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2007 Hummer H3x: No Beach Bum
Summer. What better time to plan a beach trip than when you have an off-road specialist in the driveway waiting to rumble over something? In a time when most owners hardly tap into the off-road capabilities of their four-wheel drive vehicles, I decided to drive from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia in hopes that my tires could at least touch the Atlantic shore. Well this week my 2007 Hummer H3x did its job and got me to Tybee Island, as close to the Atlantic Ocean as I could get.
 Hummer H3x, the General Motor’s answer to the Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Xterra, Toyota 4-Runner and other mid-size SUV’s, distinctively holds form to its styling heritage from big brothers H1 and H2. Bold, aggressive big-boy styling that will never be mistaken for any other brand on the road. Though the smallest of the bunch, people can’t help but to see you coming no matter how low key you try to be.
The H3x is for the most part is the same as the H3 just with a few cosmetic differences. Under the hood is 3.7 liter I-5 VVT engine mated to a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual, producing an adequate 242 horsepower and getting 15 city/19 highway mpg fuel economy. Sitting on 18” chrome wheels and 33” Bridgestone off-road tires, H3’s on-road drive characteristics were pretty tame and surprisingly smooth. I was able to maneuver through highway traffic not feeling out of place with the other vehicles on the road. Driving the H1 and sometimes even the H2, you feel like a bully on the road, intimidating the other drivers.
 Attributes unique to the H3x package include a body colored grille, chrome brush guard, unique spare tire cover with chrome accent, chrome side bars, and a chrome appearance package that includes chrome door handles, fuel cap, and mirror caps. When looking at the H3 and H3x you can definitely tell the visual difference between the two with the H3x being more appealing.
Inside the H3x, leather and power everything is accompanied by a Monsoon 7-speaker AM/FM, CD and MP3 system equipped with navigation system that supplies OnStar turn-by-turn direction. My first interaction with OnStar system was suspect though. I live in Atlanta and when I first contacted OnStar the navigation feature was unavailable for some unknown reason. I was instructed to drive a few miles and call back and when I did, turn-by-turn was available and the system worked pretty well, especially if your vehicle does not have a traditional navigation system.
Though I did not get a chance to get the H3x on the beach or off-road like I would have liked, it proved to be a very capable road trip vehicle without the overbearing ride characteristics you might expect from a Hummer. Fuel economy is reasonable and the base H3 came in at $37,545 and H3x at $43,885, both with a $590 destination charge. You can “Go Anywhere,” Like Nothing Else,” the way Hummer says you can.
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