2021 Chevy Tahoe, Suburban vs. 2020 Ford Expedition: How they compare on paper

Joel Stocksdale
Updated

The 2021 Chevy Tahoe and Chevy Suburban mark the first major redesign of the full-size, body-on-frame SUVs in about half a decade. They boast completely fresh styling inside and out, an all-new suspension system and engines borrowed from the Chevy Silverado pickup truck line. And with this new SUV introduction, we figured we should see how its specifications stack up to its closest rival, the 2020 Ford Expedition line.

We've brought together as much information as is available about both the Tahoe and Suburban, and lined those SUVs up with the Expedition and the longer Expedition Max. Some information still has not been unveiled, such as fuel economy and towing capacity, that will have to be filled in later. But we'll compare what we can, starting with the chart below, and additional analysis after that.

Powertrain and chassis

Chevy and Ford take very different approaches to powertrain offerings. Chevy opts for a full-size pickup truck array of multiple engines, whereas Ford has just one choice. Both manufacturers do offer just one transmission option, though, a 10-speed automatic. As for the engines, the Ford's sole offering is impressive for its whopping 470 pound-feet of torque, which out-twists every Chevy engine, even the optional 6.2-liter V8 and 3.0-liter diesel I6. Its 375 horsepower is also second only to the Chevy 6.2-liter engine's 420 horses.

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Fuel economy hasn't been announced for the Tahoe and Suburban yet. Looking at fuel economy of the Silverado that shares its engines, the V8s will probably come close, or possibly underperform, compared to the Expedition's V6. But the diesel Tahoe and Suburban should deliver significantly better fuel economy than the Ford, as the least economical Suburban with the engine returns 25 mpg in combined driving. Both SUVs are available with rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.

Also worth noting is that both SUVs now use independent rear suspension, rather than a live axle. In our time with the Expedition models, this has substantially improved ride and handling, and helps with interior space. Chevy is claiming the same with Tahoe and Suburban, and we expect that will prove itself out when we get a chance to drive them. Both are still body-on-frame, though. The Fords utilizes an aluminum body, while the Chevys still have steel bodies.

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Interior and exterior dimensions

From the outside, the Tahoe and the regular Expedition are very close in size. The Tahoe is a shy inch longer overall, but its wheelbase is about an inch and a half shorter. The Tahoe is about an inch wider, but about half an inch shorter in height. The Suburban is unquestionably larger than the Expedition Max, though. It's nearly four inches longer overall, and it has a wheelbase about 2½ inches longer than the Ford. The width and height differences are the same as with the Tahoe and regular Expedition.

On the inside, the specifications become slightly complicated. The Expeditions are unquestionably the best overall for headroom, except for the third row. When it comes to legroom, the Expeditions again lead for second and third row, and are slightly behind in the front row. This is when measured with Ford's "maximum" legroom numbers, which likely means seats are moved to provide optimum leg room. When using the non-maximum numbers, the Tahoe and Suburban move slightly ahead in second-row legroom, and the Suburban ends up having slightly more third-row legroom. What is undisputed is the cargo capacity superiority of the Chevy SUVs. Even using Ford's "maximum" numbers, the Chevys have more space regardless of which rows of seats are up or down.

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Pricing

Only the Ford Expedition models have pricing at the moment. The base Expedition XLT starts at $54,205, and the Expedition XLT Max starts at $57,230. The Tahoe and Suburban will probably have pricing closer to their on-sale date, and we're expecting them to start similar to the current models. The current Tahoe starts at just over $50,000 and the Suburban starts just over $53,000. So even if the new generation models have a higher starting price, there's still room to come in under the Fords.

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