Auto or 5 Speed

[HUMMJAY]

HUK-sorry about the turd in in the punch bowl. I left our product rep a v-mail about the tow haul, I seem to recall him talking about auto down shifting on the ALHA but I dont know how that would work w/out a mode button,

[Huck BB62]

Originally Posted by HUMMJAY

HUK-sorry about the turd in in the punch bowl. I left our product rep a v-mail about the tow haul, I seem to recall him talking about auto down shifting on the ALHA but I dont know how that would work w/out a mode button,

Well, with all this hand wringing, I do have some things that, in my own unimportant opinion, should've been no brainers.

I just about stopped short of calling F5 a beeotch without midol for pissin' about the colors and there I go snivelin' about 'em. (I stand very corrected, sorry F5) I mean after all, if you're going to spend $40k on a vehicle, you should love it.

I've got to build a garage/shop this coming year and I get to fill it with wood working tools. I may forgo the Alpha. I want it. I want it BAD but there's a few things that may stop my emotional plunge:

The color selections. What the heck are they thinking. A yellow and the tan from the H1 line are musts for the Alpha. They really REALLY need to get that Alpha image in their head. They can make a bling model too but there's the whole utilitarian crowd that's being told to go screw themselves. Not smart, not smart at all.

Lux package only with chrome and crap. Again, the ad people are running rampant in the development department. All those dumbassed urban boing boing commercials appear to be their direction. Have they EVEN stopped to think of their most ardent consumer base or has the H2 metro kooks infiltrated every nook and cranny of the Hummer team?!?

A V8 and no tow haul mode. Ok, am I missing something here? At least include an easy overhaul kickout function. Believe me, it'd save a lot of tranny repairs for people towing by keeping the tranny locked up and cooler. 6000lbs is a pretty good tow and every hill, it's going to kick out of lockup and with the 5.3 stirrin' the red stuff, it's going to make heat.

To be an Alpha and make me bite the hook without EVEN thinking about my budget:
Put a stinkin' offroad package together. Put the winch, the front locker, the skid plates, rocker protection on it. Offer the roof rack without it costing a stupid G note. And upon further thought, a LOT of the offroad people want the manual. I might not be one of 'em, but they're there and their desire is valid. Offer it without all the lux bling crap, it's not wanted by the offroad crowd. Jeep did it, Dodge did it, how about making "Like No Other" mean it.

Again, look at the H1 color palette. It speaks HUMMER, not Martha Stewart bling of the month club. It's almost as bad as the Sierra Denali being offered in only three colors.

[Spuds]

Potential H3 Alpha customer here and

But why should we even have to chose between manual and auto?

Why not the best of both, like a Triptonic 6-speed?

[Matt19]

I drive a stick for my car, but not for my hummer. I was very adamant on not getting a manual. I just want to get in and drive and not worry about rolling back on sick hills. For my car, i am able to balance it on hills if it isnt sickly steep. But I remember there was this one hill that I had to ride clutch and gas, and I felt horrible.
I brought my hummer to that hill and The hummer said "screw u hill" and i think leveled it.. Now its a hill-no-more.

My hummer is an 07 and the pedel spacing down there isnt great, but easy to get used to.

[HUMMJAY]

I couldnt agree more HUK. you can walk on to a ford dealership and buy a base explorer with a $1600ish v8 option, but if you want a v8 in your HUMMER they make you buy all the bells and whistles, we dont have pricing yet but I'm guessing around $40,ooo.oo for an ALPHA

[f5fstop]

Tow haul? The V8 will have the same basic overdrive trans the 5-cylinder currently has so for tow hauling, put the darn trans in 3rd gear. I believe they might recommend that in the owner's manual. I know for driving through the mountains, I have always used 3rd.

As for colors, they do have at least one new color I like, as well as the desert orange.

Huck, you think I'm stubborn on colors, well, I just looked and found out they are not offering desert orange next year, yet all the photos of the Alpha are in desert orange. Unless Hummer has renamed desert orange to something else; I may just get peed off enough to go purchase desert green.

[Huck BB62]

Popping down to third isn't the same as tow/haul F5, it holds the shift points longer. It's better. It's a LOT better for the tranny, particularly if someone's towing near 6,000lbs.

What color is desert green? Is it a sage color like the light green on the Trailblazers? (by the way, the Trailblazer SS has the 400hp 6.0, why not the Alpha?)