Re: Driving a behemoth up Mt.Washington (NH, USA) - Ford Expedition 8-seater Quote:
Originally Posted by locusjag
Please do detail the Chevy Suburban's performance and mpg in a post. Am curious about this nether world of huge and powerful SUVs. I mean, our very own Tata Safar tops out at a mere 145 BHP as I remember, meanwhile these beasts are in the range of 350 BHP +. My puny compact 5 seater SUV has 178Bhp! Your Suburban with a V8 sounds imposing alright.
|
When I turned the Suburban in to the rental car company at the end of the trip, it had covered some 950 miles total for the round trip. Mileage on the trip computer said 22.6 mpg.
Performance was more than adequate, although there wasn't any hilly terrain or tight corners / curvy roads to challenge the vehicle.
Likes
1) Gas mileage for a vehicle of this size.
We were earlier considering doing the trip in 2 smaller cars, given our passenger and luggage load. In hindsight, renting the Suburban was a great decision. To do the trip with 2 cars consuming the same amount of fuel as the Suburban, would have meant both cars getting 45.2 mpg ! Very few vehicles could have achieved that ... and certainly not the 2 smaller vehicles we were considering using. It amazes me that a 5.3 litre gasoline V8 with 355 bhp mated to a 6 speed AT with 4x4, and pushing around a ~3 ton vehicle + load can give such good gas mileage. 2) Comfortable seating for 6 (and more), with ample luggage room behind the 3rd row.
In addition to the space offered by the seats, all three rows could be independently controlled for HVAC temperature. Also, FM radio performance was enhanced by the BOSE music system the vehicle came equipped with. Apart from the occasional boredom related "are we there yet" from the kids in the 3rd row, there weren't any comfort related complaints from them ... which is saying something on the two 6 hour road trips they endured. 3) Reverse camera, with guiding lines that curved when the steering wheel was turned, showing the path the vehicle would take when reversed.
I wasn't intimidated in the least bit when driving the Suburban, even in the tightest of parking spots, given the electronic parking aides. Dislikes
1) Ride
Air pressure in the tires was 39psi when cold, according to the TPMS. Don't know if that is the correct pressure. However, the ride over expansion joints on bridges as well as on concrete roads, could be felt as a relatively sharp thud through the suspension, in comparison to the otherwise cushy suspension behaviour. This Suburban was a LT variant and was not equipped with the air suspension of the LTZ. 2) Absence of "creep" in the transmission
I'm not sure if this is a dislike, as much as it is an observation. Normal ATs would move forward in D (or R), without any accelerator pedal input. This Suburban would not - not when unloaded nor loaded, neither forward nor reverse on a flat road or an incline. Given the kind of hullabaloo by fellow t-bhpians on the GenX Nano AMT thread on the presence / absence of "creep" in that vehicle, I think this is a non-issue.
Cheers,
FourWheelDrift |