Randolph’s dismissal generates emotional firestorm
—– Commentary —–
It should be nothing but a glorious springtime for hockey fans throughout Minnesota, what with the Gophers winning their second straight menÂ’s NCAA championship, the Minnesota-Duluth women winning an amazing third consecutive NCAA womenÂ’s title, and the Minnesota Wild continuing their mind-boggling crusade through an NHL playoff structure they werenÂ’t even expected to enter.
It is, but not without one enormous glitch. To the complete astonishment of players, parents, fans and casual observers, Mike Randolph was unceremoniously fired as boys hockey coach at Duluth East.
The official phrasing of principal Laurie Knapp’s missive was that the school district was “not renewing†the contract of Randolph, and that the move was being made in the best interests of the student-athletes.
The move has generated questions without answers and criticism without response. The perpetrators are even hiding behind the cloak of “administration,†and the newest catch-phrase of the slickest manipulators: “data-privacy laws.†Because of data privacy laws and the fear of lawsuits, information about students and certain people must go undisclosed, to protect the innocent and/or the victims. The innocent victim in this case, Randolph, is pleading with administrators to give him a reason – any reason – which is tantamount to him waiving the data-privacy restrictions, but his pleas have been met only with silence.
There are some problems here. There are good coaches and bad coaches in all sports, those who succeed and those who fail, those who are popular and those who are despised. To provide a weapon to administrators who can’t find another way to rid themselves of an unsavory coach, the contract is written as a one-year device, which may or may not be renewed each year. The problem is that Randolph might be the best coach in hockey, if not any sport, in the state of Minnesota. There is no valid way to measure such platitudes, but by any tally, Randolph would be among the top 10 – and the other nine might all vote for him.
“If you want to see how good a coach Mike is, all you have to do is look at this past year,†said Pat Guyer, who just announced that he is resigning as coach at Greenway of Coleraine. Guyer meant that East had its lightest array of talent in two decades, struggling to score goals all season, and yet Randolph got them together and reached the state tournament. Randolph declared that the team’s mediocre season was caused by the coaching staff’s failure to come up with a system that would best suit the players. He was not blaming long-time assistants Larry Trachsel and Terry Johnson, but himself. And yet, all the Greyhounds did is reach the state tournament.
His reward was to be told he was not being retained, for the good of the program.
This spring, he returned to his fourth-grade teaching chores at Stowe elementary school, and he ran a youth hockey school for Squirts. He had to limit it to future East 9-10-year-olds this year because too many had signed up. Those from other areas who were excluded this year said they were not upset, but expressed gratitude for the teaching they got from Randolph last year.
Bruce Watkins, director of school operations, came to Stowe elementary school last Tuesday (April 22) and asked Randolph if he would resign. Randolph says Watkins told him if he would resign, the school would put on a huge celebration to honor him and his accomplishments. Randolph said he didn’t want to resign, that he loved coaching. Watkins told him that he would be terminated if he didn’t resign. Randolph said he would do anything he was asked, change anything that was being questioned, but Watkins could give him no reasons for the move. He returned Thursday with a document, essentially firing him, signed by East principal Laurie Knapp – who has been conspicuous by her silence throughout.
The news created a firestorm of verbal response. The outpourings have come from past players, current players, parents of past, present and future players – even down to the parents of 9-year-olds who have seen Randolph work his magic on kids that young, and hoped someday that their sons might play for him.
Winning has never been his primary concern, and yet his teams win. Always. He’s been at Duluth East for 15 years. Back in the 1960s, when Randolph played for the legendary Del Genereau at Duluth Cathedral, East was a powerhouse under Glenn Rolle. The Greyhounds won the state title in 1960, and also made it to state in 1958, ’61, ’64, and then in 1975 – the only time East made it in the 27-year span between Rolle’s tenure and the arrival of Mike Randolph.
Since taking the reins in 1988-89, Randolph produced instant winners. After the Â’Hounds went 18-5 and 18-7 in his first two seasons, they went 22-7 and reached the state tournament final game, losing 5-3 to Hill-Murray. That was the first of eight state tournament trips in a 13-year span in the rugged environment of Section 7 for Randolph-coached East teams. The first seven of those tournament trips came in a 10-year stretch, and all seven times the Greyhounds brought home some hardware for the trophy case.
