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Originally Posted by BEST 4x4xFAR
Morning All,
Hope I don?t get branded a troll here, but I?ve been looking at possibly purchasing an H3 as an everyday driver/vacation vehicle. I want it to be capable, but ultimate off-road ability is not a concern (have a dedicated vehicle for this). I?m looking for something safe, capable and with ample room in the backseat for car seats, and in the cargo area for a family of ? to take vacation needs with them. Being a dedicated gear head of sorts, the mechanicals and specs are more important to me than they probably should be, and information seems a bit hard to come by. Though I am sure I?d be looking for the locking rear diff and manual transmission. For my better half, concerns are ride quality of the rear leaf sprung suspension, cargo capacity, car seat fitment and safety. So here are our questions if anyone can throw answers back for them that would be great?
~> What make and model is the manual transmission?
~> Does the transfer case have an open, or a limited slip center differential?
~> Is the 8.5? of ground clearance listed to the rear axles diff, or frame?
~> Anyone fitted a large, rear facing car seat like a Britax Boulevard in the back seat?
~> Will it fit in any of the three positions, and are their LATCH anchors for all three seating positions?
~> If the car seat is center mounted, is there still room for a passenger on either side?
~> How much cargo space/capacity is there? MSN auto?s comparison tool numbers don?t seem right. If they are, the cargo area of the H3 is actually smaller than my wife?s current Subaru Outback, has less cargo volume seats up/seats down, and the is only rated to carry 25 lbs more cargo than her Outback? Doesn?t seem quite right.
~> How comfortable do the ladies find the H3 to drive? Quiet and smooth enough for most? We realize it is a truck, but we want to make sure it is reasonably comfortable.
~> I?m gathering that real world fuel mileage doesn?t exactly match the EPA numbers, they seem awfully optimistic given the H3?s weight, small engine or not?
~> And just how lacking In power is the H3? I read a magazine review that said 5th gear was unusable on anything but dead level highway travel?
Thanks in advance. We are of course planning to go and test drive one, but we are having trouble finding an area dealer with a manual transmission to drive. Area dealers list over a 100 H3s in stock, but all autos?!?!?
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You do know that your options for a family size (read decent back seat) off-road capable SUV with a manual transmission have dwindled down to exactly three. Sadly, most Americans are more interested in having cars which are a combination kitchen-phone booth-powder room-entertainment room which happens to have a steering wheel and gas pedal, and doesn't leave a free hand for shifting. So for the rest of us interested in actually driving your options are:
Hummer H3
Nissan Xterra
2007 Jeep Unlimited
The FJ Cruiser's back seat is really too small for family use, and has inconvenient rear hinged doors.
To answer a few of your questions. The center diff is limited slip, all wheel drive, which is lockable. I'm not sure if it is torsen or viscous, or what the standard torque split is.
I think ladies find it reasonably comfortable to drive, because 40% of buyers are women from what I have heard. I think the around town ride is very good. The freeway ride I would characterize as "busy", and my personal belief this is because the frame is less stiff than it should be. It is certainly not jarring like the Xterra is, but it is not Lexus GX 470 smooth either. With 33" tires and 75% aspect ratio, potholes don't affect the H3 much.
Noise level in the H3 is excellent. Road noise is almost non-existent. You will get some wind noise around the A-pillar when driving into a headwind, but it is not too loud. We're talking about only 69-70 dBA at 70 mph, which is very good.
Cargo volume with the seat up is 29.5 cu. ft. That's smaller than most, but again bigger than the FJ Cruiser (27.9 cu. ft.). With the back seat down, cargo volume expands to 55.7 cu. ft., and the rear seat does not fold flat The H3 is not a big cargo hauler, but the length of the cargo space is almost 6 ft, which is longer than most, which can be helpful to hauling long items. Payload is 1150 pounds which is slightly better than average.
I asked about the 5th gear usability in another thread, so keep your eyes open for that. I think the press may be exagerating the issue, because I didn't notice any problem on my test drive. GM usually puts very tall high gears in their cars for fuel economy. My Corvette won't even pull 6th gear on a really steep grade. We'll let others with more experience voice their opinions.
By the way, ground clearance is 9.1" with the Adventure Package. Looking at the vehicle, I would guess the low point is the rear diff.
Hope this helps!
Michael