Hello, first off what a great site. It kept me busy and up pretty late last night as I was reading up in the forums and researching things. Here is the deal, my wife wants the H3. We are choosing options and I have a few questions and would like opinions on the following:

1. It looks like the adventure package you basically get the off road package that is not avaliable on the standard package. My problem is I have no earthly clue what a limited slip, locking do dad differantial is, nor a 2 speed transfer case is. However I do know what the bigger tires are, Arr Arr Arr Arr...LOL. So in laymans terms what is this off road package, what will it allow me to do and is it worth the additional $1375. Note the truck will be no road queen by any means but my off road time in it will be limited. We do however go camping so it might come in handy as I might like to take it into trails and what not.

2. Automatic versus Manual. I love driving a manual vehicle, always have. Wife has no problem with it either and is fine with it. That said I guess I have it stuck in my mind that Hey this is a $30,000 vehicle ya gotta have standard. Whats y'all's thoughts on this, I am currently leaning on getting her the automatic.

Again great site and thanks in advance for your thoughts

 

1. It sounds like the adv package is not for you. The locking rear enables you to do some serious off roading. The basic model will 4x4 like nothing else so you will have no problem camping. I like to off road so I went with the adv package it kicks some serious butt.

2. Go with the Auto they are having some trouble with high revs in the standard. Until the bugs get worked out could save you some time at the delership service dept.

 

I would suggest just the opposite for the adv. package because as you drive it and go off road, you may want to expand your horizons, and the added features will help. To give you a rund down of what this stuff does, the locking rear axle makes it so both rear wheels will turn the same speed, even if one is in the air. without it, once you get a tire in the air or on a very slippery surface the power will seem to go to that wheel and you will cease to progress forward. Since this is a full time four wheel drive, you have to have a tire on both the front of the vehicle and the rear to be on a slippery surface for you to be completey stopped. Once engaged, the remaining two tires will have enough traction to get you moving again. Tha Adv also comes with a lower range gear ratio in hte transfer case. The transfer case is what gives you four wheel drive. The low range gives you more power in rough stuff, and so the lower ratio will provide just a little more power than the base model.

 

Thanks guys for your input it helps a lot. Looks as though we'll lean towards the adventure package. Off to the hummer dealership this Friday

 

Also I recommend in addition to what Linus said...Would be the 6CD stereo with the Monsoon system, that is a must!..Comes with 3 months of free XM too.

 

I have to say, go with an adventure pkg. The 4:1 low in the T-case is great for creeping the steeps, especially with the rear locker, and the 285's provide nice ground clearance, and aproach/departure angles. Pretty impressive for an "out of the box" wheeler. It can also help with resale value later on down the road.

With my wife being on the go here and there with the kiddos, we chose to stick with an automatic. We were tempted by the crawl ratio that can be obtained with the stick, but the crawl ratio with the auto is still very good. But we figured it would just be easier on those days that she finds herself with a burger in one hand and the steering wheel in the other. We've owned sticks before, so we could go either way.. but the auto won.

The Monsoon is nice for a stock factory system. We have the nav radio vs. the 6cd. I'm sure they're both great.. but I really like our nav radio. It's come in handy a few times already.

In the few weeks we've owned ours, I don't have any complaints. I've been on the 3 road trips with it already, and really enjoy driving it. I've done about 45 minutes worth of mild to moderate wheeling in it, and it did pretty well. No real complaints except for some portions are mounted too low, and I got hung up climbing a rock shelf. But, you would be hard pressed to find any new vehicle that didn't have some ill planned "part" that's hanging a bit too low. In the H3's case I don't care for the front portion of the rear spring mount. It's too big, and too low.. but it's design isn't totally bad.. it does have a 1/2 tear drop shape that helps it to slid over some things.. unless your going nearly straight up . I probably could have made it up.. but the sound of metal dragging against rock in my paper plate clad vehicle made me feel the need to back off and find a better line. [:-]

All in all, I doubt you'll be disapointed with your H3. But, if for some reason it doesn't fit your bill.. then you can always sell it in a couple of years and get into something else.

 

I have a 5-speed and love it. It's very easy to shift, and has great pickup. I don't know about this throttle problem. It may be the problem I'm having, where when you let up on the clutch, sometimes it revs at about 2000 rpms for about 15 seconds or do before it calms down. It's very sparatic though. It doesn't happen all that much.

 

I got the base, lux, auto. I wish I would have got the adventure package too. The ride is suppose to be a little different - so ride in a base and an adv. to make sure it's OK for you.

 

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How can you tell your H3 radio is XM compatible?