[Ahmad Pervez]

Ahmad Pervez

August 21, 2008 at 8:47 am #263

FJ Vs H3 Vs Wrangler

By Fraser Martin
Published in Car Middle East Online 05 February 2008

After almost 30 years in the Middle East, I have never quite understood why the peculiarly regional sport of ‘wadi-bashing’ was so named. After all the only things that ever actually get bashed are either people or cars, usually as a result of falling rocks. So it was with some trepidation therefore, that we assembled a newish Hummer H3, a very new Toyota FJ Cruiser and an absolutely brand-spanking new (just 400kms on the clock!) Jeep Wrangler Unlimited for a tour of the lesser paved roads of the Northern Emirates.

Whilst each of the manufacturers mentioned have more hardcore 4×4 models on offer, these three epitomize the ‘lifestyle product’ side of the catalogue – vehicles which make more of a statement about their owners than about the jobs they are designed to do, and have a cult following in every market to which they are introduced. They are as much about looking and feeling cool, as they are about actual off-roading. Make no mistake though, all three boast real credentials when it comes to venturing off the blacktop.

Our 12-hour marathon drive and photoshoot started on the outskirts of Dubai and turned off into the gravel at Al Ghail, via Dhaid, and took us through Wadi Sidr, Wadi A’Asmaa and up over the mountain tracks to the back of Dibba. From there, we took the new tarmac road back to Al Ghail and cut through the desert, diagonally, back to Dhaid and then home, 275 kms later.

Would the three ‘lifestyle’ cars stand up to the kind of journey they would probably only occasionally see, between cruises of the Jumeirah Beach Road speed bumps or the school run? And were any particularly better suited to one or the other? Are they just ‘form over function’ or was there some genuine ability under the trendy clothes?

At a quarter of a tonne heavier than either of the other two cars, the Hummer H3 is a bit of a beast. There’s no question about its solidity, since it is essentially built on a truck chassis, but you soon know that the extra weight can be a hindrance as well as a benefit. Rolling along a smooth piece of tarmac or on the rocks, the sheer momentum will see you through just about anything, but in soft sand, there’s a Bismarck quality to the H3 that will have you working hard to keep it on the move. What it does have is a ‘lifestyle’ statement about it that is second to none!

The Hummer is the elder statesman of this group – and the only one still on leaf springs at the back – which is evident in the general style. It’s not quite the up-to-date advancement that the Jeep presents and neither is it quite the car of the moment, in the way the trendy Toyota is. The H3 model is more of a vehicle to capitalise on the ‘me too’ market of its bigger siblings, the H2 and the redoubtable H1 (no longer available to civilians), but is not quite able to pull off the truly macho image of the rest of the Hummer fold: a bit too heavy on the steroids instead of proper exercise!
The H3 is a good bit bigger than the opposition as well – at least on the outside – and the military styling and bluff appearance will make you the undisputed King of Parking Spaces. Inside, the Hummer is a bit like Dr.Who’s Tardis in reverse – you’re left wondering where all the space has gone. The seats are comfortable though and the car is surprisingly quiet given its breeze-block aerodynamics, but the trucking roots are exposed in the ergonomics with switchgear scattered about. The electric windows in particular are awkward to use.

Two of our testers managed to crack their heads on the roof getting in – the doors are big and open very wide, but are not very high – though once inside, you are cocooned in a secure if claustrophobic environment. Space is better than the FJ but not up to the Jeep, and like the outside, everything has a chunky feel to it.

Driving the H3 takes a bit of getting used to: the windows are like letter-boxes and the extremities tricky to define, but with the weight and ground clearance, anything in the way of an obstacle is easily crushed or cleared. In the soft, the 20-valve 5-cylinder engine and the old four-speed box are too slow to respond, so unless you thrash it and risk damage to the car, you have to pick your lines with care. Though it is the fastest car in the group it is also the least quick off the mark. There’s a new engine on the way, which will doubtless address some of the delivery problems, but the Hummer, being the most expensive of the group – by a big margin – has to be a ‘want’ purchase.

The new FJ is easily the most retro of the group, aping the style of the early FJ40 Land Cruisers. It’s a sort of Club Cab without the pickup bed in that the half doors open ‘carriage-style’, and only if the front doors are open. Though a neat installation, it rather limits access to the rear compartment – great from a safety point of view in the cars and children equation (no need for child locks!), but admittedly it’s a touch cramped for fully grown adults.

The chassis, engine and gearbox all come from the fuller sized Prado model, which as anyone who has driven one will know, is one of the most capable 4x4s around. The 4.0-litre V6 combined with the 5-speed autobox (there’s no manual option here) is a slugger with bags of torque. There’s a certain relentlessness about the FJ’s ability to romp up even the steepest of gradients without hesitation.

