Originally Posted by
Ace
After off roading with few over the past 12 months my opinion of the hummers has changed somewhat. They are more capable outside of the desert than they are given credit for. After speaking with people and offroading with people who are experienced in how to use them and make the most of their features they are actually very capable.
Off road they have a torque distribution system sort of like manual traction control, when wheels spin off road they driver simply drives with their foot on the throttle and the other foot on the brake slightly and power is transfered to the wheels that have traction. Without knowledge of this system and going against the grain and braking up hill etc they are **** off road, being all independent suspension they have very little wheel travel, But they have excellent ground clearance because everything is tucked up underneath (however this means that a seemingly massive cabin has bugger all space in it) and being less than 1800mm tall they have a low centre of gravity so they can traverse nasty side slopes that would have a defender tipping over.
Having said all that the obvious limitation of size and width does limit their use in the bush, especially when driving narrow tracks that require the nevigation of narrow gaps between trees etc.
So whilst i would pick a defender everytime, the Hummer H1 isnt as bad as I had initially believed.