2006 Hummer H3 Test Drive

Big Baby

The smallest Hummer yet handles better than its brethren, but don't expect fuel efficiency despite its small engine.

In The Cabin

Because of its extremely high floor — a two-foot step up from the ground — and low roofline, there's an odd "sitting in a hole" feeling inside the H3. Most SUVs offer throne-like accomodations, but the H3's squat cabin and legs-outstretched seating position are instead cozy. This isn't due to lack of space, it has ample headroom and legroom, but rather because the shallow side windows, high beltline (the plane along the bottom of the side windows) and small, near-vertical windshield turn the cockpit into a cave.

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It's a comfortable and well-trimmed one, though. The panel design is bold, clean and tasteful, and the seats are handsomely done, though a bit firm. A light clutch pedal and a shifter the size of a small baseball bat work a smooth, easy-shifting manual transmission.

Unfortunately, the small windows make parking and mall maneuvers chancy, though Hummer is duly proud of a short turning radius (37 feet), which allows it to make tight U-turns for an SUV. But there's little view out the back, some of it obstructed by the huge spare tire. Small roadsters and Minis pass behind a backing H3 at their own risk.      

It's also a high grocery-bag lift into the H3's cargo area, which is a full yard above the ground. And though the cargo bay expands to 5 feet 8 inches in length with the rear seats folded forward, you won't be carrying anything longer than that: the side-hinged rear door doesn't allow the stick-out-the-back load capability of an open tailgate or hatchback.