Twice they won championships, in 1995 and in 1998, and three more times they were runners-up, while taking home the third-place trophy on the other two occasions. In all 15 years Randolph coached, East had a winning record every year for a total record of 308-83-10. The pinnacle years were 1996-97, when they went 26-1-1 and lost only in the state tournament final, and 1997-98, when they were 27-1, meaning they were 53-2-1 over two seasons.
Times got tougher in recent years, as enrollment dipped and Randolph continually toughened an independent schedule that arguably was the toughest in the state, year after year. After being state runner-up in the 2000 tournament, East went 19-8, 17-7-4 and 14-12-4 the last three seasons. If you deduct that combined 50-27-8 means that East recorded an incredible 258-56-2 record in RandolphÂ’s first 12 years.
Winning, however, was never the point of RandolphÂ’s coaching. It is about doing it right, and enjoying the rare skill of extracting the best from his players and then unifying all the parts into a team structure.
Naturally, there also are detractors. Every coach in every sport has critics, and particularly those players who might be cut, and their parents. It cannot go unnoticed that several years ago, B.J. Knapp was cut as a sophomore from the East varsity by Randolph. “HeÂ’s a great kid,†said Randolph, recalling B.J. Knapp. “If I was picking the team on whether somebody was a good kid, he definitely would have made it right then.Ââ€
But Randolph always has picked his team on the basis of talent, and only after players have gotten a chance to prove themselves in early-season scrimmages and games. Unlike most coaches, who have a preferred style and make all players fit it, Randolph invariably waits until observing scrimmage and game action, then applies a system, anywhere from wide-open to tightly defensive, to put his players in the best position to succeed.
Both Knapp boys obviously would have played at East, at least as juniors or seniors, and a lot of sophomores DON’T make East’s varsity. The Knapps, however, moved shortly after that, and both sons played for Hermantown in later years. Being hockey parents is a challenge, and some deal with the tougher parts differently than others. In most cases, the parent does not become empowered to fire the coach. The refusal of Laurie Knapp to state anything resembling “just cause†raises the ugly specter of such latent motivation.
Callers to sports-talk radio shows have been overwhelmingly supportive of Randolph. One, who identified himself as a parent of a current player, said that he knows there are grumbling parents every year, who say theyÂ’d speak up but donÂ’t because it would hurt their sonÂ’s chances of playing. “Well, thatÂ’s been removed now,†the caller said, “so where are those critics. I havenÂ’t heard one of them say anything.Ââ€
One source of criticism, according to those close to the East hockey program, might be goaltender Andrew Messer, one of several goalies who got a chance in varsity games before junior Jake Maida won the primary job at midseason. Messer transferred to Marshall at midseason. Open-enrollment transfers are allowed for anything other than athletic reasons, and a lot of academic transfers are not done at midseason. MesserÂ’s mother is Deb Messer, a very impressive woman who is manager of KDLH-TV, Channel 3 in Duluth.
Curiously, when the Randolph story broke, it was first reported two days later, on Thursday, April 24, in the first newscast of ratings week by – KDLH-TV, Channel 3. Sports anchor Chris Earl didn’t disclose it, but other sources said Deb Messer informed Earl of the dismissal story, after she had reportedly learned of it from Laurie Knapp. That, of course, raises the question of why an allegedly disgruntled parent of a player who transferred from East at midseason would allegedly be informed of the move, allegedly by the school’s principal.
Conspiracy theorists have to love this case. Just as they could feed on other circumstances, such as:
* Why, when this move is reportedly being made in the best interest of the program, were the East players who gathered to go to KnappÂ’s office, reportedly told that what they wanted was irrelevant?
* Why would a school administration be offering the bribe of a “Mike Randolph Day†celebration for resigning to honor a coach who would otherwise be fired because of accusations that have so far remained undisclosed?
* Who might the principal might have in mind as the next East boys coach? Some sinister observers have said that it would be Jim Knapp, Laurie’s husband. He was hired last year as the new coach of the girls high school hockey team at – guess where? – Duluth East. Moving Jim Knapp to the boys head coaching job seems ridiculous, because he is one of the nicest, most universally well-liked people in the game, and he has been during all the years he was a UMD assistant coach.
