They're a disgrace to American roads. I don't care much if they pollute like hogs, but they are needlessly HUGE. Everyone I know to wants to own one .. but why? To scare other people on the road? I don't get scared .. I laugh. I agree with eye and Mr. Anderson .. they're ugly and wasteful (a waste of space, materials, etc). I think it would look a lot better if it was about 50% smaller and had some curves instead of its uncreative sharp corners :rolleyes:.

Some SUVs have a purpose .. for those large families who take lots of trips. That's justifiable, IMHO .. but what's the point of this tank? Those same people that I know that want one would never take it off-roading .. they want to keep it nice and clean etc etc. But that's what it was designed for .. to haul a bunch of military guys across rough terrain .. but why is it useful on the nice smooth pavement of American roads? :rolleyes: :confused:
 
Heh... I don't really have a problem with the Hummers. I think the H1 looks nice. But, I do think Hummerdinger's graph is pretty funny. :D
 
all i know is that those h2's are selling like hotcakes. ive seen so many around my town. even my friend in school just got one from his parents for his first car. i dont like them though, they are to big. although they would be fun to take slick rock climbing in moab , but thats what my dads wrangler is for.

iJon
 
My .02 --

The problem with the SUV is not the form factor of the vehicle, per se. It's that regulators refuse to call it what it is: a truck.

Truck lane.
Truck tolls.
Truck restrictions.

They're trucks. Treat them like trucks and things would be much better.

Oh, and as someone who spent a fair portion of 3 years, 9 months and 21 days living in a Humvee, I can't imagine owning one as a civilian. I get the creeps seeing them on the road.
 
Re: Environmentalists take aim at GM's civilian version of US military Humvee

Originally posted by eyelikeart
So who around here has a problem with the huge SUV's on the road?

www.hummerdinger.com

I don't want to start a debate, but I've been against this thing since before the H2. I simply see no reason at all to have something this obnoxious & wasteful on the road.

news article found here
Click to expand...
Did you catch Adbusters ad in the current issue where they crossed out the H and replaced it with B as well as smogged out the moon in the H2 ads?
I agree, these things are horrendous and such a waste: a waste of space, a waste of materials, a waste of gas, a waste of money....
I've decided that I'm not even going to get a new Mini Cooper next year, instead my fiancee and I will opt for the new Toyota Prius. It was a tough decision but the right one.
 
ok the H1 were useful and cool. They basicly were the military HMMV with a cushy civilian interior. The H2s are a joke. They can't off-road they aren't even based on the same design as the original Hummers. The only thing they have that is near the original is the body styling. They are built on the same chassis as a suburban. They are simply made so some richie and have the biggest SUV on the road. It couldn't handle 5 minutes of serious off-roading. Hell 95% of SUVs couldn't handle it.
Jeep Wranglers and the original Hummers have alot in common. Both designed for the same military purpose then brought to the consumer market much later.
 
completely off topic BUT:

tazo-

man, your 'tar looks just like iJon's. it's confusing...

a case of an identity theft at MR? i hear it's the fastest growing crime in the States, but i didn't know it would come to MR too! :D
 
Re: Re: Environmentalists take aim at GM's civilian version of US military Humvee

Originally posted by medea
Did you catch Adbusters ad in the current issue where they crossed out the H and replaced it with B as well as smogged out the moon in the H2 ads?
Click to expand...

no! I didn't see this...I'd like to though...

seems like a great concept to kick it on the H2 though... ;)
 
Originally posted by jxyama
completely off topic BUT:

tazo-

man, your 'tar looks just like iJon's. it's confusing...

a case of an identity theft at MR? i hear it's the fastest growing crime in the States, but i didn't know it would come to MR too! :D
Click to expand...


my avatar is completely diff...anyone with atleast one eye can tell that...

besides i think it looks tight.
 
I liked the original Hummer b/c it had a true tough pedigree. It could go places other SUVs couldn't go. For someone who lives in the middle of nowhere and does a lot of work out of their truck offroad, then it was a great choice despite the terrible gas milage. Unfortunately, GM saw that people liked the status of the Hummer, but thought it drove too roughly and was too wide, so they took a suburban and made it look like a Hummer. For the people who originally bought the H1, the new H2 is a joke. As useless for their purposes as a Suburban.

