Hummer H2 SUT
Will the H2 SUT halt the plummeting sales free-fall Hummer's been in of late? We doubt it, but the H2 might be an effective air brake until a meaningful parachute, called the H3 (an even smaller sibling), is fully deployed later this year. Until then, the H2 SUT (as in sport/utility truck) offers an interesting twist on the now familiar H2.
That vehicle, derived from GM's parts bin and civilian thirst for a desert-storming Humvee (that's easier to park at the mall), played in our 2003 SUV of the Year competition. It's since received a redesigned interior and, for 2005, a torquier engine, but this largely identical new SUT spinoff justifies its appearance here due to one unavoidable fact: It now has a truck bed. When you think about it, an external cargo hold for dirty or greasy loads makes good sense for those who intend to employ the H2 SUT for such appropriate jobs as ranching or rough-terrain work (and to those few, we salute you).
Either way, we were impressed with how easily the SUT's basic four-seat-plus-a-mini-bed can be reconfigured into two-seat-plus-a-four-by-six-foot box (rear glass that electrically retracts into the fold-down midgate greatly simplifies things). But regardless of the configuration, it was clambering up some of the steepest dirt goat trails and, yes, parading down Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, where the Hummer H2 earned its most admiring glances.
| Engine | 6.0L/325-hp/365-lb-ft/OHV V-8 |
| Drivetrain | Front engine, 4WD |
| Fuel economy | N/A |
| Price range | $53,335-$61,265 |
| Acceleration | 0-60 mph: 9.9 sec;
1/4 mile: 17.1 sec @ 80.3 mph |
| Braking, 60-0 mph | 147 ft |
| Handling | Skidpad: 0.67 g;
Slalom: 55.1 mph |
| Figure-eight | 30.3 sec @ 0.50 g |
| Ratings |
| Engineering | ••••• |
| Design | ••• |
| Interior | •• |
| Performance | ••• |
| Value | •• |
| Sum up: Perhaps this is the H2 GM should've built in the first place |