Chevrolet Tahoe And Suburban: What's the Difference?
General Motors is increasingly relying on SUVs to attract buyers, especially with more profitable full-size models. This explains why their Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade quartet have all gotten a facelift at the same time for model year 2021.
It’s possible to find them in used car dealers’ inventories, but you’re more likely to get your hands on a previous generation model there. That’s the one we’ll use to answer this existential question: what’s the difference between the Tahoe and the Suburban?
Two Formats
The Chevrolet Suburban relates to the Tahoe the same way that the GMC Yukon XL relates to the Yukon, and the Escalade ESV to the Escalade, which can be summarized in a longer version. The width and height of these vehicles are the same, but the wheelbase has been stretched by about a foot and the total length has been increased by almost 20 inches.
So, there’s a good difference in terms of space for the rear seats and tcargo area. The Tahoe’s can handle 433 litres of cargo or up to 2,682 litres by lowering the second and third row seats. In the Suburban, we’re talking about 1,113 and 3,446 litres, respectively, which is almost enough to fit an entire peewee hockey team’s gear!
The rest of the cabin is essentially the same regarding the layout and seat comfort.
V8s Under the Hood
Chevrolet’s two large SUVs are both powered by a V8 engine with a respective 5.3 and 6.2-litre displacement. As the Tahoe is lighter by approximately 375 pounds, its fuel consumption is lower. However, the gas mileage gap between the all-wheel drive versions is only 0.6-0.7 L/100 km, and it’s practically non-existent for the two-wheel drive models.
Finally, the Tahoe boasts a slightly superior towing capacity, with 8,500 pounds, against 8,300 for the Suburban.
Now it’s up to you to decide if you need more space or more towing capacity!