chicagotribune.com's view

It has the same styling as its big brother, an SUV with a long, flat roof that looks as if it tried to make it under a bridge at top speed but failed.

It also has the same seven-slot chrome grille, which, when viewed head on, appears to smirk at the world through giant braces. Sharply defined wheel arches housing oversized 32-inch all-terrain radials and a tow hook leave little doubt this bad boy is a Hummer.

This is the midsize Hummer H3 Alpha version, kid brother to the full-size H2 and cousin to the departed H1.

Hummer means it’s as at-home on blacktop as in door-level streams. H3 means it’s the economy-size model, though Hummer would rather you call it “right-size.” Clever except that in hinting there must be a “wrong size” companion it gives ammo to environmentalists who have been screaming about the behemoths for years.

Alpha means that this puppy is the performance version with a 5.3-liter, 300-horsepower V-8, rather than the standard 3.7-liter, 242-h.p. 5.

To take some of the gas-guzzling onus off the Tahoe-based H2, the smaller, Chevy Colorado-based H3 was added. It will be joined in the third quarter of next year by a 2009 Hummer H3T, a four-door Crew Cab pickup companion that might be unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show next February. An even smaller H4 is rumored but Hummer is silent, as it is that the H3 will continue after 2011 though Colorado and its cousin GMC Canyon will depart.

Though H3 was supposed to deflect some of the conservationists’ slings and arrows, Hummer rolled out the V-8 Alpha for 2008 because customers wanted the power. Before getting your shorts in a knot, Alphas will account for a small percentage of the roughly 50,000 Hummers to be sold annually.

We tested the H3 Alpha in pumpkin orange, which was like motoring around in a four-wheel billboard.

The experience was pleasant because the 5.3-liter is smooth and quiet yet has no trouble commanding 4,700 pounds, making it better suited to moving H3’s size and weight from the light, up inclines and into and out of the passing lane than the 5 cylinder.

The mileage rating is 13 m.p.g. city/16 m.p.g. highway with the V-8, versus 14/18 with the 5, neither very satisfying. No hybrid is planned. The H2 has a 4.5-liter diesel V-8 coming in 2010, same year H3 will burn E85, that ethanol and gasoline blend. But no diesel is planned for the H3 — at the moment.

The suspension is tuned to cushion occupants on- or off-road. Traction control prevents slippage getting started or when hitting a slick patch while moving and stability control keeps the H3 from dancing in corners, turns or lane changes. Four-wheel anti-lock brakes are standard.

Still a 4,700-pound machine on oversized 32-inch radials isn’t an acrobat, much less nimble, in tight corners. So don’t lean on the accelerator too hard when traveling through the twisties.

The H3 seats up to five in two rows — four if you use the pull-out-from-the-seat cupholder in the second row.

You access the cargo hold through a swing-out rear door, which holds the spare tire. A swing up hatchlid would be easier, especially when someone parks close behind, but Hummer says the swing out stays until it finds room for the spare elsewhere.

Cargo space behind the second seat is ample for luggage or groceries. The cargo floor is washable. Rear seat backs fold to expand cargo space, but they don’t fold very flat.

A nice touch is in the rearview mirror. A small screen slips out of its right side when you engage reverse to show what’s behind, which is better than having to look down at a navi screen. Until the passenger sun visor is down, that is. It rests against the mirror and keeps the screen from slipping out.

Adn though H3 offers heated seats as options, the control is hidden along the side of the seat near the bottom below the lumbar control and next to the door panel. Too tough to find and use. A small holder for cell phone and/or iPod in the center console in front of the gearshift is nice, as is the small tray under the center armrest and the deep bin below in. But no mirrors in the sun visors? Hummer owners don’t have to freshen up after fording a stream?

Base price of the H3 Alpha is $38,645, which includes such goodies as air conditioning, power windows/locks/mirrors, AM/FM stereo with one-year free satellite service plus CD player and rear window washer/wiper/defroster.

The H3 comes with four-wheel-drive for snow-covered roads or sand, gravel, mud, downed tree limbs, and up and down hills. A 4WD low setting keeps you going when the going gets tough.

The Alpha package includes heated power driver/passenger seats, chrome door handles and mirror caps, an audio upgrade to seven-speaker Monsoon system with amplifier and carpeted floor and cargo mats. Options included a power sunroof at $950 and rear-vision camera system — remember the screen in the rearview mirror? — at $850.

A power sunroof rules out a roof-mounted DVD entertainment screen, but you can get dealer installed screens in the backs of the front-seat headrests for $1,995.

– – –

2008 Hummer H3 Alpha

Price as tested: $41,430

Add $615 for freight

Wheelbase: 111.9 inches

Length: 186.7 inches

Engine: 5.3-liter, 300-h.p. V-8

Transmission: 4-speed automatic

Mileage: 13 m.p.g. city/16 m.p.g. highway

THE STICKER

$38,645 Base

$950 Power sunroof

$850 Rear-vision camera

$390 Trailer hitch and wiring harness

$295 Solar flare metallic paint

PLUSES

Smaller version of H2 that still looks big and bad.

Alpha V-8 upgrade from 5-cylinder.

Back-up mirror when you engage reverse.

On- and off-road capable.

MINUSES

Smaller, but still excessive, fondness for fuel.

Read Jim Mateja Sunday in Transportation. Contact him at transportation@tribune.com.