Suburban in the Suburbs

As part of the invitation that Chevrolet extended my family for the Festival of Lights, they also included the loan of a 2013 Suburban for the week.  If you are anything like me, you hear the words "Suburban" and think "small bus".  I'll admit that I was scared of its size.  My regular vehicle is a large SUV - but not that large.  I even went so far as to see if there was something smaller that I could drive!  But when there wasn't I knew that it must be fate and decided to accept the challenge.

Just to give you a little background on the Chevrolet Suburban, it was the original SUV; first introduced in 1935.  Incredible!  The 2013 that I was given has three rows and can seat up to nine passengers.  It also has 45.8 cubic feet of cargo room behind the third row.  In mom speak, you can fit an entire shopping cart FULL of bags from Target and still have room to stop at Jewel and grab at least five more bags worth of stuff!

This Suburban is part of the LTZ series, which means it's full of the high end goodies like the entertainment package (2 screens), power sunroof, navigation package, XM Radio, rear vision camera system, power everything, leather seats and details, and OnStar.

The first thing I noticed when I sat in the drivers seat is that it didn't FEEL that large.  Don't get me wrong - it's a long vehicle.  According to my unofficial measuring (me and a tape measure in my driveway), it's almost 19 feet long - 2 feet longer than my current SUV.  Here's a view from the driver's seat back:

Chevy realizes that the Suburban has a long back end, and they added this really cool feature that I love!  It's called "Side Blind Zone Alert"  and it helps prevent lane change accidents in the form of a small orange icon that appears on both of the side mirrors.  Here's a picture from the GM website:

Photo credit:  GM website

According to GM, the system uses alternating radar beams that sweep outward from the vehicle, covering a zone of about one lane wide on both sides.  It also extends back approximately 10 feet from the rear of the vehicle for an added layer of protection.  If the alert system detects a vehicle in the next lane, it illuminates the icon on the corresponding mirror letting me know that there is a vehicle present.  If the turn signal engages in the direction of the detected vehicle, the icon will flash.  Otherwise, it just remains illuminated until the other vehicle has left the blind zone.   It's brilliant, and it  really made me comfortable driving of such a large vehicle!

Another cool thing about the Suburban is that it's an E85 Flexible Fuel Vehicle.  E85 Fuel is domestically produced and helps reduce greenhouse gas and smog-forming emissions AND our dependence on petroleum.  FlexFuel vehicle owners can opt to go to E85 stations instead of regular gas stations (which carry 87, 89 and 93 octane gasoline), and the price per gallon is usually slightly cheaper.  I found one list online that showed 141 stations in Illinois alone - and 1 in my town.  Not a pro or a con - just something to keep in mind if you're interested in the FlexFuel concept.

My kids loved having XM Radio so we could listen to the Disney station.  I really love the OnStar phone calling feature!  It's great to get some work done while I am in the car without having to take my hands off the wheel and fumble around with the phone.  There is also a BlueTooth option that would allow me to sync my phone with the car, but I thought that was a bit much for just having the vehicle for a week.  However, it would definitely be something I would use if this was my everyday vehicle.  I also love how QUIET it is.  Regardless of in town or on the highway driving, there is not a lot of wind or traffic noise from outside.  Even at *ahem* the higher speeds on the tollway.

There were a few things I would change about the Suburban, and admittedly they are very minor.  The 2nd row captains chairs are not great for car seats.  While they fit just fine, and the Suburban has the Latch system, there is no console in the middle for snacks, books, cupholders, etc. that is reachable for a child in each seat (there is a 60/40 bench seat option that might solve this problem).  There are 2 small cupholders on the bottom back of the front seat console, but those are unreachable by the driver to give a juice cup to a child in a car seat.  As with my review of the Acadia Denali that I drove this summer, the cupholders don't fit the new trend in water bottles (like a Camelbak), thus leaving me with nowhere to put beverages for myself and the kids.  Also, I am a long legged driver.  In order to accommodate my child in a car seat behind me, I had to move the drivers seat pretty far forward so that she had room not only to get in to her seat, but for her legs once she was in it.  If the second row moves back and forth, I was unable to find a button or lever for it.  So it left me driving a little closer to the steering wheel and the pedals than I like, but not horrible.

Now on to the million dollar question that I have been asked on Facebook and Twitter about:  gas mileage.  I drove my usual routine this week, with an extra trip to Oak Brook for a conference and then to Chicago for the Festival on Saturday.  In a seven day span, I put 251.5 miles on the Suburban and it still had over a quarter of a tank gas left when they picked it up (it was given to me full).  The mileage on the marketing literature indicates 15 city and 21 highway (it has a 31.5 gallon tank).  My 2005 shall-remain-nameless-SUV gets about 14 mpg regardless of where I drive it.  Without knowing how many gallons of gas remained, I can't calculate the exact mileage.  However, I usually get about 250 miles to a tank of gas in my regular vehicle, and I still had plenty of miles left to drive before the Suburban was on empty.

Finally, I wanted to give a shout out to the workers in Arlington, Texas who built this beautiful Suburban.  On the second day, when I opened the door and saw this sticker, my face lit up with pride.  I took a minute to stop and think about all of the people who were responsible for making sure that this vehicle was the best that it could possibly be.  From the White Diamond exterior paint through every last bolt, I felt a sense of pride driving the Suburban because the people who built it were proud enough to say where it came from.  Thank you, Chevy, for a great experience!!

*A special thank you to Connie Burke and Fred Ligouri from General Motors, G. Schmitz and Associates, and Driving the Midwest for coordinating my use of the Suburban.  To find out more about the fabulous programs Driving the Midwest is involved with, please check out their website at www.drivingthemidwest.com.  Once again, I am honored to have been given the opportunity to drive such an AWESOME vehicle!


**Disclosure:  I was given the use of a Chevy Suburban this week as part of an invitation GM extended to my family for the Festival of Lights.  I was not asked to do anything other than enjoy the experience (and leave it with enough fuel so they could get to the closest gas station).  But with a vehicle this fantastic, how could I not write about it?