In the past, Hummer ownership was kind of like inviting 50 Cent to your house to perform at your child's college graduation party -- complete overkill and massively expensive, but surely a great way to impress the heck out of the neighbors. Now, however, there's the Hummer H3. It's designed to be the "real world" Hummer: less 50 Cent and more your buddy's local alt-rock band.

This isn't to say that the company's engineers stopped their testosterone I.V. drip. The H3's styling still proclaims loudly that it's a card-carrying member of the  Hummer guild, and the truck's got more off-road capability than just about every other midsize SUV when the pavement ends.