i'm having a beer!

its just fascinating to me that hummers have caused so much panic and hysteria and all... more than not, i have enjoyed it very much. the people that run www.fuh2.com are fairly lazy, though, as the site only gets updated now and again...

 

thanks guys, and i support anybody not bothering to read something that long if they just don't feel like it.


its the land-rover driver from Linus's post that brought all of this to be. not environmentalists, not jeepcakes, not poor-hating-rich-status-symbols... but the resentment of the reckless/confident/brave/celebratory nature of the "doers" that can come from the "thinkers"

 

A few years ago I wanted a Land Rover Defender 90, and I dreamed of a D110, especially after I found out that the British Royal Marines use (abuse) them. Since that time I have talked to a D90 owner, and everytime it breaks he's throwing at least $500 at it. After that I quit wanting one so bad. I would love to own a H1, but they aren't that comfortable to live in, I did that in the desert, and I cant afford the loan unless I can con the bank into thinking I'm buying a house. So, I am content with my H3. It goes where I want, looks cool, and shouldn't cost me three day's wages to fix if I break it. Anyone who cant see the logic in that needs to go look in thier mailbox for a reality check. I suppose the H2 owners feel the same way I do.

 

a friend of mine was test driving an H3 today, for possibly going offroading with me and my H2. the dealer sort of hinted (as they've done a few times) that the H3 is better than the H2 offroad at some things.

And in a way, i think they're nicer than H2s. And in other ways, the H2 is alot nicer. i like them both. we hit the dealers muddy lot on the test drive in the H3 and put it into low range... HOLY HECK low range in an H3 is low. its like the old jeeps low range. that's gotta help sometimes.

After realizing i liked the H2 so much... i test drove a Range Rover. I'd have gone the route of the range but for the reliability issue (second-to-worst only to KIA was Land Rover on the latest JD Powers thing), and the fact that the H2 is more comfortable & ... & i just enjoyed the hummer experience more. i might grow weary of being stared at & raising a ruckus now and again just by driving. But the H2 so grossly outclasses the Range for attention drawing around here, and you only live once & i wanted the experience.

plus the range would bury its nose into some of the stuff i did last weekend with the H2, as it was cutting it close with the H2 & the range has much worse angles and stuff.

but the land rovers are unique and very nice trucks. they just aren't hummers.

[IMG]local://upfiles/437/0D123BC59E7A45609976EDF29D144B92.jpg[/IMG]

 

The H3's with the Adveturer package have a 4:1 low range transfer case. If you get the manual transmission, the first gear/ low range ratio becomes something really creepy, like 69:1 or so. That is great if you are rock climbing. I have actually found that when I am in low range it is sometimes too low (I have an automatic). For mud and snow you want high RPM to keep the tires flinging the soft stuff so you can move forward. It's that whole action= opposite reaction thing. It takes a while, but the trans finally shifts up to a gear to get things done, but sometimes in the process it digs itself deeper. Other then these times, it's also good to have the creepiness so you don't shock load your drivetrain when you hit obsticles or bounce over things causing damage to the undercarraige.

Having never been inside of an H2, let alone fourwheel one, I don't know how they compare to each other, but I am dying to find out. Don't tell the H2 owners, but I secretly hope that the 3 is better that way I know I got the better deal on a cheaper vehicle. Oh crap! you are a H2 owner! forget I said that.

 

Good piece. I like how you always write these semi-philosophical stories.

I agree with your thought that thinkers might actually look up to the hummer owners because they are bold enough to drive one. But I also think they just wouldn't want to drive one. Because let's be honest, the hummer is available at a much lower price 50k vs 74k, I believe? And because of that it's too common and they just dont want to be viewed as common.

The rest of your arguments are als overy true I think. People always talk trash about richer people. My neighbor who has a vanquish just gave his 24 year old son a bmw 6, that kind of ticked me off, but I dont worry about it. A car that also receives a lot of jealous remarks is the porsche boxster, although no hummer-like hatred, people say its too expensive for what it offers. Boxster S has 280 hp vs 300 hp in the 350z. starts at 55k vs 29k for the 350. They seem to forget that horsepower isnt everything. A boxster would beat those kind of cars anytime anyday. But they just hate it because it's more expensive.

 

thanks hummerific. at times it seems that you aren't the worlds biggest hummer fan. alot of H2s are more expensive than alot of Range's due to options & bling, and i see about the same #'s of Land Rovers and H2s here in my area, with H3s outnumbering both combined and tripled. Many land rovers are RRsports or older models or LR3s, but they all look "land roverish". common or not, at least in this area a LR draws very little attention - just from a small % of people that know what it is... as for which is better, my H2 cost enough for a Range + some bling, so i guess my opinino is pretty obvious.

i wasn't really trying to say that the "thinkers" look up to hummer drivers. More that they themselves wouldn't drive a hummer due to the overly boldness, social stand-outishness, ... kind of, well, hummerishness of the thing. and the competitive sort of whatever (envy/disdain/resentment) that the thinking class tends to have for the doing class leads them to be annoyed with the doers and their blinged up hummers of which they are so fond.

cool post

 

more along the lines of gumps thought:

if i bought a G500, and got a bumper sticker that said "HUMMER HUNTER", the same people freaking out about dangerous SUVs and gas mileage and all would looooooooooooove it. despite same danger (or lack thereof) and mileage.

rationality rules their day!

 

I guess that's because I'm leaning towards the thinker side a bit every now and then. I also enjoy changing my opinion or at least try to look at things from a different point of view and try to reason it. Especially when people say x I will do my best to say y. But when everything's said and done I'm still crazy about those big bad off-roading machines.

 

i'm kind of fond of them myself. i was just wondering what i'd think of the H2 if i'd have bought a G500 instead. i probably couldn't do the Range Rover thing, not that there's anything wrong with that. I can be all civilized some other day.


I think the styling and raw dimensions of the H2 also make it the msot intimidating vehicle on the road. and in ways (the G500 is too rare to count, the range blends in pretty well) its the only SUV that stands out.

And like the prototypical "dumb jock" would be considered aggressive by many even if he was just snoring on the couch... people do react to physically large things.

but i digress, and the brain is less than fully functional, so whateva