Martin
|
Chevrolet Suburban 1500 LT 4WDAs previously posted, I was given a free 'upgrade' from a Chrysler 300 to a Chevrolet Suburban on a recent trip to Florida. It was most definately not what I wanted and I tried to exchange it the following morning, but I ended up stuck with it and its slightly frightening potential fuel consumption!
The first impression is one of size, even by American standards it's a huge car. It is 5.7m long, just over 2m wide and just under 2m tall. Compare that to a Range Rover (4.7m x 1.9m x 1.8m) or even something that looks huge at home such as a Mercedes GL (5.1m x 1.8m x 1.9m).
I kept forgetting to take a picture when it was parked next to something for comparison purposes (it dwarfed a new X5 I parked next to on the first night), but here are a couple that give you some idea. The VW parked in front of it in this picture is based on the Chrysler Voyager.
You can have a Suburban in four trim levels (LS/LT1/LT2/LTZ), 2WD or 4WD and with two engine options, the 1500 models get a 5.3 litre V8 (310hp) engine, the 2500 models a 6.0 litre V8 (352hp) engine. The car I had was an LT1 with 4WD and the 5.3 V8. I was surprised to find out that it had a 6 speed Auto which was rather more modern than I was expecting and much more up to date than the 4 speed I had last year in the Town Car. It also had cylinder de-activation, when you lifted off, the instant consumption display changed from V8 to V4. It really helped with the mpg figure, but didn't happen all that often!!
It had fairly decent spec, including front and rear climate control, cruise control, XM satellite radio, Bluetooth, front fogs, alloys (265/70x17), MF leather wheel, rear audio with 2 headphone jacks etc
So what was it like to drive? Wallowy but comfortable probably sums it up best. It certainly isn't a car you'd want to drive in the UK as it would be all over the place at the first sign of a proper corner. When you arrived at your destination it would be almost impossible to park as well, so it would be pretty much useless over here. In its natural environment it was better, still not a car I would ever (ever, ever) consider unless I wanted to tow something very heavy!! (towing capacity is 3.6 tonnes for the 1500 and 4.3 tonnes for the 2500!). However, it was comfortable over long distances, after 4.5 hours behind the wheel I didn't have any aches or pains and it was very quiet at 70-75 on the motorway.
I'm not 100% sure on the performance, but a bit of time on google suggests it manages to get to 60 in about 8.5 seconds, which doesn't surprise me as it was quite sprightly for it's size, but not for 300+ hp!
The seat height, pimped windows and rear air conditioning (electronic controls for fan and temperature as well as vents in the head lining for both rear rows) meant that it was a pretty good place to be for kids. When they really started to annoy each other on the drive back from Orlando to Miami, then they got a row each!!
All our luggage fitted with ease, even with all 3 rows in place there was room for 3 suitcases, 4 hand luggage bags and a pushchair (all below the window line) with room to spare. To be fair that did all fit in the boot of the 5 series, but only just.
Fuel consumption over the 1350 miles I did (it had 7 miles on the clock when I picked it up) was 16 MPG (US), which coverts to approximately 19 MPG which isn't bad really, but was helped by a lot of motorway driving. It did 18-20 US MPG on the Motorway, but 5-8 mpg off it!! With fuel being around $2.50 a gallon (converts to roughly 42p a litre), it cost about £45 to fill the 155 litre tank which lasted for 450 miles. So at 10p a mile, it's cheaper to run than a 2.0 litre diesel in the UK!
|
PG
|
But I bet your favourite feature was that rather attractive "wood" on the dash?
|
Matt
|
It does look a bit better than the 10-year-old model I saw in a similar colour a couple of weekends back!
|
Martin
|
| PG wrote: | | But I bet your favourite feature was that rather attractive "wood" on the dash? |
That was one of the better parts of the otherwise hard and shiny dashboard, so yes it was 
|
Dr. Hfuhruhurr
|
To be fair, that wood isn't any worse than some of VAG's shinier efforts, and arguably nicer than the trim on the Mondeo. And the dash generally looks a lot better than GM US products a few years ago.
|
Jasper
|
And you get to play at being Jack Bauer!
|
|