Ahead of the New York Auto Show, the 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban were revealed with an all-new high-performance special edition and big powertrain news.
While the 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban didn’t get a major facelift for 2018, some very cool updates have been given specifically to powertrain but a special edition high-performance package has been added to really help it compete with the upcoming Ford Expedition.
To start with, all-new for 2018 is the Tahoe and Suburban RST. This is a high-performance trim grade very similar to what you might think of in an SS. Standing for Rally Sport Truck, the package includes a comprehensive list of sweet hardware and visual upgrades.
Right up front you get a body color grille that I think really cleans up the busy lines of the front end well. All the trims are blacked out including mirrors, window surrounds, roof rails and the all of the emblems including the bowtie.
Wheels are huge 22-inch alloys with deep spokes, machined faces and black painted pockets that fill the fender arches well. They’re mounted up with super wide Bridgestone P285/45R 22 tires.
Through them you can see the available 16-inch Brembo brakes with red calipers, offering 42% more rotor area to the hardened Duralife rotors. Yes they want to reassure you they won’t be warping a lot.
An available Borla exhaust system that flows 28% better also has black chrome tips and Chevrolet tells us can add about 7-10 horsepower depending on the engine it’s paired with.
And that gets us to performance. While the RST will be available with the 5.3 liter V8, an all-new Performance Package will give both the Tahoe and Suburban the 420 horsepower 6.2 liter V8 and the all-new 10-speed automatic transmission – the first time either have been available in the Tahoe.
The engine with its direct-fuel injection, variable cam timing and cylinder deactivation should offer somewhere close to the 460 pound-feet of torque as it does in the Silverado trucks but wasn’t specified by Chevrolet at this time.
The engine hasn’t previously been available in either the Tahoe or Suburban but with the upgraded 3.5-liter EcoBoost engines in the upcoming 2018 Ford Expedition, the powerplant will help them compete in both performance but towing.
Chevrolet says that based on preliminary estimates, the Tahoe RST Performance Package with the 6.2-liter V8 and 10-speed transmission will give a towing capacity of 8,400 pounds and will help the Tahoe accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 6 seconds. The Suburban RST performance metrics will be along a little closer to launch.
Also included in that package is Magnetic Ride Control suspension with a special performance calibration. The active suspension can reads the road every millisecond, changing the damping rates in as few as 5 milliseconds on the fly.
Pricing and specifications haven’t yet been announced for the 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban with the new powertrains, but will be along closer to their arrival this fall.
