Crush and Carry
The Hummer H2 SUT features all the ostentatious brawn of the standard model and adds a versatile pickup bed.
Its saving grace is the small open pickup bed located behind the rear seats. The H2 SUT can carry tall, bulky or dirty items with ease.
The H2 SUT packs a powerful 393-horsepower V8 engine that provides plenty of muscle for acceleration and passing. That engine also makes the H2 SUT a strong tower, with an 8,200-pound capacity, one of the highest available.
A durable six-speed automatic transmission and rugged full-time four-wheel-drive system with low-range gearing and a locking rear differential are standard. An air suspension is available to smooth the ride over back roads and broken pavement.
The Hummer H2 SUT’s performance and handling characteristics are on par with the Chevrolet Suburban on which it’s based, which means it’s actually easier to drive than you might expect. Still, this large SUV can be unwieldy on congested city streets and in parking lots.
One of the H2 SUT’s distinguishing features, its “midgate” configuration, is borrowed from the Chevrolet Avalanche. The rear wall of the cabin folds down and expands the cargo bed at the expense of the second row of seats, which folds forward. Unfortunately, the bed is shorter — 6 feet long with the midgate down — than the one in the Avalanche and its other derivative, the Cadillac Escalade EXT, both of which have storage areas that are 8 feet long with the midgate down. This tends to limit the H2 SUT's use as a cargo hauler, but a hard cover for the pickup bed is available to create what amounts to a large trunk. But its smaller footprint does have at least one advantage: combined with short front and rear overhangs, it makes the H2 SUT a formidable off-roader that can negotiate treacherous terrain.
Hummer says the H2 SUT is capable of traveling through water 24 inches deep, climbing 16-inch-tall rocks, paddling through deep sand and trouncing competitors in high-speed desert runs. While these are certainly admirable qualities, in reality few owners will ever take their H2s out for anything more grueling than a slow crawl over highway pavement during a rush-hour commute. And in that situation, the H2 SUT is out of its element.
Standard equipment in the H2 SUT’s exaggeratedly styled, roomy interior is generous, including satellite-capable radio, dual-zone automatic climate control, deep tinted windows and heated front seats. With two rows of seats, the H2 SUT fits five passengers. The small windows significantly impair outward visibility.
A navigation system, XM satellite radio capability, and many accessories — like brush guards and cargo carriers — are offered. But you won’t find high-end SUV items like power-retractable side steps or ventilated seats on the options list.
Because the H2 is officially classified as a "medium-duty truck," it is exempt from the EPA’s fuel-economy regulations, which also means that the automaker is not required to post the vehicle’s fuel-economy ratings. But mileage in the high single digits to low double digits is common. No matter how lightly you operate the gas pedal, you’ll pay dearly at the pump to keep this behemoth running.
You're sorry you never got the chance to own the discontinued Hummer H1; you need to haul or tow heavy loads or drive on rough terrain; you like to draw attention wherever you go.
You care about fuel economy; you live in a city where streets are narrow and parking is tight.
There's plenty of room in the H2 SUT's cabin for five adult passengers.
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