3rd Feb 2006, 06:35

My bad, the Liberty weighs 500 lbs less than the H3.

The torque situation described above is accurate for off roading. The H3's 225 is respectable, but not fantastic.

5th Feb 2006, 00:11

The truck tows 4500 lbs with the automatic, not great, but suffient for what I need, (3 ATV's and 18 foot boat).

I live with this engine everyday, it is not bad. I wouldn't mind having more power, but this truck does what I need it to do. Off road, I have zero complaints about this engine. There are 2 brands of superchargers coming in spring, the Predator and the Magnacharger. Both will increase the torque and horsepower above the 310 range. I am on the list for the Magnacharger.

I traded in a 2001 WS6 Ram Air Trans Am with 475 supercharged horsepower at the rear wheels, recorded on the Dyno. I loved that car! However, since I bought the H3 I can honestly state that I haven't missed it at all. The H3 does not drive like the T/A, but I take the H3 places the T/A would never go.

20th Feb 2006, 01:01

I wish you good luck.

If I had to purchase the H3 to fit the conditions you specified, I would seriously consider adding the "Adventure" package upgrade. This package adds substantial 4 wheel ability as does the Stabilitrack system (for snow).

The stabilitrack is part of the "Luxury" package, which could also be added to the "Adventure" package.

However if you do this, the price grows substantially. With other dealer options it is easily possible to get this vehicle in excess of $50,000.00 U.S.

This is even before you look to the after-market and all the available upgrades there.

The other vehicles you mentioned above are slightly below the H3's competetive class, if you think that one of them might meet your requirements, I'm sure you would be more happy with the H3. I love mine!

I have been off road with several Liberty model Jeeps and they are in no way as capable as the H3 (even with after-market upgrades). The Ford Escape can't even compare.

25th Feb 2006, 08:01

Stabilitrak is standard with the automatic transmission.

If rock crawling is your thing, the manual transmission is the way to go.

The automatic transmission can tow 1000 pounds more than the manual.

If you want to combine the "luxury" and "adventure" packages, and you want a manual transmission, you might have to order your vehicle from the factory. Most dealers don't stock vehicles set up that way, because most buyers prefer the automatic transmission. The resale value of automatics is also higher.

I had to order mine with these packages combined and a standard transmission. I did this because I love rock climbing, but I also tow ATVs and a boat. The truck tows a 14 foot, 3 place ATV trailer or the 18 foot boat with no problems, even with the manual tranny.

The 4:1 gearing and an almost 70-1 crawl ratio makes this rig an incredible off road animal. Sitting at the top of a 80% grade looking down, I thought that I would fly down. It turned out with the crawl ratio of this rig, I literally ended up having to give it throttle to make it go down! Incredible! In order to get this same crawl ratio, owners of other brands have to spend thousands on aftermarket upgrades. This truck is an off road BEAST! It off roads likes rigs that are trailered to the trailhead.

27th Feb 2006, 02:13

The H3 might be the best factory built off road unit that GM has ever built. Not meant to include AM General.

3rd Mar 2006, 15:43

I have a question about the towing. I have noticed that the boat and 3 ATVs have been mentioned several times. We are considering purchasing an H3. For practical purposes it would be to tow a trailer with 2 motorcycles. {For fun the off road capability!} Can you explain more about how well the h3 tows? I've only read you mention "adequate" thus far. Is that adequate on a flat surface? Or adequate if you are going through a winding mountain road? And how does towing affect your mpg? What would you guesstimate the weight to be that you are towing? {ATVs and/or boat.}

Granted. We are still in the research stages. There are other vehicles being considered. Right now the H3 is at the top of my list.

For the tree huggers out there? We did consider a cross over vehicle. {Ford Escape Hybrid} But the cross overs have little or NO towing capacity. And yes. I will most likely take it out from time to time to the grocery store or other errands. But I usually like the take the Harley out for short trips. So please. No jumping down my case for what *you think* I should get to conserve energy and fuel. We have a car. We have 2 motorcycles. Unfortunately my car doesn't have the capability to tow the 2 motorcycles.

Angel.

4th Mar 2006, 01:02

Adequate would be the correct description of the towing ability.

It is not a F350 Power stroke or a Chevy 3500 with the Duramax that's for sure.

It tows about 3500 pounds on a flat surface with relative ease. You will feel the engine working from time to time, but the 4700 pound weight of the Hummer keeps the trailer following nicely, without swaying behind the vehicle.

Up an incline, (steep mountain roads) you will be in the slow lane pulling 3500 pounds. Passing gear comes on pretty consistent with the automatic, with the manual fourth gear pulls steady. Third on Eisenhower pass outside of Vail in Colorado or over the top of Parley's Canyon in the Utah mountains.

I also put my Big Dog custom bike on the ATV trailer and it pulls this like it's not even there. If your main concern is pulling Harley's don't worry. The Hummer will pull a couple of these easily. I have a summer trip planned for the mountains of southern Colorado with my chopper and I'm sure it will handle this without concern. Some of the passes there are over 11,000 feet (fuel injection is the only way to go there).

The towing mileage varies according to what your pulling. 4500 with the automatic, up hill, and you would get about half normal highway mileage. For pulling Harley's over most terrain, I don't think it would affect your mileage much.

Good luck!

5th Mar 2006, 02:37

I just bought an H3 a few days ago. I do a lot of commuting to clients everyday, but I am also a mother, shuffling my son around. Today we took it off-roading and I was VERY impressed. I went through a mud hole, that would swallow most vehicles, without even breaking a sweat. Of course now my nice white H3 looks like a dirty little pig, whose been wallowing in the mud, but it's been christened, and I am satisfied. So far my gas mileage has been about 16mpg. I don't know any vehicle that can carry me around in such style for the pricetag and be so capable of handling it all with such grace. It's the first car I've ever purchased on my own and it was well worth the wait.