Meanwhile, Mike Randolph is devastated. All he asks for are some answers, some accusations that he can respond to. There have been behind-the-scenes grumbling about the teamÂ’s annual Christmas wreath sale, but no specific accusations have emerged about a plan that has raised well over $10,000 a year to defray hockey expenses. He has heard that there are parents of players heÂ’s cut, and negativity from boosters of rival schools who have risen to prominence.
All the work, all the hassles, and for a $3,900 annual coaching salary that equates to mere pennies per hour – none of that matters. Mike Randolph would love to have his job back. Businessmen estimated at “hundreds†have been calling school board members and media outlets on Randolph’s behalf. And a rapidly-expanding group of Duluth-area businessmen, parents and hockey boosters already started meeting to plot strategy in hopes of finding a way to restore Randolph’s position.
ItÂ’s a lot like one of those weird television quiz shows: Reinstating Randolph is the only logical and rational answer, but so far nobody has been able to guess the question.
New E-Class lifts Mercedes to new level of high-tech sedan
When the most-expensive Mercedes S-Class is renovated, it commands attention as a truly elite upper-class sedan. When the least-expensive Mercedes C-Class is redone, it, too, captures the spotlight for providing luxury and performance at a comparative bargain price. Those two cars, plus all the Mercedes roadsters, coupes and sport-utility vehicles remain unchanged for 2003, which leaves the 2003 stage to the E-Class – the middle size sedan in the Mercedes stable.
Sure enough, the new E-Class cars are so impressive that it makes you wonder why anybody would want anything more from a sedan.
I had the chance to road-test both the E320 and the E500 sedans, and they both break new ground as well as covering it. The E320 meets every sedan-driving obligation, with a 3.2-liter V6, which puts out 221 horsepower and 232 foot-pounds of torque. It is quick, agile and runs through its impressive paces via a five-speed automatic transmission that adapts to your driving input.
Performance was swift and smooth, and it seems a bargain at $46,950 for those looking for the prestige of a luxury car with real-world function. The test car had a cell phone and a package that included Bi-Xenon headlights, a headlight washer system, a cellphone, four-zone climate control, Airmatic dual-control suspension, and Distronic cruise control.
Those options ran the E320 sticker up to $56,090. But the 3.2-liter V6 was as efficient as a lot of economy cars, delivering 24.8 miles per gallon in my high-revving test week. Its EPA estimated fuel economy ranges from 19 city to 27 in strictly highway driving. It approaches being the ultimate family sedan, if you didnÂ’t know the E500 existed. Ah, but it does.
The E500 replaces the outgoing E430, supplanting the old 4.3-liter V8 with a 5.0-liter V8. Like the V6, it has three valves per cylinder, in the favored Mercedes configuration that has two intake valves and a large exhaust valve on each cylinder, operated by a chain-driven single overhead camshaft. On the V8, power rises to 302 horsepower, with 339 foot-pounds of torque. That changes the E500 in personality as well as performance, and youÂ’d just love to get one of these out on an autobahn to let it stretch its legs, even though its gas mileage drops to estimates of 16 city and 23 highway.
The cost follows, of course, with the E500 based at $54,850 and the sticker at $61,185, inclding the cell phone, a heated steering wheel and heated front seats, and a 420-watt, 12-speaker Harmon Kardon audio upgrade. There is one more option, a Panorama sunroof, which is glass instead of the standard steel, and opens virtually full-width of the roof, sliding up and over the top of the roof to approximately double the open space of the normal sunroof.
The E500 has a lot of standard features that are options on the E320, such as the four-zone climate control, and the Airmatic suspension.
Mercedes expects to sell over 210,000 vehicles this model year, and the E-Class should account for at least 25 percent of them. And if putting a variety of the most impressive electronic and computerized devices to work to augment the anticipated safe, sound luxury of the new models, the E-Class could go beyond expectations. The devices all deliver real-world benefits, too.
