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The Road Ahead : June July 2008
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JUN/JLY 08 41 motoring Starters: Hummer H3 Luxury, Toyota Prado GXL TD Testers: Barry Green, John Ewing, Gerard McConkey, Greg McManus STORY BARRY GREEN PHOTOS MARK HORSBURGH T he Road Ahead tests more than 100 new vehicles a year. But few attract attention like the Hummer H3. This vehicle polarises opinion. Some slam it as being big, brash and out of touch with the times, while others love its rugged individuality. It’s an emotive beast. We suspect that many a decision to buy is made using the heart, rather than the head. Just the opposite of the tried-and-trusted, practicality- personi? ed Prado, in fact, which is why we decided to square the H3 Luxur y off against a GXL variant of the popular Toyota model. The top-of-the-range Luxur y comes in just one speci? cation: 3.7-litre, in-line, ? ve-cylinder, petrol engine coupled to a four-speed automatic. Toyota, by contrast, offers the GXL with a 4.0-litre, V6 petrol or 3.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel, mated with either a six-speed manual or ? ve-speed automatic gearbox. In the interests of matching things as closely as possible, we asked Toyota for the petrol version with auto, but were given a turbo-diesel instead. While this meant some aspects of the comparison might be compromised, it is interesting to note that the H3 Luxur y and the GXL DT4 are the volume sellers of their model line- ups. Not only that, but in the ultra-competitive 2007 Australia’s Best Cars awards all-terrain 4WD categor y, the pair was bettered by only the winning Land Rover Discover y 3 SE TDV6 and runner-up Mitsubishi Pajero VRX CDi. So with relevance at least partly reassured, we headed to LandCruiser Mountain Park, at Jimna, to let the battle begin. Value for money In auto guise, the GXL DT4 is $1200 cheaper than the H3 Luxur y. But the latter comes with a far better standard safety inventor y, so best add on $2000 for the option pack. This includes front, rear side and curtain airbags, traction control and electronic stability control (ESP). These crucial items should come as standard. Toyota needs to lift its game. Glass’s Guide shows that Prado buyers could expect a 48 percent residual value after ? ve years, which equates to depreciation of nearly $30,600. The H3 has yet to be rated by Glass’s, but by using the Holden Rodeo LX 4x4 (it has some underpinning connection) as a guide, the Hummer could mirror the Rodeo’s residual of 41 percent after ? ve years ($35,400 depreciation). The diesel economy of the GXL belts the petrol Luxur y. STORY BARRY GREEN PHOTOS MARK HORSBURGH he Road Ahead tests more than 100 new vehicles a d year. But few attract attention like the Hummer H3. This vehicle polarises opinion. Some slam it as being big, brash and out of touch with the times, while others love its rugged individuality 4WD categor y, the pair was bettered by only the winning Land Rover Discover y 3 SE TDV6 and runner-up Mitsubishi Pajero VRX CDi. So with relevance at least partly reassured, we headed to LandCruiser Mountain Park at Jimna to let the battle begin SAND wedge
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