Last Friday, we decided a road trip up to Flagstaff was in order, as it would be one of the last time this season we could see and play with some snow before moving into the spring/summer/100something here in Phoenix.
This would be the first trip for our suburban, and the first time we took something else than a minivan to take our family of 5 plus luggage and mandatory (endless) baby/young kids gear.
For anyone not familiar with I-17 going from Phoenix to Flagstaff, it's basically 2 and a half hour of going up in elevation, speed limit of 75, lots of weekend warrior traffic and semis.
We left with the rear cargo full to the roof, 2 kids in the third row, baby in the second, parents drinking overpriced coffee, chilling in the front.
We (and by that I mean I) decided the best way to deal with traffic was actually to stay in the right lane and relax. This meant cruise control set at 64mph. While such speed is contrary to my usual morning commutes habits, it meant the six gear was hanging out at barely 1,500rpm, fuel economy would have a chance to impress, and most importantly zero issue with traffic and lane changes.
I was really curious to see how the v8, the transmission, and the cruise control would handle the extended 6% downhill. Well....Pretty much perfectly. cruise control downshifted one then 2 gear, never exceeded 75-78, I didnt even have to touch the brakes or make use of the manual mode to lock a certain gear.
Mileage was decent at 20mpg but I knew it would greatly improve on the way back, when we would be dealing with mostly downhill the whole time.
I know a lot of people including me are thinking about different wheels, tires, exhaust,etc... but in stock form it made for the quietest ride we ever experienced.
Comparing to our previous minivan, it feels like a good 4 to 5 decibels quieter.
I experienced no buffeting, vibration or harshness as so many people are dealing with.
I did feel a tiny bit of vibration/noise when lugging in v4 mode really low in the 1000 to 1200rpm range, but once passed those rpm, v4 mode was only known due to the icon.
The stock and somewhat tired tires did really good, I am still debating what to get next and probably wil go oem 20inch with michelin to replace our 18" stock wheels, in an effort to keep some ride cushion and not kill the MPG (A/T tires I'm looking at you!)
For reference, our suburban is a 2015 LT with 45k, we got it 3 months ago. All Stock except from the Tahoe PPV front deflector.
Returning back home, MPG kept going up, and we ended up at 24mpg on the computer, I am sure its a little optimistic compared to hand calculated. This was with 87 Octane.
Don't know if we would have even better with stock snow shovel, I mean stock front deflector, but I have to say I didnt think such a big truck could get that kind of MPG.
All in all, I hope we will have many years of similar ownership experience.
these 2 pictures show my favorite feature of the suburban, the extended length space!
Now, lets go shopping for them new wheels/tires!
This would be the first trip for our suburban, and the first time we took something else than a minivan to take our family of 5 plus luggage and mandatory (endless) baby/young kids gear.
For anyone not familiar with I-17 going from Phoenix to Flagstaff, it's basically 2 and a half hour of going up in elevation, speed limit of 75, lots of weekend warrior traffic and semis.
We left with the rear cargo full to the roof, 2 kids in the third row, baby in the second, parents drinking overpriced coffee, chilling in the front.
We (and by that I mean I) decided the best way to deal with traffic was actually to stay in the right lane and relax. This meant cruise control set at 64mph. While such speed is contrary to my usual morning commutes habits, it meant the six gear was hanging out at barely 1,500rpm, fuel economy would have a chance to impress, and most importantly zero issue with traffic and lane changes.
I was really curious to see how the v8, the transmission, and the cruise control would handle the extended 6% downhill. Well....Pretty much perfectly. cruise control downshifted one then 2 gear, never exceeded 75-78, I didnt even have to touch the brakes or make use of the manual mode to lock a certain gear.
Mileage was decent at 20mpg but I knew it would greatly improve on the way back, when we would be dealing with mostly downhill the whole time.
I know a lot of people including me are thinking about different wheels, tires, exhaust,etc... but in stock form it made for the quietest ride we ever experienced.
Comparing to our previous minivan, it feels like a good 4 to 5 decibels quieter.
I experienced no buffeting, vibration or harshness as so many people are dealing with.
I did feel a tiny bit of vibration/noise when lugging in v4 mode really low in the 1000 to 1200rpm range, but once passed those rpm, v4 mode was only known due to the icon.
The stock and somewhat tired tires did really good, I am still debating what to get next and probably wil go oem 20inch with michelin to replace our 18" stock wheels, in an effort to keep some ride cushion and not kill the MPG (A/T tires I'm looking at you!)
For reference, our suburban is a 2015 LT with 45k, we got it 3 months ago. All Stock except from the Tahoe PPV front deflector.
Returning back home, MPG kept going up, and we ended up at 24mpg on the computer, I am sure its a little optimistic compared to hand calculated. This was with 87 Octane.
Don't know if we would have even better with stock snow shovel, I mean stock front deflector, but I have to say I didnt think such a big truck could get that kind of MPG.
All in all, I hope we will have many years of similar ownership experience.
these 2 pictures show my favorite feature of the suburban, the extended length space!
Now, lets go shopping for them new wheels/tires!
my ski town is pretty similar to Prescott although a bit higher in elevation I think. Always good to hear the new rigs performing well.