For example:
Airmatic Dual Control air suspension combines the benefits of sporty cornering with comfortable bump-absorption, adjusting damping rates according to how you drive and the road conditions. Two body sensors on the front suspension, a third on the rear, three accelerator sensors on the body, and a steering-angle sensor inform solenoid valves to adjust the shocks in less than five-hundredths of a second. The system automatically chooses from four damping modes: soft compression and rebound, soft rebound and hard compression, soft compression and hard rebound, and ultimate hard rebound and hard compression. If you want to override it, you can lock into three settings, from comfort to sporty.
Electronic Stability Program uses sensors for steering angle, lateral g-forces and other vehicle movements to calculate the carÂ’s intended steering path and compare it to the actual path, and when thereÂ’s a discernable differnace, it applies selective braking on one wheel to straighten it out. It also counters understeer and oversteer.
Electronic Brake System follows the Mercedes invention of antilock brakes by reacting to change brake pressure on each of the four wheels in a split second to assure maximum braking. It also brakes the outside wheel more to take advantage of weight shifting in cornering.
Adaptive transmission reads driving habits. If you like to accelerate hard, or in quick bursts, it will hold upshifts longer. If you climb hills, it will let the revs build without upshifting. If you are coming down a steep hill it downshifts to add engine braking. In winter mode, it starts you up in second gear and upshifts sooner to aid traction in snow.
Ten-way power seats for driver and front passenger can be heated, and cooled, with fans forcing cool air up through perforated leather in the seat cushion. The backrest has air-bolstered side cushions that instantly inflate on one side opposite a sharp turn to add support.
Bi-Xenon gas headlights are bright and precisely aimed, and are self-leveling, keeping the focus out of the eyes of oncoming drivers even when you hit the brakes or accelerate or overload the trunk.
Panoramic sunroof not only opens much larger, but has an optional ventilation system when closed. Three panels contain eight silicon solar cells under the wind-deflector on the leading edge of the glass sunroof. It produces enough energy to power the automatic climate control blower, so when the sun is strong enough to heat the interior, it also is strong enough to enlist the cooling system.
Distronic cruise control uses a radar sensor to set the distance behind the car ahead. It can apply partial braking to slightly slow you down if the car ahead slows, and you can adjust the following interval.
Keyless entry remotes are nothing new, but the E-Class cars take it to a new level. The transmitter inside the key signals several antennas in the car, and the signal is so strong that when you walk up to the car, if the key is in your pocket, you can unlock the door by touching one of the door handles, or the trunk lid. Once in the driver’s seat, touch a button on top of the gearshift and the car will start – with the key still in your pocket.
Front airdam on the E320 has 16 louvers to let in air as needed to channel cooling. A microcomputer measures coolant temperature, air conditioner pressure and road speed and determines whether it should close the louver vents, saving 3 percent of the aerodynamic coefficient of drag.
Windshield wipers are regulated by the intensity of the rain, via a sensor located on the windshield. When itÂ’s cold, and the wipers are at rest, they reside on a ledge that is heated from a duct in the dashboard to prevent them from icing up.
The steering wheel has an optional heating capability, and standard it has two large switches that can be toggled to control 50 different functions, including the audio system. If that seems too complex, you can use the backup voice control system, another option, which can work the cell phone or the audio system.
Still, driving the car doesnÂ’t conjure up thoughts of such elaborate electronic devices. The E320 and the E500 simply go where you aim them, corner with flat precision and stop on a dime, all the while housing the occupants in a safe, structurally sound vehicle that combines comfort and solid feel. My usual criticism about front engine and rear drive is that it can be a problem on ice and snow, but Mercedes continues to expand its 4Matic all-wheel-drive system, and will be offering it on the E-Class by summertime.
Otherwise, with all the neat gadgetry, my only complaint was pretty basic. The clock. A simple analog clock. Everything else was an ergonomic delight, predictable and easy to figure out despite their electronic complexity, but I never did figure out how to reset the analog clock on the instrument cluster. In fact, I zeroed the odometer three times while trying to reset the clock. And, trust me, the “voice activated†controls didn’t work, or maybe the car didn’t like the selection of phrases I uttered while trying to figure it out.
(John Gilbert writes a weekly auto column. He can be reached by e-mail at jgilbert@duluth.com.)
