Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
I drive a hell of a lot of cars. It's the nature of the beast when it comes to this job. This year alone, I've driven 46 different vehicles, and they've come with a wide range of pricetags. At the low end, you've got a $16,900 mint 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser I drove courtesy of Vantage Auto in New Jersey, and on the other end of the spectrum, I spent a long weekend with the $450,549 Lamborghini Temerario. Vehicle prices are shockingly varied, but as it turns out, one very specific price carries some incredibly strange and distinct vehicles within it.
Over the past couple of months, I've driven three cars that cost $108,000 and change, and the three of them couldn't be more different: the GMC Hummer EV SUV 3X, the BMW M2 CS, and the Infiniti QX80 Sport. There's no other world in which these three cars would ever be compared, yet when it comes to price, they couldn't be closer. Between the top end and low end, just $115 separates them. I'm fascinated.
Full disclosure: GMC, BMW and Infiniti all lent me these vehicles fully juiced up to do with as I pleased for a week.
Weird world
Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
Imagine the type of person who would cross-shop these three vehicles. I mean, that person surely doesn't actually exist, but the American consumer is profoundly strange, so maybe they do. They could choose among a 10,000-pound electric SUV that does 0-to-60 in under 3.4 seconds, a super-hardcore two-door sports car with bucket seats that pulverize your balls, or a massive six-seat luxury SUV with a killer stereo and enough room to raise a family. It's really a blue pill, red pill, wildcard pill scenario. There's nothing that links these three vehicles together other than the fact they cost almost exactly the same price — and, I guess, that all of my test cars were some shade of grayscale.
Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
Of course, these aren't base prices. All of them were fitted with options, packages and trims that brought them to the $108,000-ish mark, which makes the coincidence even more fascinating. Hell, what really floored me is the fact that the M2 CS and Hummer EV were within $5 of each other's MSRP at $108,270 and $108,275, respectively. That's nutty. The QX80 S was a slightly cheaper $108,160.
Even their propulsion systems are very different. Sure, the M2 and QX80 have turbocharged six-cylinder motors, but the M2 has an inline-six with a single turbocharger, while the Infiniti has a twin turbo V6. The GMC is the most out of left field with its tri-motor EV setup. It's also by far the most powerful with its 830 horsepower and 1,200 pound-feet of torque, versus 523 hp and 479 lb-ft in the M2, and 450 hp and 516 lb-ft in the QX80.
How to choose
Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik
As I mentioned, no one in the history of the world would ever cross-shop these vehicles. These serve such different purposes, but I need you to hear me out for a second — maybe they don't. I can't make a case that all three can be cross-shopped, but you can certainly group them into two different sections, with the Hummer EV fitting into both: fun and silly cars, or big SUVs.
If you're looking for a large, comfy SUV, there is a world in which you might cross-shop the Hummer EV SUV and QX80 Sport. It's a strange world, but I suppose it does sort of exist. On the other hand, if you're looking for a frivolous car that'll make you smile, it's hard to argue that the M2 CS and Hummer EV SUV aren't both silly and fun. At the end of the day, though, there's really only one choice to make when picking from this trio: it's the M2 CS. You know it. I know it. We all know it. Those other vehicles may be solid, but they can't do what the M2 does. Your balls may forgive you, but your heart will not.