How I spend my last Saturdays of each month

[JTP]

The Gallardo Balboni looks soooo nice!!

All the cars are great except for the HMMWV, probably the most unreliable and poorly designed vehicle I've ever driven.

[Adam]

Lots of seriously nice cars at your meets. Wish I was there.

[kabel]

You must admit, reliable or not, the HMMWV is a piece of history. The green one is privately owned by a local collector and ex-military. The beige one was the vehicle the Marines brought to the meet to pick up the Toys for Tots we collected.

[JTP]

Originally Posted by kabel

You must admit, reliable or not, the HMMWV is a piece of history. The green one is privately owned by a local collector and ex-military. The beige one was the vehicle the Marines brought to the meet to pick up the Toys for Tots we collected.

I didn't mean to minimize your car club or the charity drive you had there. Toys for Tots is a great cause and using iconic cars is a great way to attract prople and donations. All great cars and sounds like a fun time. I wish I could attend.

I agree the HMMWV (Humvee) is a piece of military history just like the GP (Jeep). Most civilians practically worship it as the premiere off road truck and battle hardened combat vehicle. I remember as a kid when the Humvee was introduced to the public I said to myself I will get one someday. Having experienced the true awfulness of it, The very sight of it irritates me, especially when it's on public roads. Living with it on a daily basis, you see all the shortcomings and the need for a better vehicle. The new MRAP is much better, although a bit large.

[stephen wilson]

Just curious, what were the specific problems you had with the Humvee design/reliability? Was your usage in the military, or civilian?
Steve

[GTA_G20]

There was a white supercar in the pictures with the lambo's and ferrari's, what was that I'd never seen that before?

[Matt Fredrikson]

Originally Posted by GTA_G20

There was a white supercar in the pictures with the lambo's and ferrari's, what was that I'd never seen that before?

Almost looks like a Saleen S7 ??

[JTP]

Originally Posted by stephen wilson

Just curious, what were the specific problems you had with the Humvee design/reliability? Was your usage in the military, or civilian?
Steve

I use them in the military. The older models are severely underpowered, too heavy, and will get stuck more often than people realize. The designers never heard of the word "ergonomics" nor "functionality". Visibility is very poor, not just in the blind spot but forward as well. I have a CDL and driven all sorts of trucks but this is the worst. The seats offer little to no adjustment, the military thinking that all soldiers are built exactly the same and when you wear body armor the steering wheel is pretty much in your chest. They tell us we have to wear seatbelts but it is impossible while wearing armor. The radio mounts in such a way that in order to effectively use it you need to be either in the back seat, or if your truck is a two seater you need to crane your neck at an impossible angle to view the panel. Ventilation is awful. The hood is pretty good to sleep on though. These trucks break down all the time, usually at the worst times.

The newer models have a higher power output and alittle better reliablity, but being clad with armor performance is not improved (10-12,000lb empty weight). With the new armor, it is very top heavy, harder to get unstuck, and in the event of a rollover, the doors are nearly impossible to open if the truck is unfortunate to land on its side or at an angle. Armored doors weigh 200-500 lbs each depending on the model. Exiting the vehicle in a hurry is a bit tricky too, with the high sill. And Humvees are also not very good at taking IED blasts. I think alot of the problem is lack of coordination between the military and AM General. Mission requirements are always changing and the manufacturer either can't keep pace or are not allowed to change the basic design so that all trucks have the same design for maintenance issues. The original design did not allow much for changes or addition of extra equipment which the military has always done. It's like Clark Griswold's station wagon. They kept putting extra crap on and they didn't know when to stop.

I'll use whatever the military tells me to use, but I can't see a poor design implemented for thousands of soldiers to use will be very mission effective. The poor design of the HMMWV has been in the news for years and finally they are doing something about it. Atleast we no longer use them in combat operations using them only for training and FOB/Garrison use. We sold many to the Iraqis and we now use MRAPs, which are a vast improvement.

[stephen wilson]

Interesting, I didn't realize they were that bad. I knew they were underpowered and poor against IED's, but not how easily they got stuck and the rest. They had the same problems with the Bradley. Trying to be everything at once, and constantly changing design goals.