{"id":14645,"date":"2014-04-10T12:46:13","date_gmt":"2014-04-10T16:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=14645"},"modified":"2014-04-10T12:46:13","modified_gmt":"2014-04-10T16:46:13","slug":"2015-chevy-tahoe-ltz-nimble-ocean-liner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2014\/04\/2015-chevy-tahoe-ltz-nimble-ocean-liner","title":{"rendered":"2015 Chevy Tahoe LTZ: Nimble ocean liner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2015<\/p>\n

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2015 Chevrolet Tahoe (John Roe)<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n
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When we were grade-school gearheads, my friend Tommy Miller and I spent summer afternoons drawing the most versatile, most outrageous vehicles ever.<\/p>\n

I would pen a V-12-powered F1 car equipped with dish radar, monster-truck wheels, twin-heat seeking missiles and ocean-skimming water skis (mounted on the side). Tommy would counter with a 427-cubic-inch stock car bristling with a hot tub, tri-wing, tank treads and a rear-mounted, magnaflux laser gun turret to deter aliens.<\/p>\n

Neither of us, however, could have imagined the 2015 Chevy Tahoe LTZ.<\/p>\n

This pickup-based, 5,700-pound family-sized assault vehicle has it all: Four-wheel-drive. A 355-horsepower, 5.3-liter V-8 engine. Magnetorheological shocks. Six USBs. Rain-sensing wipers. Auto fold-flat seats. Adaptive cruise control. Blind-spot monitoring system. Eight-inch nav screen. Front spoiler.\u00a0Towing capability of 8,400 pounds<\/a>. An automatic rear liftgate.<\/p>\n

In 2013, the Tahoe and its bigger brother Suburban captured more than 50 percent of the large SUV market (the Tahoe alone more than doubled the sales of the Ford Expedition). The Chevy twins are part of a GM stable that dominates the large truck market. Built on GM\u2019s proven, body-on-frame pickup architecture, they are only getting better.<\/p>\n

As night follows day, new ute land yachts are launching this spring just a year after champagne bottles broke over the bow of the redesigned Chevy and GMC pickups.<\/p>\n

The LTZ is the Tahoe nameplate\u2019s flagship. The whole enchilada. The showcase for everything Chevy is capable of putting in a truck. Its power and size make it wildly versatile.<\/p>\n

Has GM thought about selling it as commercial living space? The LTZ\u2019s interior is bigger than most Manhattan apartments. Its leather seats and climate control amenities are more comfortable than most living rooms.<\/p>\n

Approach the front door \u2014 er, driver door \u2014 and the LTZ unlocks, sensing the key in your pocket. Open the latch and an automatic step swings out to ease entry. Step out of the vehicle at night and the door-mounted mirrors instantly fill the ground below with perimeter lighting to aid your step.<\/p>\n

Can your house do that?<\/p>\n

Gorgeous interior<\/h3>\n

Plush is the new language of truck interiors and the LTZ is no exception.<\/p>\n

Once inside, acres of gorgeous upholstery accented with wood and chrome stretch to the horizon. Front and second row heated bucket seats beckon. The transmission selector is located \u2014 pickup-like \u2014 on the steering column, opening the center console to a variety of useful spaces from cup holders to an arm rest compartment that could hide a file cabinet. It\u2019s a mystery to me why automakers neglect USB ports for youth-targeted compact vehicles. There is no such neglect of the families that fill big utes, the 21st century family wagon. USBs are plentiful in the LTZ\u2019s fore and aft decks.<\/p>\n

My wee wife was intimidated by the Tahoe\u2019s size \u2014 she looked like Tinkerbell at the helm of Captain Hook\u2019s ship \u2014 but she was right at home in the rest of the frigate\u2019s cabin. While most third-row seats are smaller than airline coach class, the Tahoe\u2019s third row is as welcoming as its second.<\/p>\n

How big is the interior of the seven-passenger Tahoe? Its 94.7 cubic feet of cargo space behind the front seats is 50 percent bigger than a Subaru Outback. It\u2019s more than the entire interior space of a Chevy Cruze. My wife was hanging house plants in the rear windows.<\/p>\n

Need to furnish your house? The rear rows will automatically flatten at the touch of a button. And Chevy\u2019s obsession with interior design carries over to the exterior.<\/p>\n