I can't really complain too much about the gas milage. My car is a gas hog too.

(edit) By the way, your tar does look very similar to iJon's tar, and it is confusing.
 
Originally posted by mcrain
(edit) By the way, your tar does look very similar to iJon's tar, and it is confusing.
Click to expand...
thank god im not the only one who thought that. its been driving me crazy just because that was the only way i could scroll through threads and see me. but i really cant stop him so oh well.

iJon
 
Originally posted by iJon
thank god im not the only one who thought that. its been driving me crazy just because that was the only way i could scroll through threads and see me. but i really cant stop him so oh well.

iJon
Click to expand...

I also hope tazo will go back to the Avatar that he had prior. I'm like you I recognize people by there Avatar. I like yours and I also liked his.

According to Powers the H2 has the worst record for problems. I personally could not afford the price tag or the gas that it needs. As of now this is still a free country, if they can afford the car. Cadillac makes a SUV that is just as obnoxious!
 
Would I ever own one? No.

But I don't think you should "laugh" at people who own an H2. It's a very nice vehicle inside, and I personally think it looks very attractive.

Yes its big, but -so what-. Honestly.. so what. It's not like having a big vehicle in front of you slows you down any or takes up too much space in parking lots. It makes no difference in all practicality.

The gas issue isn't that big of a deal either.. its no worse than most pickups.

Besides, some people actually do have a valid reason to own an SUV.

I personally drive a Saab.

Also.. yes Tazo.. that icon is silly.
 
Originally posted by johnnowak
It's not like having a big vehicle in front of you slows you down any or takes up too much space in parking lots. It makes no difference in all practicality.
Click to expand...

Actually, these do slow me down and make me apprehensive, as do any large vehicle that blocks my view because I now have to rely on them to be keeping a proper distance from cars in front of them. Vehicles that block your view take away precious fractions of seconds and foresight.

Then you have people like me who don't like driving behind these behemoths, so they go out and get one themselves so that they can see again.

And so on and so on...
 
The H2 is in all reality GM's answer to the Ford Excursion (although doing very well compared to the Ford, which is in it's last model year). The both of them (GM and Ford) make a good truck, and its only now (although 10+ years have gone by) that they realize that the Japanese automakers are squeezing them out of the car market. The Excursion and H2 get 10MPG respectively. The first year Excursion has a top speed of 87MPH. That's a good thing, I suppose, as I'd hate to see that behemoth do triple digit speeds.

It's been reported (Car and Driver, Motortrend) that over the next 5 years, each of the Detroit 3 will be spending billions on their car lines - where it needs to be.

The H2? The Excursion? Think of them as the 3500 (or 350) version(s) of the parent company's truck enclosed with another set of seats or better yet, take their current full sized vans, and add 4x4 and all of the features that should have gone into their vans years ago)

The comments about the manhood? Think of it as the car companies playing whos bigger with each other. GM for years has had the Suburban, and Ford's topper was the Excursion. GM answered that with the H2. Porsche recently made for sale their SUV - the Cayenne - which, in its turbo form (including $90,000+ sticker price) has a 450HP turbo V8 in it - which also gets 10MPG. Let us not forget the Toyota Land Cruiser/Lexus LX470 - which also gets a whopping 11MPG, along with the previous (1997-2002) Ford Expedition/Lincoln Navigator with the 5.4L Triton V8. Another 11MPG.

The second latest fad (and actually it's quite decent) is the car/SUV crossover vehicles - for example the Infiniti FX45 and Nissan Murano - or the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota matrix. The SUVs of yester-year are too big for the metropolitan American, thus sporty mini station wagons (Mazda Protege 5, Audi A4 avant, Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe, Ford Focus ZX5, etc) are where they're trying to offer some of the features of an ``SUV'' in a car-like form.

