Our friend Mike Levine, proprietor of PickupTruck.com, was trying out the new H3T pickup out in Moab, Utah this week and learned that the H3 will finally lose its hoary old five-cylinder base engine in favor of something a little more modern. A new flex fuel-capable direct-injected 3.6L V6 like the one used in the HX concept will become the new base powerplant for the H3 by 2010. The last remaining question is, will the H3 get a diesel? The answer is yes... eventually. We spoke with HUMMER's Martin Walsh at the New York Auto Show this week and a diesel is in the cards for the H3, and it will be different than the diesel six-cylinder being used in Europe. Since the 4.5L fits in anything that GM's small-block V8 does, the European diesel six is possible, but a smaller diesel seems more likely. To that end, we've heard rumors since last spring of a new diesel V6 being developed for use in the H3. We don't know when it's ultimately going to arrive, but it will, and change is clearly afoot on the powertrain side at HUMMER.
[Source: PickupTruck.com, Photo: Alex Núñez]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Avinash machado @ Mar 21st 2008 7:09AM
Hopefully the Diesel engine will make the tree huggers shut up.
Mobius_1 @ Mar 21st 2008 7:45AM
You can always put a small electric motor on the rear axle and call it a hybrid
Tim @ Mar 21st 2008 8:43AM
If ignorance is bliss, you must be ecstatic...
Mattias @ Mar 21st 2008 7:49AM
The Euro Hummers diesel will be based on VMs RA630, the 60° V6 built for transversal and longitudal applications. Output should be easily adjustable between 190 and 250hp.
I do not see a reason to take a different V6 as base diesel for the US. Yes, a V6 based on the V8 with exhaust in the bank could be interesting for longitudal applications, but this is at least two years away while the RA630 is an engine that is already available (for example in some Australia Hyundai SUVs).
Alex Nunez @ Mar 21st 2008 11:28AM
The US diesel V6 will be new because the EuroHUMMER's motor doesn't meet our EPA requirements. The new motor, which I believe will be 3.4L (if I remember the conversation correctly) eats up as much space underhood as the V8 in the Alpha.
Tim @ Mar 21st 2008 8:41AM
That 5 cylinder was designed for the Colorado/Canyon trucks, so it was hardly old.
It was, however, underpowered for the H3.
Chris @ Mar 21st 2008 11:11AM
I take issue with calling the 5 cylinder engine 'hoary and old', it's not even 5 years old. It's underpowered for such a heavy SUV, but i think it's completely inaccurate to call it hoary and old.
MikeW @ Mar 21st 2008 5:11PM
The Inline6 basis is old.
GM really hasn't touched it since it came out.
http://media.gm.com/division/powertrain/news/4200_presskit.html
The I4/5 were updated slightly.
http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewmonthlyreleasedetail.do?domain=39&docid=26823
Still no variable intake valve timing or 6 speed auto.
MikeW @ Mar 21st 2008 5:12PM
http://media.gm.com/division/powertrain/press_kits/vortec_dynocam/index.html
Frylock350 @ Mar 21st 2008 8:46AM
The H3 is nowhere near as large as a Tahoe. So why does it weigh nearly as much?
sydbot @ Mar 21st 2008 10:14AM
Same reason a Range Rover weighs as much as a larger Tahoe - lots of 4WD goodies and toughened components.
I'm with you on Hummer weight bashing though. You'd think at Hummer prices they could use Aluminium body panels, like the Tahoe Hybrid, and bring down the weight a few hundred pounds.
Dan @ Mar 21st 2008 1:23PM
Leaned on a car lately? For the past 10 years at least, the bodywork sheet metal is like paper.
There aren't hundreds of pounds on the table if you took it all off and sold the thing naked. Saving 10 lbs with an aluminum hood is an exercise in marketing.
As far as the original question, it's because the frames and mechanical parts are heavy while more air in the passenger compartment isn't.
Adding two more feet of Tahoe passenger compartment and calling it a Suburban only adds about 200 pounds.
Frylock350 @ Mar 21st 2008 1:54PM
I didn't think 4wd and offroad components add that much weight. Compare H3's curb weight to a TrailBlazer's. I mean how much extra stuff does an H3 have that a Z71 Colorado doesn't? And the 0-60 time really shows the H3's need for a redesign (off of TrailBlazer's platform). 0-60 in 8.3s? I could smoke that thing in my Suburban and we both have a 4sp and 5.3L (Suburban runs to 60 in just under 8s).
Range rovers are pigs too. A BMW 7-series is a horrible pig, it weighs more than a crew cab Silverado. I guess expensive cars (that aren't sports cars) tend to be hugely overweight. A Dodge Magnum is as heavy as my Caprice Wagon despite having far less cargo space and being significantly smaller. Somewhere along the line we went wrong with vehicle weight. When you can look at some cars and see numbers similar to a Tahoe's (which has a right to be heavy, but really isn't) its sad.
MikeW @ Mar 21st 2008 4:23PM
A Tahoe 4x4 weighs at least 500lbs more than an H3. That is more than 10% greater.
The Silverado (4x2 or 4x4) crew cab weighs more than a BMW 760Li
The dodge magnum will crash WAY better than a caprice.
Frylock350 @ Mar 21st 2008 10:04AM
Also why can't they just use the I6 from the Trailblazer. It makes 300hp, better torque than any of GM's V6's, and it sounds damn mean for a 6.
SteveD @ Mar 21st 2008 11:22AM
simple-it doesn't fit under the hood/engine compartment.
Frylock350 @ Mar 21st 2008 1:46PM
Ah yes, I guess that's true.
MikeW @ Mar 21st 2008 3:27PM
The Inline 6 doesn't make 300hp yet.
It needs variable intake valve timing, and more displacement [commonize the pistons with the I4 & I5. 95.5mm vs 93mm]
and it still doesn't fit.
So the I5 could make 250hp, 250ft-lbs [with variable intake valve timing] and connect to the 6L50, today.
sydbot @ Mar 21st 2008 10:17AM
Does anyone know what the torque curves look like comparing the 3.7L I5 to the DI 3.6L V6?
Dan @ Mar 21st 2008 12:41PM
Data including power curves for all GM engines and transmissions is available on the GM Powertrain website.
The 3.7 Atlas is behind the 3.6 DI by at least 30 ft-lbs across the board. Under 2K, it's behind by 50-60 ft-lbs. And there's another severe dip around 3500 when the 3.7 is in between cam profiles.