Where the Silverado\u2019s front grille has all the appeal of a bulldozer, the Tahoe has integrated its signature twin grille into a wrap-around mask that would look stylish on a Marvel superhero. The inspiration comes from the comely Chevy Impala sedan which has put the ole! back into Chevrolet. The wardrobe upgrade continues with a sweeping, sculpted line running the length of the big fella\u2019s flanks. Like pant creases in Shaq\u2019s tuxedo, it brings elegance to heft.<\/p>\n

Price tops out at $71K<\/h3>\n

Much of the LTZ\u2019s exterior detail, however, is the result of obsessive aerodynamics testing to meet Washington\u2019s 55 mpg-by-2025 fuel economy requirements. This Tahoe spent more time in the wind tunnel than George Hamilton has spent in the tanning booth. The Tahoe sports a .36 drag coefficient which \u2014 together with the direct-injection EcoTec3 engine\u2019s active fuel management system (which makes the V-8 a V-4 at cruising speed) \u2014 gains the big ute 10 percent better fuel economy.<\/p>\n

That savings comes at a substantial cost, however. The hi-tech 2015 LTZ tops out at $71,375, well above the outgoing model\u2019s 59 grand sticker. Is the LTZ worth the price of a convertible C7 Vette? Well, the Vette seats only two …<\/p>\n

Like the rear edges of a Boeing 747, the Tahoe\u2019s hindquarters are a study in how to reduce turbulence and increase fuel efficiency. And what the heck\u2019s a Vette-like air dam doing on the front of a four-wheel-drive truck? Another nod to fuel-efficiency, natch.<\/p>\n

But given the Tahoe\u2019s surprisingly nimble handling, I like to think the spoiler provides a little down force as well.<\/p>\n

As big as this truck looks, it feels much smaller on the road thanks to some impressive engineering under the skin. The Tahoe\u2019s athleticism defies the ocean liner stereotype.<\/p>\n

Where pickups ride like bucking broncos on rear leaf springs, the Tahoe gets a multi-link suspension with coil springs and shocks. And not just any shocks \u2014 but the same magnetic system that undergirds the ferocious Stingray. Controlled by a CPU, twin electromagnetic coils at the end of each shock piston can change the viscosity of the magnetorheological fluid within. When the LTZ leans hard, the system instantly stiffens the suspension.<\/p>\n

This ain\u2019t your grandpappy\u2019s truck.<\/p>\n

Like a kid with a new toy, I found myself rotating the three-way track select to 4WD, scanning the horizon for Michigan\u2019s finest, then throwing the Tahoe into corners \u2014 spurring its 355 horses on exit. The big ute loved it. Try that with an ocean liner.<\/p>\n

So load in the high school football team, plug \u2019em into their favorite pregame soundtrack, then stomp the 5.3 liter V-8. What could beat this Swiss Army knife of a vehicle? Stay tuned for the outrageous 6.2-liter 2015 Caddy Escalade that I will review next week.<\/p>\n

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2015 Chevy Tahoe<\/h3>\n

Vehicle type:<\/b>\u00a0Front-engine, four-wheel-drive, seven-passenger sport utility vehicle
\nPrice:<\/b>\u00a0$45,890 base (LTZ trim: $71,375 as tested)
\nPower plant:<\/b>\u00a05.3-liter, direct-injection V-8 engine
\nPower:<\/b>\u00a0355 horsepower, 383 pound-feet of torque
\nTransmission:<\/b>\u00a0Six-speed automatic
\nPerformance:<\/b>\u00a00-60 mph: 6.9-7.1 seconds (Car & Driver est.); towing capacity: 8,400 lbs.
\nWeight:<\/b>\u00a05,683 pounds
\nFuel economy:<\/b>\u00a0EPA 16 mpg city\/22 mpg highway\/18 mpg combined
\nReport card
\n<\/b>
\nHighs:<\/b>\u00a0Comfortably seats your entire offensive line; sure-footed handling
\nLows:<\/b>\u00a0Beware distracted drivers wheeling three tons of rolling metal; 70 grand for a Chevy truck?
\nOverall:<\/b>\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2015 Chevrolet Tahoe (John Roe) When we were grade-school gearheads, my friend Tommy Miller and I spent summer afternoons drawing the most versatile, most outrageous vehicles ever. I would pen a V-12-powered F1 car equipped with dish radar, monster-truck wheels, twin-heat seeking missiles and ocean-skimming water skis (mounted on the side). Tommy would counter with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14645"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14646,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14645\/revisions\/14646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}