Hummer ad bragging that the H3 gets 20 highway mpg!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FBear @ Sep 25 2006, 10:56 AM) [snapback]324757[/snapback]</div>

Wrong ...
The only way the H3 gets 20mpg is...idling

Question: Why H3 owners MUST turn off the engine while refueling?
Answer: They will never fill up otherwise

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Sep 24 2006, 05:27 AM) [snapback]324184[/snapback]</div>

GM's vile corupt EPA ponzi mileage scheme is simple: You build a bunch of gas guzzling fleet vehicles (Tahoe, Suburban, Silverado, Hummer) that use E85 grain alcohol (which has at least 10% gas to make it run). The EPA rules are structured in a way that for mileage purposes, they only count GAS miles per galon. Thus, if the gas guzzler only gets 10mpg on E85, guess what they calculate the mileage as? 100mgg !!! ... because it went 10miles on only a tenth of a galon of gas ... when in fact grain alcohol vehicles actually get worse mpg than the pure gas counterparts.
Now when you average the fake 100mpg vehicles with the regular 10mpg vehicles, LOW & BEHOLD, shazam! Your gas guzzler now gets 20mpg. The figures above are not accurate, but you get the point, hopefully.

 

By the way the Prius does have good cargo space, for a car rated as mid-size car. I got two four foot folding tables, two bar high chairs, three large glass show cases, plus other assorted and sundry items that basically filled the back of the car. That is our whole trade show booth, which fit quite nicely inside the car. So why would I need a gas guzzling behemouth, thats like driving a brick s**t house in the wind, that basically hold the same amount as my Prius.

 

For years it seems Japan has sold vehicles on their quality, while Detroit resorts to playing to buyers' psyche. It gets no more blatant than the Hummer commercials:

- "Restore Your Manhood": Mild-mannered guy drops his health foods at the supermarket to impulse buy an H2 and become "a real man"

- Mirror commercial has a Soccer Mom getting a Hummer so she does not get pushed around.

- Latest: Added a segment after the H3 transforming into a submarine. Guy impulse buys a Hummer - as they show a dinky EV. :angry: I don't get the green-bashing.

So why is Toyota about to overtake GM? Both offer a complete line of vehicles. It's just Toyota promotes them all, while GM seems to dedicate all their marketing to trucks/SUVs. Toyota has actually gone from drawing board to marketplace with hybrids while GM has done lots of things such as the EV1, flex-fuel, and fuel cell vehicles and never followed thru. Based on their past history, I'm skeptical of Bob Lutz saying there will be a GM FCV in 2010 or 2011.

What baffles me about GM is they not only avoid promoting their more fuel-efficient vehicles to at least get better PR - they bash EVs in a Hummer commercial. They are expressing contempt when repentance is in order.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Oct 26 2006, 01:57 AM) [snapback]338453[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for explaining the E85 thing, I wondered why there were so many commercials about it now. There is one thing that I can say GM definitely does better than Toyota, and that is lobby Washington to get regs like this.

 

Let's all forget Toyota's H3 competitor, the FJ Cruiser, which is rated at 19MPG highway with the manual and actually gets closer to 15MPG in reality.

While we're at it let's all wash the Sequoia, Land Cruiser, 4Runner, Tundra, Tacoma, LX470 and GX470 from our brains as well.

 

I'll be more explicit than "Toyota & GM both offer a full-range of vehicles".

Yes, Toyota also builds jumbo SUVs and trucks. They are also going to build a truck plant in San Antonio, Texas.

The truck/SUV slice of the pie for GM is greater than Toyota. GM also markets like that's all they have to offer.

What makes the Hummer commercials stand out is their attempt to be humorous pandering to the baser instincts of their market. There is little "utility" in this SUV. As some have already noted - a Prius carries as much. It's common knowledge that civilian Hummers seldom carry many people, things, or get used for their exceptional off-roading capabilities (esp the ones with the chrome rims). It's an ego trip for people with money and gas to burn.

If you can find Keith Bradshier's book The High and Mighty online - order it. It goes into the deliberate design and marketing of the SUV to be a highway bully.