Late blizzard enhances test of tire-siping effectiveness
There is no place better than Duluth, with its steep hillside avenues, to test how tires work in a snowstorm. With only a little bit of planning, I happened to be driving to Duluth in the midst of last weekÂ’s ice storm and blizzard, right while I was in the process of testing the contemporary benefits of having my tires slashed.
I’m not talking vandalism here, but “siping†– the professional process of cutting tiny slits across the tread of a tire to improve its traction on ice and snow. If you’ve ever spun a tire on ice or snow, you know the terror of losing control or being unable to go where you’re going. Anyone who has experienced it would give anything to be trade those anxious moments for the confidence and ability to simply drive where others fear to tread, so to speak.
In a lot of areas, they don’t care about tires that can conquer snow and ice, and they’ve probably never heard of siping, either. But the benefits of the procedure are well-documented in cold-weather cities, whether Chicago, Minneapolis – or Duluth – where numerous tire dealers offer Saf-Tee Siping, usually for around $10 per tire.
Siping, by the way, got its name from John Sipe, who invented the technique back in the 1920s, after he had relieved his own footing for a job on the greasy floors of a slaughterhouse by cutting little slits in the soles of his shoes. When he transferred the concept to tires, his name became the standard for the little slits.
Many new tires come with sipes molded into them at the factory, and when you buy replacement tires, dealers might advise against further siping them, because too many closely spaced sipes can cause chunks of tread to come adrift. Concerns that cutting slits in the tread might cause premature wear have been alleviated by earlier tests, which proved the slits actually ventilated the tread to reduce the heat build-up that is the greatest threat of premature wear.
Tire compound technology also has improved so drastically in recent years that some very good all-season and winter tires are now on the market. Bridgestone has found great success with its Blizzak snow tires, and the newest ones are aimed at adding extended mileage to good foul-weather traction. The Finnish Nokian company makes the “Hakkapelitta,†which has a tread compound that remains flexible in the cold and still does an excellent job year-round, and is my personal favorite.
Because advancements in tire making have been so impressive, there are some cynics who think siping is old-fashioned and maybe ineffective on modern tires. But in this case, the old trick can work even better on new-technology tires. For example, larger blocks of tread are the easy way to make tires stick better on dry pavement, and hard compounds work best for high speed and long wear. But when it gets slippery out there, harder tires donÂ’t stick as well as those with more compliant tread, and larger tread blocks donÂ’t dig in and spit out accumulating snow, so a storm leaves you with free-spinning tires that defy even the most sophisticated traction-control systems on flat surfaces, to say nothing of hills. In fact, the bigger the tread blocks and the harder the compound, the more dramatic is the difference in being siped.
I got the chance to try my own comparison on siped tires, and my personal impressions reflected the findings in a recent test of winter-driving capabilities conducted on MichiganÂ’s Upper Peninsula.
IÂ’ve driven various new cars equipped with Michelin Pilot Sport tires, which are excellent for high-performance driving in dry weather but pretty scary on ice and snow. An independent testing company called Mobility Research Inc., recently ran a set of Michelin Pilot Sports through winter driving tests on its controlled course in Houghton, Mich. The Pilot Sports and Goodyear Eagle LS all-season tires were both tested against the performance of the Uniroyal Tiger Paw, the industry standard for all-season tires.
Test results showed that on medium-packed snow, over three consecutive days of repeated test runs, the unsiped Michelin Pilot Sport recorded only 35 percent of the standard all-season tireÂ’s traction; after being siped, using two different curvatures of the siping, one of the Michelins measured 93 percent of the base tireÂ’s grip and the other achieved 103 percent. With any tire achieving as much as 85 percent of the base tire given an adequate grade for winter driving, the improvement of the high-performance Michelin by siping was impressive indeed.
The Goodyear Eagle LS all-season tire also showed significant improvement. It started out at 101 percent of the base tire in unsiped form, and siping improved the Eagle LS traction to 134 percent of the Uniroyal. Any tire that measures over 110 percent of the base tire qualifies for “severe snow service†designation, and siping pushed the Goodyear well beyond that measurement.
