Sunday Drive: 2021 Chevrolet Suburban Takes Big Even Bigger

I admit from the beginning that the 2021 Chevrolet Suburban isn’t the type of vehicle that typically fits into the Sunday Drive mold. The car that you picture in your mind’s eye for such a drive is a lithe and limber two-seat sports car like the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Porsche 718 Boxster, or Jaguar F-Type. The Suburban certainly isn’t like them. Instead, it’s more like the container they might be shipped in. But that doesn’t mean the Suburban is not a worthy subject of a Sunday Drive, because such an exercise, as I found out, is very instructive about the vehicle.

As you might be aware, the Suburban is the longest continually running model nameplate in automotive history. A Suburban has been in the Chevy lineup for 85 years. And unlike some other nameplates that have been attached to a variety of vehicles through the years, the Suburban is, in essence, the same vehicle it was in 1935.

What I first noticed about the 2021 Chevrolet Suburban when it first appeared on the street outside my home was just how big it is. (Or should I say how BIG it is?) Lest you think I’m one of those guys who drives an Audi A3 or Honda Fit on a regular basis and thus am not ready for a three-row SUV, let me assure you that’s not the case. Our “family car” is a venerable and venerated Chevy Tahoe, a vehicle built to the same scale as the Suburban, yet I wasn’t quite prepared for the fact that the hood of the vehicle I was about to test drive came up nearly to my shoulders. Just getting in, I thought to myself, would be a challenge.

Happily, that was not the case. Our High Country test model offers slide-out steps that allowed my wife and me to enter the cabin with a reasonable degree of ease and decorum. By the way, just in case we weren’t sure we were entering a High Country trim-level version the High Country logo was emblazoned on the vehicle’s flank in letters about a foot tall. Go big or go home.

So off we went on our drive, sadly not to Yosemite, Zion, or Smoky Mountain National Park, but rather to the wilds of east Long Beach and then a leisurely cruise around the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Immediately I settled in behind the wheel, finding a comfortable driving position and was impressed by the high-quality of the upscale interior, filled as it was with soft-touch leather. My wife, who pilots our Tahoe more often than I, marveled at it, too, and also marveled at the as-tested price of the Suburban that was well north of $75,000.

As we got underway, it became immediately obvious what at least part of that dollar-figure purchased. There were more displays in the Suburban than in an arcade. If you want to see pixels, you came to the right place. Included among them were the standard 10-inch infotainment touchscreen (the largest in the segment), the 8-inch digital instrument cluster, and two 12.6-inch rear-seat LCD displays. Then, immediately front of me was a 15-inch (15-INCH!) head-up display that reminded me of one of the message boards at Wrigley Field, except, of course, you could see through it.

My wife got the Apple CarPlay hooked up to the infotainment system with no difficulty thanks in part to its nifty wireless connection ability, and off we went to find the freeway.

In motion, two sensations are immediate and almost contradictory. The first is that the new Suburban is, as I mentioned earlier, BIG. It’s bigger than the previous edition, which itself was big. But at the same time, it is comfortable, quite untrucklike, and very easy to maneuver.

So what do I mean by BIG. Well, here, let me quantify it. The new Suburban is only 1.3-inches longer than the 2020 version but it is 225.7 inches long. That’s about three feet longer than a 2020 Honda Accord. A big change is the lengthier (by 4.1 inches) wheelbase, which translates into better second and third room access and room. Legroom for both the second- and third-row passengers increases measurably, and maximum cargo volume is up from a whopping 121.7 cubic feet to a WHOPPING 144.7 cubic feet.

Doing the sit test, both the second and third rows are much more accommodating than before. Adult passengers in the third row will find that they are in a rear seat, not a torture device, and they are not required to get intimate with their kneecaps.

By the time we accelerated up the approach to the Vincent Thomas bridge exiting Long Beach and entering San Pedro, it was obvious that power was not an issue. The High Country version is fitted a 6.2-liter V-8 engine offering 420 horsepower. It’s backed by a 10-speed automatic transmission with an interesting dash-mounted push-button electronic shifter. Our test vehicle was a four-wheel-drive model, and rear-drive is available as well.

Beyond the Suburban’s basso profound power we were also impressed with its nimble handling and limousine-like ride quality. This came as no surprise since the Chevy engineers did substantial work on the Suburban’s suspension. For the first time, it features an independent rear suspension versus the ancient live-axle system. Our test vehicle also had Magnetic Ride Control and first-in-class Air Ride Adaptive Suspension. The latter offers load-leveling at all four corners of the vehicle, and up to four inches of ride-height adjustment. For better aero, the air suspension automatically lowers the ride height ¾-inch to improve fuel efficiency. As a driver, I was able to lower the suspension two inches to make it easier to get in and out when the vehicle is parked.

As you might expect in a 2021 model that is priced at the exalted level the Suburban is filled with electronic safety aids. Among them are Automatic Emergency Braking, Forward Collision Alert, Front Pedestrian Braking, Rear Park Assist, and Hitch Guidance for trailering. There are many more, but you get the picture.

So what did we learn when our Sunday Drive was over? The number one takeaway is that the 2021 Suburban is more than just the next-generation Suburban. With things like the independent rear suspension and sliding second-row seats, the vehicle has gone beyond where some might have thought it would go and beyond some of its buyers’ expectations. This is an excellent vehicle that has to goods to stave off the recent inroads by the Ford Expedition, and it is the best Suburban in the proud nameplate’s 85 years.