Cars.com's Mike Hanley takes a look at the 2008 Hummer H2. It competes with the Cadillac Escalade and Land Rover Range Rover Sport.
Transcript
(upbeat rock music) Hi, I'm Mike Hanley with cars.com and I'm here with a vehicle that needs no introduction. It's the Hummer H2, and it's a model that people either love or hate.
If you're not really sure what you think of it yet, hang around and I'll give you the details on this off-road ready SUV. (upbeat rock music) If I had one word to describe the H2, it would be imposing. You can see here how massive it is with its raised stance, sharp angles. It really is one of the most aggressive looking vehicles on the road, and that's one reason why people hate it. It's also one reason why people love it though, as well. You can see here, our model has optional chrome 20 inch wheels, and it also has this really interesting ultra-marine paint color. It's a bluish purple paint that shifts color, depending on the light. There's also these tubular steps, make it easier to get into the vehicle. But if you're going to be off-roading with it, you don't want these around because they're likely to get torn up. The 2008 H2 gets some significant changes under its clamshell hood. There's a new 6.2 liter V8 that makes 393 horsepower, 415 pounds-feet to torque, and it works with a new six speed automatic transmission. Now that's good for towing capacity. That's up to 8,200 pounds and Hummer says it's also more fuel efficient than before. It's hard to really know though how much, because the Hummer H2 isn't required to have EPA fuel economy estimates. Though, don't expect the new engine to get more than 12 or 14 miles per gallon fuel economy. If you want to get to the H2's cargo area, you have to first swing back, the spare tire. It's pretty easy to do though. And then you're left with a regular lift gate. But when the vehicle has the optional third row seat, you can see there's not a whole lot of cargo space back here. These seats are removable though, which is different than many. Modern three row SUV's are going with fold into the floor seats. So that means if you take them out, you have to store them somewhere. When they are removed though, there's 40 cubic feet of space for your stuff, and that's a pretty good size for this vehicle. On the inside, Hummer also made some significant changes to the cabin. You can see here, it features a nice upscale materials and pretty convincing simulated metal trim on the dash. The seats are also new and the finish in standard leather upholstery. And you get a really nice high, tall driving position, if you like that. And which allows you to look right over the cars in front of you. And, now, the people behind you might not like that so much, but that's what they have to deal with. Rear visibility isn't so great, because of the tire on the back and the small rear window, but the optional rear view camera is a godsend. It should be standard because it really improves backing up visibility. While it's undoubtedly a tough time to be selling Hummers when gas is about $4 a gallon, that's not as big of a concern when you're selling in the price range of $69,000, which is what this vehicle here goes for. What may be a bigger concern is image, because while these vehicles were once the cool ones to have, it's becoming increasingly less popular to have a giant SUV. <v Announcer>For additional information on this car or any other, go to cars.com and our blog KickingTires.