Clotaire Rapaille came from France to America and is considered my many to be the one most responsible for making the modern SUV what it is today by appealing to the reptillian instincts. Check out the links....the people doing these commercials know exactly what they are doing


Interview (complete)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 25 2006, 02:39 PM) [snapback]338126[/snapback]</div>

See above

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Delta Flyer @ Oct 26 2006, 01:33 PM) [snapback]338690[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for posting this link, I'd never heard of him, very worthwhile read.

 

Beryl Octet,

Would you believe there is another hybrid forum with a few people that screamed over Clotaire Rapaille's remarks like it was totally inappropiate there?! One of the offended explicitly loves Escalades and Hummers and somehow does not get it that hybridizing them as commuter vehicles does not make them truly green.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Delta Flyer @ Oct 26 2006, 02:51 PM) [snapback]338753[/snapback]</div>

I'm not too surprised by anything I see people post on message boards, and just try to maintain my sense of humor. The hybrid SUV never made sense to me, since usually economy is way down on the list of SUV requirements, but for something like he Highlander/400h to get the mileage it does for the size/performance is still somewhat impressive, I guess. I was surprised Rapaille was as frank as he was in the interview.

I don't know what it would take to make a green SUV. They're just too big for the traffic, and having been rear ended by one, it's usually a losing game for the smaller car, even something like a Volvo. So, in addition to pollution and mileage standards, I'd like to see weight limits.

 

What set them off was my pictures of guys driving Dodge Rams, etc with the one-armed ghetto lean as if they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. Pictures are harder to refute than text, plus it's VERY HARD to capture it while moving and thru tinted glass - so seeing the raw truth must have infuriated them.

I honestly believe LOTS of gas and accidents would be saved if people simply drove dispassionately and attentively - no anger, no ego trips.

In the 1970's we had station wagons - SUV's are too far. If they got traded for CUVs, that would be progress as it would cut out the 4WD, oversized tires, the high stance that creates more air resistance. Certainly not the best solution, but an improvement.

 

Good point, cwerdna.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Oct 27 2006, 02:16 AM) [snapback]339156[/snapback]</div>

Over the past two years, I've tried to distinguish these by calling them "Jumbo SUVs". Most of these did not come out/get bloated until after 1995 - about the time the "business vehicle" tax breakes were enhanced. Somehow they don't confuse me for vans, flatbeds, or farm tractors.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Oct 27 2006, 02:16 AM) [snapback]339156[/snapback]</div>

Tried to stress that these are not the Jumbo SUVs just mentioned above. Add to that the Honda Element - which seems more like a CUV.


At another forum that alledgedly promotes greeness, a small but vocal number of the members take jumbo SUV-bashing personally (not people like cwerdna, drivers of the RAV4, Escape, etc....). They openly embrace Escalades and Hummers. They suggest the duel-mode hybrid system will make them alright, while a rational Dilbert-type of person can easily point out many conventional luxury sedans would beat their enhanced fuel economy and exceed 25mpg.

Sadly, there are a lot of narcassistic people out there that rationalize the "right" to drive a 6000+ pound commute vehicle.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Oct 27 2006, 03:16 AM) [snapback]339156[/snapback]</div>

I agree with that, if they have the tax breaks and weight of a commercial vehicle, then I'd like to see them used as commercial vehicles, and require drivers to have a CDL.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Delta Flyer @ Oct 27 2006, 09:26 AM) [snapback]339209[/snapback]</div>

Well, sort of. I had a '72 TravelAll which would give anything on the road today a run for size, and torque

My take is that they didn't become 'luxury' vehicles until the business tax breaks were making them financially appealing. Until then, they were there, but they were still genuine trucks.

 

Few weeks ago I was driving on the highway in either Illinois or Michigan, and saw a PINK Hummer!!! I didn't see the driver, may be it was a female driver. I don't understand why someone would do that, isn't that a little gender confusing?

P.S.: Nothing wrong with pink, I like pink, but on a hummer?