2005 Hummer H2 Test Drive

American Excess

The second citizen's Hummer; backpack included.

Driving the Hummer H2 SUT

Driving the H2 SUT is a pleasant experience. The Hummer look is all about brashness, but the vehicle is remarkably civilized. It can be tough to parallel park because it's so wide, but you won't find it terrifying to master. The SUT does, though, have one failing the standard-body H2 doesn't -- a spare tire mounted aft of the liftgate on a giant arm that swings away from the vehicle. That's great as it keeps it out of the passenger compartment, where, unfortunately, it is located in the standard H2. However, the lip of the tire sits right in your field of vision when you crane your neck to look back or glance in the rearview mirror. So, parking against an indoor-garage wall can be trying as you can't easily gauge the distance of an object directly behind you. It's a bit surprising that the Hummer engineers didn't see a need for park-distance sensors to alleviate this problem.

Although we didn't have the chance to take the H2 SUT off-roading, we have no doubt that this truck is as capable as the standard H2 -- a vehicle which we've had rock crawling on ground we'd barely be able to scramble up on foot.

On more tame surfaces -- like the interstate -- the H2 SUT will cruise casually and comfortably, although -- because it's shaped like a giant brick -- it does pick up a good deal more wind noise than your average SUV. But, that's the price you pay for standing out, we suppose.