There are long-enduring nameplates in the automotive world...and then there's the Chevrolet Suburban. The brand first slapped the badge on a passenger vehicle back in 1934 — back, arguably, before even the current idea of the American suburb even was born, assuming you peg that to the post-WWII housing boom.
So with nearly nine decades and 12 generations of history to inform (and weigh upon) it, how does this O.G. SUV hold up in a modern market filled with just about every type of sport-ute imaginable? I took it for a spin to find out.
2024 Chevrolet Suburban: What We Think
The Suburban may be big, it may be heavy, it may drink a lot of gasoline — but there's no denying its excellence in doing exactly what it's designed to do: carry a lot of people and a ton of gear through just about any conditions the world will realistically throw at it. If you need one vehicle to handle as wide a variety of tasks as possible, it's hard to beat.
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Few vehicles can match the breadth of the Suburban's capabilities
Will Sabel Courtney
A minivan can comfortably seat seven or eight people; a pickup truck can tow four tons or more; an off-road-oriented SUV can give you low-range four-wheel-drive for plowing up the steep, icy road to the AirBnB in January. But a Suburban-class vehicle can do all three. Hell, even just being able to combine two of those feature sets is enough to create an ideal vehicle for a lot of folks.
Granted, it's not going to be the absolute best at any of those particular tasks; a Wrangler or Bronco will always be better for rock-bashing or mud-splashing, a Silverado or F-150 will be better for towing and hauling, and a Sienna or Carnival will be a more comfortable road trip partner for a half-dozen folks. But much in the same way a great sport sedan can fill the dual roles of sports car and family transport, the Suburban takes on multiple roles better than any single ride might logically be able to do.
If you simply need one vehicle that can do as much as possible, it's hard to beat this big Chevy or its kin. That's why GM sells hundreds of thousands of them a year, in spite of their price tags and thirst; that's why the Suburban has been on sale and making friends for the better part of a century.
The Suburban is large, but it's not unwieldy to drive
Will Sabel Courtney
Considering it's based on a full-size truck's body-on-frame chassis, weighs in at three tons or more with a driver aboard and stretches 225.7 inches from tip to tail (with a wheelbase as long as two Tom Cruises lying head-to-toe), you might assume the Suburban is about as much fun to drive as a freight train. You'd be wrong.
General Motors still has some of the best chassis engineers in the business, and they did a good job making the Suburban's steering and handling responsive, even fairly nimble; it never feels unwieldy, even in New York City. On the highway, it's even better, with that ample wheelbase providing plenty of stability even if crosswinds try and batter those broad flanks.
(Also: While I'd generally steer buyers towards the gas-powered V8 models, if you're planning bladder-busting road trips across the heartland, it's worth considering the 3.0-liter turbodiesel; between the Suburban's 28-gallon tank and the diesel's 26–27 mpg highway fuel economy ratings, you can knock out 700-plus miles without stopping if you're so inclined.)
The interior is functional, if not as nice as some competitors
Will Sabel Courtney
In terms of usability, there's little to complain about from the driver's seat of Chevy's monster SUV. The all-digital gauges are easy to read; the touchscreen infotainment system is set up appreciably high, making it easier to use while keeping your eyes close to the road; and just about all vital controls still use physical buttons, making them easy to commit to muscle memory. Even the push-button gear selector shift, while perhaps lacking in character, are simple and easy to adopt.
Once you level up to the higher trims, however, the Suburban starts to lag behind its counterparts in terms of fanciness. My top-shelf High Country trim costs almost exactly as much as a GMC Yukon XL Denali, but while the Denali scores a bespoke dashboard layout to set itself apart from less-luxurious variants, the only real difference between the High Country and the volume-trim LT is the color and quality of the leather trim. (And in all honesty, even the base Yukon's interior is more aesthetically pleasing than the Chevy's.)
There's soooooooo much space inside
Will Sabel Courtney
Extra-long three-row SUVs have long been roomy, of course, but the latest generation of Suburban sets a new high bar for usable interior volume. Credit not just the massive size, but GM's decision to switch over to an independent rear suspension for this generation, which freed up extra space for legs and things in the rear.
All three rows pack enough leg room for even a six-foot-tall adult (though admittedly, the quality of the accommodations does go from Business Class to Comfort Plus to Basic Economy as you head towards the back of the plane), and with all the seats raised, there's still 41.5 cubic feet of storage space — about three times as much as the trunk of a Honda Accord. In practical terms, that's around enough for six occupants to each bring a carry-on bag without blocking the view out the rear-view mirror.
And if you don't need butts in all those seats at once, the cargo carrying capabilities become even more expansive. Fold down the third row, and the four-to-five occupants that can still fit inside could each bring multiple checked bags and carry-ons without concern. Moving a kid to college? Leave one second row seat up, and you can fit their entire life back alongside and behind them.
And if you really need space, plop both second and third rows down. That doesn't just produce 144.7 cubic feet — literally, a gross amount — of usable space, but space with a completely flat load floor and enough length for even your six-foot-four narrator to lie flat inside. Forget air mattresses for camping — you could put an actual memory foam double back here and have a decent sleeping area for two with the seats all down. Throw a rooftop cargo box on top, and two people could practically live out of the Suburban for weeks at a time — so long as they didn't mind seeking out public restrooms on the regular.
