thecause17
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- December 24, 2002
- Messages
- 269
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Hutchinson, PA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '99 Ranger 4.0 4x4
I'm not talking a test drive down the local street near a dealership. I'm talking about an all out, rocks, mud, water, the whole deal...
My brother is getting married in July, and all of the groomsman, myself included, decided as one of the gifts, we would buy my brother this "Offroad Driving Academy" offered by a resort near where we live. What they do here is for 2 hours, an instructor first familiarizes you with the vehicle on a closed course, and then it's balls to the wall after that on trails.
We got there at 9am thismorning. We got a silver (2004 I think) H2, all stock. All the Hummers they were using were stock with 35's, M/T tires, no lift, nothing. They even had an H1 sitting there with a 6.5L turbo diesel, but we didn't get that one to drive.
Anyways, there was a small course set up back at the buidling. It consisted of rollers to show limited slip diff capabilities, a 16" vertical wall in water, and 20" of water, as well as 60 degree vertical incline, 40 degree side incline (that felt like it was going to roll over) and some mild rock crawling. It was fun, but not what we had in mine. Nevertheless, it familiarized us with the H2. Even though we bought this for my bro, we all ended up getting to drive as well.
Next we headed out to the trails. The first course was one designed by Hummer. It had some deep water holes (enough that it was a good thing the doors were sealed) some rock crawling, steep inclines,etc...all mud, lots of clay. It was fun, but we moved on to rougher terrain not long after we got there that had been cut and designed by the resort itself.
I must say that all of us were very impressed with the capabilities of the H2's. Ours was equipped with air suspension in the rear which could raise the rear 2 inches. It also had an electronic rear locker as well. We needed it at times. I couldn't believe we didn't roll this thing over. There were a couple incidents that we were at such an angle, that the ground wasn't more than 2 feet from the window. This thing took it like a champ. We never actually got it stuck, although a couple times were close, it did manage to pull itself out. I personally don't know anybody who could have done this with their own personal truck. My bro has a 2002 Ram lifted on 35's and he flat out admits he couldn't have run this course.
I've heard from some people speculating that these didn't do well. I will tell you from personal experience that these are the most capable stock offroad vehicle I've ever seen. There we no modifications made to any of the H2's they were using, except one which had 20" wheels on it.
We literally beat this thing into the ground and it was definately a solid truck. The only thing I could complain about was the cheapness of the interior. It was typical of GM's that I've seen, all hard plastic that creeked and rattle under the flex of offroading.
The only thing I regret is that my bro took his video camera and forgot to charge his battery.
We might be going in again in a month or so, we'll be videoing and photographing it next time. You coudln't ask for a better test drive it you were looking into buying one. We pushed it to it's limits that's for sure.
My brother is getting married in July, and all of the groomsman, myself included, decided as one of the gifts, we would buy my brother this "Offroad Driving Academy" offered by a resort near where we live. What they do here is for 2 hours, an instructor first familiarizes you with the vehicle on a closed course, and then it's balls to the wall after that on trails.
We got there at 9am thismorning. We got a silver (2004 I think) H2, all stock. All the Hummers they were using were stock with 35's, M/T tires, no lift, nothing. They even had an H1 sitting there with a 6.5L turbo diesel, but we didn't get that one to drive.
Anyways, there was a small course set up back at the buidling. It consisted of rollers to show limited slip diff capabilities, a 16" vertical wall in water, and 20" of water, as well as 60 degree vertical incline, 40 degree side incline (that felt like it was going to roll over) and some mild rock crawling. It was fun, but not what we had in mine. Nevertheless, it familiarized us with the H2. Even though we bought this for my bro, we all ended up getting to drive as well.
Next we headed out to the trails. The first course was one designed by Hummer. It had some deep water holes (enough that it was a good thing the doors were sealed) some rock crawling, steep inclines,etc...all mud, lots of clay. It was fun, but we moved on to rougher terrain not long after we got there that had been cut and designed by the resort itself.
I must say that all of us were very impressed with the capabilities of the H2's. Ours was equipped with air suspension in the rear which could raise the rear 2 inches. It also had an electronic rear locker as well. We needed it at times. I couldn't believe we didn't roll this thing over. There were a couple incidents that we were at such an angle, that the ground wasn't more than 2 feet from the window. This thing took it like a champ. We never actually got it stuck, although a couple times were close, it did manage to pull itself out. I personally don't know anybody who could have done this with their own personal truck. My bro has a 2002 Ram lifted on 35's and he flat out admits he couldn't have run this course.
I've heard from some people speculating that these didn't do well. I will tell you from personal experience that these are the most capable stock offroad vehicle I've ever seen. There we no modifications made to any of the H2's they were using, except one which had 20" wheels on it.
We literally beat this thing into the ground and it was definately a solid truck. The only thing I could complain about was the cheapness of the interior. It was typical of GM's that I've seen, all hard plastic that creeked and rattle under the flex of offroading.
The only thing I regret is that my bro took his video camera and forgot to charge his battery.
We might be going in again in a month or so, we'll be videoing and photographing it next time. You coudln't ask for a better test drive it you were looking into buying one. We pushed it to it's limits that's for sure.
