This week GM introduced the all-new and 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban, raising the stakes in the full-size SUV class with more space, more power options, and more features than Ford’s new Expedition.
Both the 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban come on an all-new chassis platform featuring a longer wheelbase and length for both models. Tahoe gets the most stretch with 4.9-inches of increased wheelbase and a 6.7-inch bump in overall length. Suburban gets 4 inches extra wheelbase but only a hair more than an inch in length.
This gives both SUVs a longer sleeker look with the new styling language introduced with the all-new Silverado pickups last year, though here it’s far more refined and streamlined – slick if you will. LED headlights and taillights are standard on all, wheel sizes range from 18-inch to 22.
Six trim grades include the familiar LS and LT as before. Also available is the sporting RST, off-road oriented Z71, a luxury Premier and the ultra-luxury High Country previously only available in the Silverado.
All the interiors are sleeker and more refined than before, certainly more so than in the Silverado pickups. Less chunky design, more flowing shapes with higher quality materials all around. Tech features are updated and added with a list of stuff way to long to get into here. Suffice it to say, it’s everything you could get anywhere else.
The big news is that all that extra added length really adds to the second and third row livability on both Tahoe and Suburban. Available are power folding third row and second row seats that give a folded load floor is lower, flatter and wider now too. In Suburban, you have the largest cargo capacity of any SUV now, period.
Under all of this fresh sheet metal and cabin is an all-new chassis featuring a fully independent rear suspension with a five link design that will update the handling feel and dynamics, improving over the old solid axle. Long robust lower arms provide the stability and strength expected with a tow vehicle.
A new fully automatic load leveling four corner air suspension and adjustable magnetic ride control is available on higher trims, enabling a fully adjustable ride-height including a 1-inch lift for off-road use as well as a drop for curbside loading.
When it comes to power, Chevrolet will offer three distinct engines unlike Ford who sticks you with one turbo V6. Here you have hugely revised 5.3 and 6.2 liter V8’s with all the latest adjusto-techno stuff on them in addition to auto-start-stop systems. These have 355 and 420 horsepower respectively and come mated to a 10-speed automatic.
The big new of course is that the new 3.0 liter inline-six Durmax diesel from the Silverado will also be available, an engine Chevrolet says will offer class leading fuel efficiency and towing capability. With 277 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque through its 10-speed automatic transmission, it should be pretty sweet.
The new 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban will continue to be built at GM’s Arlington, Texas plant which has gotten a huge upgrade to building the new models including also the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade we should also see soon. The Chevrolet variants will go on sale sprint of 2020.
