Why so many haters??

[GrimReaper]

Another lengthy dissertation by GrimReaper….

I find the anti-H3 attitude that you have described to be hypocritical in light of the SUV silliness that has swept the USA. I often times have a different view of things (I am one of the few who applauds Ricky William’s insights), but to me, an SUV is and always has been a type of truck. A vehicle that weighs 6000 lbs. and gets 8 mpg might even be called a commercial truck -- it certainly is in the government's fuel mileage and emissions rule book. I have always scoffed at people that buy these 6000 lb. brutes to drive to and from the grocery store, with no intention of ever going off-road, or going camping, or hauling anything larger than a package of bottled water. They want a great big vehicle to impress their friends and because “it makes them feel safe” (which is an anachronism “for I can’t drive very well”), yet at the same time they expect a car-like ride and a luxurious interior. My mother (I love her dearly) carries her little old 110 lb frame around in a 6500 lb Ford SUV which she lovingly calls her car. You can hear the sucking sound from the fuel pump as she drives by. Somewhere along the line these “trucks" ceased to become rugged utility vehicles, and instead they evolved into monster cars. They sprouted enormous grotesque windows, (they call this stadium seating), ridiculous bulges, triple level roof lines, and generally horrible styling so that they could be built on a car suspension with car tires and still appear to be bigger than the next guy’s SUV.

When I finally decided that my particular lifestyle requirements demanded an SUV, I started searching for what I considered to be the essentials of owning such a truck. I was looking for a vehicle with a truck chassis, built on a truck suspension, with off-road truck capabilities, and a manual transmission. A full year of test driving led me to realize that such an SUV was a thing of the past. The original Jeep Wagoneer, Ford Bronco, and Toyota 4-runner concept had evolved into something big, ugly, pretentious, and totally without justification. It seemed that the world was no longer interested in building or owning an SUV truck. Pseudo trucks were all that could be had. Then I saw a commercial introducing the H3. I did some research, and I discovered a real SUV (read that truck) that can do things that few other vehicles can do -- a shining star in sea of unremarkable vehicles.

I suspect that the H3 haters are all jealous because they have suddenly realized that their monster-sized gas-guzzling grocery-getting lump of steel could never hope to negotiate a 3" curb at the grocery store much less a rugged off-road trail. They thought they were the king of man-hood because their SUV could touch both white lines on either side of a freeway lane at the same time. But now that you showed up in your rugged H3, their folly has been exposed.

I’m sure that this view will generate some controversy (for those that have the time to read it). It is just my humble opinion.