Gidday Justine...had an ss with similar numbers and still have a "Z" series Monaro. I was happy with the stock H3 both around town and on the highway. I drove it back from Melbourne after the purchase and thought it did really well on the open road.

Since i put 35"'s on it has been a bit sluggish but I have just had a turbo fitted and it is rock'n and rollin' again. Went away for the week end and am still smiling. Was not hard core 4wd'ing but had plenty of very soft sand to go through. Normally would have let down the tyres and gone to low range as it was really really soft for long sections. Wanted to see how it would go so I didn't let down the tyres and stayed in 4WD High and just pulled through no problems in second. I am very happy and impressed.

 

I also have no complaints about my I5. Last time i calculated, i got 17 city and 21 on the highway doing a steady 75mph. You can always just change the exaust if you want that V8 sound. My cousin has an Alpha, can't tell much difference except a lil better acceleration. But not by much. Alpha also weighs more than the I5 so when u put that into perspective, njot much difference at all. Its a plus if you haul heavy loads though

 

I own the I5 and I havent had any problems, acceleration is enough to get me going. I came from a 300HP Mustang V6 and if i could redo my decision to buy the H3.... I would buy the H3 again! I would say the V8 would be the better choice. only because, when you need the extra power, its there... the I5 needs a turbo... i should buy one infact... hrm.. next mod!!

 

On the weekend I got 17.2 L/100kms...sorry about the lingo..hopefully someone can do a conversion into your speak!..... that was a combination of highway, very very soft sand and parking lot freeway.

About what I expected with the 35's but the extra power from the turbo was worth every cent let alone every $ of petrol.

 

I have the 3.7L H3 and I'm happy with it, IMO it has plenty of power on and off roads.

 

IMO, the stock Alpha has way better highway acceleration than a stock I-5, was very much noticeable which is why I traded up

 

I have no problems with my I5. Naturally a Alpha is going to be more power etc. but in my opinion I would never need to upgrade just for that. If it had more say a new body style I liked or something then I would trade, but my I5 is fine, not as much as the Alpha naturally but it performs great and leaves nothing for me to desire.

 

It's about time ya'll had to pine for one of our V8 vehicles.


Modern 5 or 6 speed transmission? The old school 5 speed doesn't have this problem.

Even with the 5 speed, the best I've noted is 17.5 on the highway @ 75 MPH.

That would be 13.8 MPG. Not bad considering the terrain and 35s. The turbo should help with your mileage on the highway.

 

I recently brought my Alpha in for the first service (rotate tires, Mobil 1,etc.); anyway they gave me an I5 H3 as a loaner and I thought the I5 was just fine. One of the reasons I got the Alpha was that I had read that the std. H3 was underpowered, but the I5 seemed alright to me. Definately not as powerful as the Alpha but as the old saying goes; I wouldn't kick 'er out of bed.

It DID make a hell of a noise when I first started her up and drove off. Sounded like my wife was in the back seat with the home vaccuum cleaner - what an ungodly noise. Didn't seem to do that once warm, but on a cold start OMG. Do they all have that idiosyncracy ?

Cliff

 

CWS, I have yet to hear this noise that you are talking about. Maybe its just the way that they take care of their loaner. As for this ongoing battle of Alpha vs I5, there is NOTHING that the alpha can do that the I5 can't. If you want to be able to say, hey i have a V8 under the hood, then go for the alpha. If you haul heavy loads, get an Alpha. But when it comes to offroading i found with my experience that the I5 is the way to go. But its all on what u want.