Some of the SUVs out there, however, are tall cars, let's face it. The Honda CRV, for example - with real-time 4 wheel drive. Since when have you seen someone take one of those camping? The same for the Toyota RAV4. Both of them (at least the previous models) are civics/camrys with a stretched roof and bigger wheels.

We want efficient, functional automobiles and they just don't seem to understand that. I want a vehicle that I can take camping that doesn't cost $60 in gas each way, and at the same time one that I can park on the street in San Francisco. I guess that's just too much to ask for.
 
Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Actually, these do slow me down and make me apprehensive, as do any large vehicle that blocks my view because I now have to rely on them to be keeping a proper distance from cars in front of them. Vehicles that block your view take away precious fractions of seconds and foresight.

Then you have people like me who don't like driving behind these behemoths, so they go out and get one themselves so that they can see again.

And so on and so on...
Click to expand...

But if you're keeping a proper distance behind them it shouldn't matter anyway. I certainly don't mind driving behind one.. even if he dead-stops by smacking into the car in front of him I have enough room to stop too.

I'd be a lot more worried about having one behind me than in front of me... but I drive a safe car anyway...
 
I *really* hate the H2.

And by 'really' I mean, they are opening a Hummer Dealership close to my house and I believe I have slowed them down several times.

I brought to their attention that the dealship itself (being rebuilt) was too big for the lot they owned and that they ignored several other building codes.

I led a 20 person boycott of them building these monstrosities and when they open I expect to have even greater support.

They are gas gulping machines, only Triumphed by machines which aren't mass produced, such as the 'Enzo'.

Only the Enzo the Super Car, that even if the smallest push on the gas makes the car zoom to speeds of 80 MPH.

Yes, I hate the H2.
 
Buyers praise Lexus and Toyota, boo Hummer
Mercedes-Benz conspicously absent from top awards

Buyers praise Lexus and Toyota, boo H2

Highlights from the USA Today article:

Japanese and German auto manufacturers still dominate a leading measure of quality, while U.S. automakers are improving but still below the industry average.

Among individual brands, General Motors' popular Hummer scored dead last in J.D. Power and Associates' 2003 Initial Quality Survey. Buyers of the giant sport-utility vehicle apparently were surprised by its gas-guzzling ways.

The survey is based on buyers' reports of problems during the first 90 days of ownership...

...Among brands, GM's Cadillac and Buick finished in the top five. But Hummer, the hot-selling big SUV inspired by the military Humvee and built off the Chevrolet Tahoe platform, scored 225 problems per 100 vehicles.

Fuel economy and wind noise were tops among customer complaints, said Don Dees, Chrysler president of quality. The use of cell phones has made consumers demand "living-room quiet" in their vehicles, he said.
Click to expand...
Like people didn't know about the poor fuel economy of SUVs before they bought them.

Ford who made a big deal about improving fuel economy has been actually making it worse. ;)
 
Originally posted by jayscheuerle
SUVs (especially Hummers) are right up there with pit-bulls– extensions of manhood for the under-endowed. If you can't be a man, wear a prop.

Guns are nice for this too.

- j
Click to expand...

Guns... large vehicles with large engines... computers with sleek styling from computer companies named after fruit...

Whatever floats your boat.

Some people like the utility large vehicles give. And until society degenerates into a totalitarian state, I would gladly enjoy the choice of being able to buy whatever product I want, using the money that I make.

Why should you care what type of vehicle a person drives? Are you a tyrant?
 
Originally posted by Frohickey
Some people like the utility large vehicles give. And until society degenerates into a totalitarian state, I would gladly enjoy the choice of being able to buy whatever product I want, using the money that I make.

Why should you care what type of vehicle a person drives? Are you a tyrant?
Click to expand...

One reason to care is if that person's choice costs you money. SUVs are regulated as trucks, under regulations from a time when 'trucks' were something farmers drove, and so don't need to have the same emissions as cars. Result? A dirtier environment that I have to contribute to cleaning up. Of course, people shouldn't be forced to drive the cleanest vehicle, but why not ask them to shoulder the cost of their choice?

Likewise, road wear and tear and insurance rates are subsidized by actual cars. Making car owners pay for the benefit of others sounds tyrannical to me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back