| Letter to editor JP Magazine (Jan 02) I just had to respond to Chad Kamin's letter (Sept., '01) about how much better his Hummer is than a Jeep. It sounds like he's got a bad case of I-spent-a-#%!'$-load-of-money-on-it-so-it's-better-than-yours syndrome. I also own a Hummer. Have for two years now. For the first year, I was like a lot of naive people out there that think the Hummer is the undisputed king of offroading. About a year ago, I was forced to swallow my pride a bit. You see, we also have a Jeep in the family. When my son started driving, he wanted a TJ. So I co-signed for him and he bought one. Then he spent another $25,000 modifying it. It's got Dana 60 axles, a 6-inch lift, 38-inch tires, an Atlas transfer case, lockers, and a whole bunch of other stuff. During the past 12 months we have done an awful lot of serious offroading together. When we first started running trails I was pretty confident that I would be leading a whole lot more than following. I had spent a lot of money on my Hummer and there was just no way I was going to let some high school kid in a candy-ass TJ out do me. After a year, I am proud to say that when running side hills, the wider track and lower centre of gravity give my Hummer has a serious advantage. But that's where it ends. Don't get me wrong; I agree with you, Chad: When you're driving a Hummer on the street, you get a lot more looks than any punk ever did in a Jeep. You get that feeling inside that says, "look at me dammit, I'm driving a Hummer an d you're not!" When I park, people will stop and say, "Hey, how do you like your Hummer?" Nobody ever asks my son how he likes his Jeep. I, too, pick up clients at the airport in my Hummer. It makes a statement that a Jeep just can't match. Now Chad, you say, "I can go so many places with my Hummer that even highly modified Jeeps can only dream of going." I love my Hummer but I have to ask you, bud, just what places are you referring to? My son's TJ eats my lunch in the mud, drives circles around me on steep climbs, and absolutely embarrasses me in the rocks. Lest you be thinking that its just my driving, we switch sometimes so I get a turn at what it feels like to go anywhere I point it. Granted, he's made some serious modifications but he's still way, WAY under what my Hummer cost me. Oh, but I will always be able to haul a lot more stuff than he will. Stock vs. stock, I'd have to say my Hummer will spank a Jeep. Put a pair of lockers in the Jeep so we're apples to apples and I'd say it's a dead heat. But add a lift and bigger tires and the Jeep's got my Hummer soundly beat. Be careful what wagers you go around making, Chad. I made that mistake a year ago and I've been eating humble pie ever since. |
| JEEPS Versus HUMMERS |
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