Tahoe vs Suburban

Akdiesel

IFS Hater
Aug 23, 2009
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Fairbanks
Anyone on here have any experience with the newer Tahoe's or Suburbans say 2004+ 4wds? I'm leaning more towards the GMT900 bodys in the 2007+ but am open to opinions. I know the 5.3 with displacement on demand is supposedly somewhat fuel efficient relatively speaking and affords a lot of cargo space and on the plus side can be tuned with EFI :woott:
 

DBUSHLB7

Team DMAX
Mar 9, 2012
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Albuquerque, NM
I bought my wife an 09 Z71 edition Tahoe about a year and a half ago and we love it. Just for kicks we towed our boat with it last summer and I couldn't believe how strong it was. Six speed and tap shifter is nice to play with as well. My biggest complaint so far is fuel economy. Best we've gotten out of her on flat terrain and cruise set at 80 is 17 mpg. In town about 13. That's with a fresh oil change and KNN drop in air filter.
 

Akdiesel

IFS Hater
Aug 23, 2009
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Fairbanks
That's what I'm wondering...whatever it is it will be tuned via EFI....looking for something better economically than my dually haha
 

duramax3388

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May 22, 2008
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Zanesville Ohio
Only thing I can add is don't mess with the Exhaust if you want to keep the displacement on demand. Buddy put a dual Exhaust on and every time the dam thing kicked in dod mode it sounded horrible so we got efi live and deleted that mode doesn't get as great as MPG now but it's just a weekend a around town truck so not a huge deal killer.
 

ImpalaMax

New member
Apr 4, 2011
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Safford AZ
Bought my wife a 2011 Tahoe 5.3. We love it. We've had 2 Escalades and fuel economy is way better in the Tahoe. Average 17 on trips with Wife,me, 4 kiddos and luggage.
 

Texas Chevy

Active member
Feb 14, 2011
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Vista, Ca
We have a 2011 Tahoe. Cut the two mufflers off it and threw a flow master on it sounds better till it goes into that mode but it's ok we deal with it. Towing amy 22 ft boat at 55 like your suppose to in California it bounces back and forth between 5th and 6th to much so we speed up. Seating is great sometimes we wish we had a suburban for cargo room but that's what we have the truck for and the flip up rear seats are easy to use. Reason we went Tahoe instead of suburban is parking my wife hates parking my cc/lb but wanted a full size suv compromise is the Tahoe Mileage on trips is about 17-18 depending on speed
 

DBUSHLB7

Team DMAX
Mar 9, 2012
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Albuquerque, NM

SmokeShow

Well-known member
Nov 30, 2006
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Lawrenceburg, KY
The engineering firm I work for keeps tahoes in the rotation for the owners. The GMT900 models reportedly do much better than the 800 on mpg. I really like the 07.5+ tahoes. Just nice vehicles IMO. Engines are exceptional, interiors & ride quality are second to none.

A coworker had an 07.5 Tahoe & traded it for a suburban in same year. I'll hafta ask him about his mpg but I do know it's less than desirable.

Ideal next vehicle for me would be a Tahoe w/ LMM at stock ride height & I could care less about the HD driveline. So nice! B)
 

Ryan T

Active member
Sep 5, 2010
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CA
my G/F just got a 2011 and i like it, its got nice interior and the power is, well, i couldnt drive it everday its kind of a turd ..for a normal person its probably got enough get up and go.. it drives nice on road trips and gets about 16-17 mpgs at 75 mph
 

Akdiesel

IFS Hater
Aug 23, 2009
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Fairbanks
The 6.4 fuel pig of killing me some I got moved and make 1100 less a month now. Wondering if I need 4x4 or if I can get by at big bear with chains
 

A_T_Ver

Member
Jul 31, 2007
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my G/F just got a 2011 and i like it, its got nice interior and the power is, well, i couldnt drive it everday its kind of a turd ..for a normal person its probably got enough get up and go.. it drives nice on road trips and gets about 16-17 mpgs at 75 mph

A turd compared to the truck in your sig. :D
 

KEVINL

Well-known member
Jul 4, 2008
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Phoenix, AZ
I think they are turds they put 3.08 gears in them to get decent mileage

I have a 2500hd 6.0 work truck with 4.10 gears and it is a damn turd I cant imagine what 3.08s would be like

I would have it floored so much it wouldn't get good mileage

I like the SUV's better but until they get a duramax I'm not interested