2009 Hummer H3T Alpha vs 2009 Nissan GTR

A Hummer vs a GT-R ? Who? What ? Why ? How ? Its not exactly what you think.

According to MapQuest, it's a 166-mile drive between Telluride and Lake City, as the pavement takes the long way around all that daunting topography. However, my trusty Colorado recreation map says there's another way: up and over, via seasonal four-by-four trails. As the crow flies, more or less. So if a car averaged about 50 mph and an off-roader averaged about 15 mph, we might have a photo finish on our hands. And maybe, just maybe, we'd find that there's still a place in the U.S.A. where a low-range transfer case and big, knobby tires are more than a sad affectation for highway-bound suburban commuters.

GT-R vs Hummer. One on the windy Colorado two lane roads , 166 miles vs a Hummer over trails. Who is going to win ?

If averaging 50 mph sounds easy, try doing it when you've got 25-mph hairpins, an endless parade of logging trucks, and no passing zones for miles. What's more, the high altitude seems to have afflicted the GT-R with a massive case of turbo lag, such that the Hummer is now actually quicker than the GT-R off the line-at least until the dual turbos whip the thin air into usable boost.

Turbo lag. Journalists don't know what turbo lag is. Most jouralists would call any small displacement motor "laggy". Turbo lag is in the perception of the driver in most cases. In this case, the car is at altitude, and at altitude the air is thinner, cars make less power. Many people argue that turbocharged cars aren't effected by altitude as much as a normally aspirated car, but I have run turbocharged cars in Palmdale and Pomona on back to back weekends, and found the NHRA correction formulas applied.

As we wend our way up to Engineer Pass, my phone rings. It's Jason. Probably calling to forfeit because he's so far behind. I gleefully answer, "Wanna give up?" "No," he answers serenely. "I'm there." No. This cannot be true. He cannot have covered 160-something miles on insane mountain roads this quickly. I ask how fast he went. "Well, I probably averaged seventy," he replies. This scarcely seems credible, given the dastardly roads around Telluride. "Once you're away from Telluride, the road opens up a lot," Jason explains. "I probably passed 150 cars. There were places to pass everywhere."

GT-R wins again. Source: Automobile Magazine