Hey
Ivan wrote: "wish they would have built the H2 on the 2500 platform instead of the Tahoe. Methinks the Duramax/Allison combo would have been brilliant in promoting diesels, and would have opened the door to more diesels in smaller vehicles (such as the H3, which is a pretty good vehicle IMHO, and the rest of the platform).
It's a bit of a shame that the H2 is biting the dust. At least they were promoting not only off-roading (to a point), but vehicle-based exploration. What other brand is currently running any ad campaigns similar to the H2? Maybe Jeep, but it's still not in the same spirit, and it doesn't have the clear message of "go out and explore".
I have to agree with the diesel point; although the price of diesel doesn't offset the cost per gallon. And why is it? It always seems like it's the Toyota people (not all of course) who are some of the first to bash any domestic vehicle when in truth their lifted, big tired, somewhat underpowered rigs use way more fuel than a stock Hummer on any given day. I remember toyota's when they were flimsy little pieces of junk that lacked power, rusted out, used cheap materials and who were worn out in 4-5 years. They bore little resemblence to todays product other than by name only. I think that competition has been good for the big 3 as well, as their quality has much improved because of Toyota, Honda, and the rest. It's about a peoples right to choose what they want to drive no matter who makes, even Hummer. I don't hear complaining about how lousy a fuel mileage a Ferrari, lamborghini, etc. gets; not to mention how useful they are. You drive Toyota and thats fine but don't belittle someone else for driving what they like. Keep in mind that gas wasn't really getting out of hand until 2 or 3 years ago. At two dollars a gallon (2 years ago) we could afford to drive SUV's, full size trucks and think nothing of it (it was what we wanted..our schoice), but continuous speculation and competition are ruining a lot of things including driving what we want. Someday, it might be illegal to drive any vehicle modified from it's manufactured state based solely on it's burden to the enviroment and it's viewed waste of natural resources. Who really needs Nascar, Core, Drakkar, the Baja races, Rock climbing, boating etc. Something to think about.
Pete Wilson