I'm a 61 year old retired Air Force pilot and my wife and I just completed a wonderful driving vacation in our new Shadow Green Metallic H3 (automatic transmission) from St. Louis, MO to Dillon, CO. What a ball the H3 was on the trails by Dillon!!
We averaged 16.6 mpg overall, with the best being eastward on Hwy 70 in flat Kansas at an honest 18.1 mpg with the AC turned on ice cube cold and a 30 mph tailwind at a steady 68 mph. The worst was 12.5 mpg in Dillon, CO doing some offroading and keeping the petal to the metal at the high elevations. I was somewhat concerned about the power in the H3 on the mountain grades near the 11,000 ft Eisenhower Tunnel on Hwy 70, but the H3 always maintained 70 mph even though I had the petal almost to the floor on steep grades in the mountains and at 9,000 ft plus, but it kept a steady 70 mph just fine with about 450 pounds of people and luggage. The temperature guage barely moved and the engine stayed surprisingly cool on a warm day. The smooth highway ride of this vehicle was a pleasant surprise for a true off roader like myself.
My wife is allergic to the tanin used to cure most leather seats so we have base model and I found those Ebony cloth seats to be VERY COMFORTABLE on the long drive. In a heavy mountain thunderstorm on Hwy 70 that had some cars pulling off the road the H3 stuck to the pavement like glue. Near Silveton,CO the Colorado Hwy Patrol had the traffic stopped because of about 14 inches of water from the deluge on an area about 80 ft. long, but when the sergeant saw my Hummer he asked me if I would drive him across to the other side with some flares. I told him the salesman told me it would do 24 inches of water and it tackled the 14 inches of still water without a problem. After moving some junk out of the backseat to get him in, when we got to the other side he said he honestly just wanted to ride in an H3! It came with the satellite radio which I wasn't crazy aabout at first, but after this long vacation - I'm sold - it was great for passing the time on that long flat stretch of KS highway. We had no problems with people making hand gestures at the H3 like I'd heard, but I do have a big decal in the back window from the dealer that says "I drive an ALL AMERICAN HUMMER" with a small flag on it.
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