I was able to get my hands on the very set of Michelin Pilot Sports that were tested in Houghton, and had them shipped to Foreign Affairs, a service shop and Nokian dealer at 722 East 9th Street in Duluth, where they mounted them on my own Honda Prelude for some real-world impressions. A week later, I felt like a storm-chaser when I hit Duluth just after the ice-storm, and a follow-up foot of snow, had arrived.
Having already driven, and written about, the problems of driving a rear-wheel-drive car with those Pilot Sport tires on ice, it was the opportunity to try them on our front-wheel-drive car, after they had been siped. First, I had to do some serious shoveling to get another new car with high-performance tires out of the way. Then I simply drove the Prelude through the axle-deep snow out to the highway.
I was looking for slippery circumstances, and I found an excellent variety. On snow-packed roadways the siped Michelin Pilot Sport tires were very good. Not as good as my Nokians, maybe, but as good as most all-season tires. In icy conditions with snow covering the ice, they were still pretty good – surprisingly good, if you’d experienced them before siping.
Even siping met its match when I located a stretch of Hwy. 61 just up the North Shore from Duluth where the pavement was coated with glare ice, after the 40-mile-per-hour wind blowing off Lake Superior had kept the ice free of snow. On that surface, even the siped Michelins were eager to spin, no question, although the front-wheel-drive made the spinning much more predictable than my previous experience with unsiped Pilot Sports. So I could manage a reasonably straight attitude without the panic.
It’s understandable why most tire technology ignores snow-belt requirements and aims at the more attractive – and commercially successful – market segment looking for long wear or high-performance. The same is true for new cars, which often come with the longest-wearing and best-handling tires. With siping as an alternative, you can make those slithery new-car tires work to all-season standards. Or, you can compromise to fit all-out high-performance tires on your car to improve dry-weather handling, knowing you can inexpensively sipe them to get foul-weather traction as good or better than all-season tires.
Sometimes it takes the oldest of tricks to bring the best out of new technology.
Family-friendly Hummer H2 makes an attention-getting SUV
Pulling up to an intersection on one of DuluthÂ’s steep, downtown hills, I stopped at a red light, as three high school girls walked across the street at the intersection. All three of them smiled, admiringly. One of them yelled, “Nice car!Ââ€
I was driving a Hummer H2, and if ever there was a vehicle that could attract attention, as well as shouts and comments from impressed bystanders, this is it — although calling it a “nice car†is a stretch, no matter how you try to qualify it.
When it comes to the most macho of SUVs, there really is only one. Well, two now.
By far, the king of the SUV hill is the Hummer, that all-terrain vehicle that became popular during the Desert Storm war – the first Desert Storm, back in 1991. Now there is another Desert Storm going on, and there is a new Hummer H2 on the market.
First, the first Hummer, which we might call the H1: These square-bodied, wide-standing, diesel-powered monsters could tear over the river and through the woods, or across a desert, to grandmotherÂ’s house or anywhere else you wanted to go. A company called AM General built the beasts, originally identified as “Humvees” in military set-up.
I drove an original Hummer several years ago, and while it was most difficult to keep the wheels between the lines that designate your highway lane, youÂ’d step on the gas, and after a brief delay, the thing would roar and take off. All that was lacking was a gun emplacement, maybe a .50-caliber machine gun, and you could have gone off to war yourself.
In the decade that passed between our decisions to send the military over to help Middle Eastern countries decide what to do with their governments, if not their oil, sport-utility vehicles have pretty much taken over the marketplace for automotive vehicles in the United States. For a while, they got bigger and bolder and more powerful, then they went the other way, getting lighter and more agile and more efficient, and now they seem to be conquering the middle of the road, trying to meet every niche.
About four years ago, General Motors bought out the Hummer name from AM General, and they started conspiring. GM apparently decided that its supply of Suburbans, Tahoes, Yukons, TrailBlazers, Denalis, Escalades, Azteks, Rendezvouses (Rendezvouses?) and Raniers, are not sufficient, so it has gone macho on us again. This time, in collaboration with AM General, General Motors is sending engines and drivetrains from vehicles like the Suburban/Tahoe full-size SUVs, and AM General inserts them between the square, Hummer-like body on top and the rugged undercarriage below.