General styling is a subjective thing in most cars, and you either like the retro-look or you don’t, but there is no getting away from the Toyota’s unique appearance. I could have happily lived without the tacky stickers on the rear view mirrors and petrol cap but otherwise, what the FJ does give is maximum road presence.
Inside, there are a few points of discordant appearance and the checkerplate-finish panels are just too plasticky to be confused with the real thing: a bit Tonka Toy. But the whole thing works very well and the car has real street-cred. It’s easy and simple to operate, with most of the important controls where you need them.

This Toyota is a bit weak on turning circle, which might leave you flummoxed in underground car parks, but the diff lock with stability and traction control fitted to the top-of-the-range model tested were a boon in the soft stuff, as well as in the more arduous rock-hopping sections of our route. Once you learn to use the mirrors and the four rear parking sensors fitted to the top line model – since the rearward view is hopeless – the FJ is a cracking tool.

The first civilian Jeep was produced way back at the end of the Second World War and, like Hoover and the vacuum cleaner or Biro and the ballpoint pen, has become a generic term for the all-purpose vehicle. In 2007, sixty-odd years on, Jeep finally introduced the first four-door Wrangler, the Unlimited, on a stretched version of the iconic two-door. This is a completely revised Wrangler and is a chunk bigger than the previous incarnations of the classic. It’s been a long wait, but worth it!

That ‘there’s still only one’, as Jeep’s tagline goes, is testament to the new model’s popularity and the four-door was a late arrival in the Middle East due to demand in the home market (though not quite as late as the FJ which went on sale in early 2006 in the US). The four-door adds a proper three person seat to the rear compartment without sacrificing carrying capacity in the load bay, and the rear seats fold flat giving the car station-wagon space inside. The dash is simple and though the plastics are a bit hard in places, the overall effect is one of form as well as function, and you sit high enough in the cab to get a good all round view of what’s going on.

Wranglers moved on to coil springs some years ago but have retained the traditional solid beam axles – you know exactly where everything is at all times when you’re off-road, and the high ground clearance means that the car can be easily placed to counter most seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The engine – a V6 of 205bhp – is the least powerful in this test group, but on paper the Jeep Unlimited tops out at the same speed as the Toyota and is quicker off the mark than the Hummer, giving it an ‘all round’ edge over the competition.

In terms of styling, you get what it says on the tin: Jeep’s signature seven-bar grille, extended wheel arches, exposed hinges and pretty much flat surfaces everywhere – you cannot mistake it for anything else. The Unlimited is a bit more of a ‘working’ car than the others, so you won’t be winning any of the distinguished service awards at the shopping centre, but it’s a lot of car for a lot less money than the others. And it’s the only four-door full convertible on the world market: the windscreen and roof panels all come off and you can lift the doors off as well!

We really worked these three cars both on and off established tracks and in rocks as well as sand. Each had real capability in relation to the lifestyle they were designed to meet, and whilst they were different in size, engine output, carrying capacity and in design, they had one thing in common: few will be bought as ‘working’ vehicles in the way that some other 4x4s are used.

I had preconceived notions about the Jeep – I bought one after all – and still believe that it is the best all round 4×4 for the money. It has space, a sensible workspace behind the wheel and has Jeep’s legendary off-road capability as well as a good viewing platform. It’s the car Jeep should have built twenty years ago, and has been flying out of the showrooms since the launch. However, my own experience with sensitivity, or rather the lack of it, in the throttle, remains evident and can be an issue when tackling the real tricky stuff. Despite taking a bit longer to get used to, the FJ Cruiser runs it a very close second.

The FJ may be an odd looking confection to some eyes, and there are fripperies on the top line model that the car could well do without, but in terms of stepping into a 4×4 and being able to keep it going, whatever the conditions or skill levels, the Toyota is a hard act to follow: it’s a sweet thing to drive, delivers car-like performance and is intuitive to use in any conditions. Whilst the FJ is a fun package, it’s just too much like a big two door to compete directly with the four door competition.

The Hummer H3 was also blessed with preconceived notions – which unfortunately bore fruit. Its off-road ability in gravel and rocks is on par with the other two test cars, but in the sand it is just too heavy. Whether the bigger-engined model, set to debut at the Abu Dhabi motor show in November, is any better remains to be seen, but currently it is an also-ran in this company, and a premium one at that.

It’s easy to recommend the FJ to the off-road novice; whether ‘wadi bashing’ or speed bump bashing in the shopping mall car park, it’s hard to beat and offers solid value for money. But if it’s space, practicality, versatility, untainted dynamic ability where lesser SUVs fear to tread, and because of its legendary status, the Wrangler Unlimited is the leader of this pack. That it was voted best off-roader of 2007 in the CAR Middle East awards, therefore, is no coincidence and a full-on test like this proves the verdict right.

[kat]

kat

September 13, 2008 at 11:04 am #7321

get in jeep!!!!

[Author]

Posts