Last year, mobile electronics-maker Rockford Fosgate unleashed its H2 upon the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Hummer's Rockford Fosgate sound system growled at passersby like one of those cybernetic wolves that has prowled the company's ads for years, and thumps with the ominous authority of T-Rex from Jurassic Park. The project was built by Rockford's Jason Digos, Kyle Witherspoon, Mike Eckley, and John Mauk of Rockford Technical Training Institute, the company's dispenser of product training and expertise for the industry. The team's goal was to build the loudest demo vehicle that has ever been heard at CES. We can't confirm they accomplished that, but after 4,200 hours of work that team-leader Jason says felt more like the same number of years, they did hit a high mark: 163.5dB. That's 23.5dB louder than the sound of a jet engine, and it's 16.5dB short of killing of hearing tissue. Ouch.
Rockford's Hummer leaves a big audio and visual footprint with its A/V and auto accessory upgrades. Beneath the 4-inch Rancho suspension lift roll Raceline 18-inch wheels romping inside Nitto 325/60R18 Terra Grapplers. Those SMA lights aren't the only accessories leading this Hummer down the right path. Raytheon's Nightdriver system uses a front-mounted, infrared camera to see in the dark, conveying that image to a windshield display.