The result is a vehicle that looks the same as that all-terrain military monster, but actually is quite manageable in all highway situations, or, at least those highway situations that any large SUVs can handle.
The H2 has a three-piece ladder frame, which holds its body up high – ’way up high. You can hop into the driver or passenger seats, but it’s easier if you’re pretty agile. It requires a leap, and the handgrips that are mounted vertically on the pillars front and middle would be more helpful if they were horizontal on the upper door sill. But the handgrips and a light hop get you up and inside.
Once inside, you can forget the heavy-metal gridwork that covers the chrome grille and the headlights, and the taillights too, for that matter. And you might forget the square body and the macho, military look. Because inside, the interior features are comfortable, with leather bucket seats for five, and a foldable jump seat in the rear for a sixth. Instruments and controls are all decidedly user-friendly, from the thick, L-shaped floor-mounted shift lever to the AM-FM-6-CD Bose audio system, to the steering wheel, which is comfortably thick and also contains eight different remote controls at assorted locations.
The 6-liter V8 is that done and redone GM piece, still with pushrods instead of overhead camshafts, but also with 316 horsepower and 360 foot-pounds of torque. It is a thirsty combination, and pulling all that heft around drops your fuel economy to 10 miles per gallon. I got 9.8 on one tankful. But the H2 goes, powerfully and swiftly, pretty much wherever you want it to go.
Pull up to a four-lane highway, where you’re always surprised and amazed that approaching traffic hugs the outside lane so that you can’t pull onto the highway, and you suddenly find that people are pulling over to the inside lane – way over, to give you all the room you might need. Or want.
The original Hummer H1 has a 6.5-liter turbodiesel, with only 195 horsepower, but with 430 foot-pounds of torque. That one is brutish and outrageously appointed for highway use, and it costs anywhere from $106,000 to $120,000. The H2 is like the citified cousin of the H1, with the great seats, white-backed gauges and an aluminum roof-rack, and it costs exactly half of that. The sticker on the test vehicle was $52,870, with a starting base price of just under $49,000.
For the base price, you get the heavy-duty goods. That includes 8,600-pound gross vehicle weight rating, 315/70 by 17-inch wheels mounted with BF Goodrich All-Terrain TA tires, which have a gauge to let you know if they are deflating enough to be reinflated — a task that can be done with a little spigot located just inside the rear hatch. Dual front airbags are there, although you wonder what a little car might look like if you ran into, or over, one. Four-wheel disc brakes, OnStar communication system, 8-way power seats up front with heated seats front and rear, a big power sunroof, dual climate-control settings, rear audio controls, map pockets and the 9-speaker audio system again make you forget about the triple-sealed doors, the front winch, the Class III trailer hitch, and the other macho items.
An aluminum roof rack, chrome door handles and mirror caps, the CD-playing audio upgrade and tubular assist steps, which I never pulled out, needing the workout afforded by high-jumping into the cabin. The storage area behind the second-row fold-down seats is interesting, too. There is a full-size spare mounted vertically back there, with a carpet-like cover, but it takes up a whole bunch of room. That leaves room for only one third-row jump seat, but if you needed it, youÂ’d probably like it.
You can lock the 4-wheel drive into high or low ranges, if the full-time system isnÂ’t adequate for your off-road plans. And make no mistake, the H2 is equipped to go off the road, even with its comfortable interior appointments. Its traction-control and height control and switches to compensate for extra loads hauled or trailered work well on the road, or off.
Powerful driving lights are mounted on the front, although I found they werenÂ’t adjusted very well. I tried tipping and turning them, and I could move the powerful beams all over the place, but I never got them close to being useful complements to the standard headlights.
The H2 is not a toy version of the H1, however, and the creature-comforts shouldnÂ’t mislead. It actually is taller, at 77.8 inches, and longer, at 189.8 inches, than the H1. It also is 4 inches taller and 2 inches wider than the Tahoe, although its 189.8-inch overall length is nine inches shorter than the Tahoe.
Funny, I always thought the Tahoe was pretty macho. Until now.
(John Gilbert writes a weekly auto column. He can be reached by e-mail at jgilbert@duluth.com.)
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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