Rented a 2015 Chevy Tahoe yesterday

[JulesMaximus]

My wife and I needed a larger vehicle to haul some stuff up to her Mom's house yesterday so I reserved a minivan but Enterprise called me Friday to tell me that they didn't have any minivans available but that they would rent me a fullsize SUV for the same price. I just needed something I could put a few bar stools, some speakers and a few other things in and carry my wife, our son and me so the SUV would be acceptable. So, they gave me a 2015 Chevy Tahoe for the same price. It is white with black leather interior. The rear seats folded down and half of the second row seats folded flat it worked fine.

Man, this thing is a beast though. Very comfortable, nicely appointed with leather seats, NAV, tinted windows, it even has 4WD. I drove it up to Los Angeles yesterday and back home today. About the only thing I don't like about it is the way it wallows over undulations on the freeway and the steering is pretty numb. Feels like the steering wheel is connected to a bag of rocks. But it tracks straight and is easy to drive. You just need to get used to the size of the thing. Surprisingly enough the turning radius is excellent and I could whip it around in about the same amount of space required to turn my Camry around in.

Was fun romping on the accelerator and roaring past hybrids. I was yelling at people in cute utes in my best Ahnold impersonation, calling them girly men to amuse my wife and son. It was pretty funny.

Oh, one other thing I didn't care for was it had a couple rattles coming from the rear of the vehicle.

I don't think I'd ever buy one but it worked great for what we needed from it yesterday and today.

 

[Yuriman]

I've also had some great kicks driving around humongous SUVs. I spent a great deal of time driving around a friend's Sequoia, and man that thing was terrifying when the roads were wet.

 

[NutBucket]

My Forester is probably more capable off-road due to better ground clearance and better approach and departure angles

 

[SparkyJJO]

That shorter wheelbase helps a lot. My Trailblazer can turn almost ridiculously tight, which then going to my extended cab 07 Silverado that I bought in May makes me feel like I'm driving a barge lol. My Silverado is ridiculously comfortable to drive for a pickup and it has the most comfortable seats of any vehicle I've driven so far. I can only imagine a newer Tahoe being even more so.

I kinda feel like the numb steering feeling is partly due to its size. Bigger the vehicle the less road feel you get. That said, I kinda feel like my Silverado has more steering response than my Dad's 2010 Camry. That car is pretty dead feeling.

 

[NutBucket]

Agreed on the road feel bit. Its a 5000lb vehicle. I don't think its possible to have good steering feel without significantly increasing steering effort. Plus, it's a cruiser anyway.

 

[SearchMaster]

I've spent a good amount of time in its twin, the GMC Yukon. It's a really nice truck with over 400hp but damn, over $60K is just crazy.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Plus, I figured we averaged about 15mpg in 220 miles of driving which is simply awful.

No way would I ever buy one with the commute I do every day. It just makes ZERO sense.

I fill my car up every 2 weeks and it holds 15 gallons of fuel and I can go 500 miles on a tank of gas easy. I typically add between 12-13 gallons of fuel when I fill up my car.

This beast holds 26 gallons of fuel and has a range of barely over 400 miles according to the computer.

I did like the ride though and it has a lot of cool, useful features.

 

[Kaido]

My Forester is probably more capable off-road due to better ground clearance and better approach and departure angles

My wife's '15 Forester can do donuts at a 4-way stop. Never had a car with that tight of a turning radius. You can probably guess how I found that out :biggrin:

 

[Kaido]

Plus, I figured we averaged about 15mpg in 220 miles of driving which is simply awful.

No way would I ever buy one with the commute I do every day. It just makes ZERO sense.

I fill my car up every 2 weeks and it holds 15 gallons of fuel and I can go 500 miles on a tank of gas easy. I typically add between 12-13 gallons of fuel when I fill up my car.

This beast holds 26 gallons of fuel and has a range of barely over 400 miles according to the computer.

I did like the ride though and it has a lot of cool, useful features.

Yeah...I really liked the Kia Sedona (redesigned model) that I test-drove, but the MPG is horrendous (obviously, since it's a van). It was fun to drive, spacious, comfortable, had a nice & surprisingly throaty sound to the engine. But crummy MPG!

 

[LTC8K6]

Plus, I figured we averaged about 15mpg in 220 miles of driving which is simply awful.

No way would I ever buy one with the commute I do every day. It just makes ZERO sense.

I fill my car up every 2 weeks and it holds 15 gallons of fuel and I can go 500 miles on a tank of gas easy. I typically add between 12-13 gallons of fuel when I fill up my car.

This beast holds 26 gallons of fuel and has a range of barely over 400 miles according to the computer.

I did like the ride though and it has a lot of cool, useful features.

Averaged 27mpg in a 3.6L Grand Cherokee on a 500 mile trip, and that was with the old 5 speed transmission. I expect the 8 speed eeks out 1 or 2 more on average. It was loaded with 5 people and their luggage, too.

With the 24 gallon tank, I still had plenty left after the 500 mile run, which amazed me compared to earlier trips with other vehicles.

It had plenty of power, too.

 

[SearchMaster]

Yeah my wife's '15 Odyssey gets 23-24 on average and I got 27+ on a long road trip. However I had a '14 F-150 as a rental once and was ~15 no matter how I drove.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Averaged 27mpg in a 3.6L Grand Cherokee on a 500 mile trip, and that was with the old 5 speed transmission. I expect the 8 speed eeks out 1 or 2 more on average. It was loaded with 5 people and their luggage, too.

With the 24 gallon tank, I still had plenty left after the 500 mile run, which amazed me compared to earlier trips with other vehicles.

It had plenty of power, too.

I find that almost impossible to believe.

It doesn't matter though, you'll never get highway mileage driving in SoCal even if you're on the freeway most of the time. You'd be an idiot to shop cars based on the advertised highway mileage because you'll never use your car in that way here.

We had 3 people with some chairs and boxes, maybe another 100lbs of stuff, and averaged around 15mpg driving from San Diego to Torrance and back. It is all freeway between north county San Diego (where I live) to the Crenshaw Blvd exit off the 405. That's 170 out of the 220 miles I put on this thing of freeway driving and still couldn't average above 16mpg.

 

[Banana]

I find that almost impossible to believe.

You shouldn't. The GC is smaller than the Tahoe. Not sure why it's being compared.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You shouldn't. The GC is smaller than the Tahoe. Not sure why it's being compared.

27mpg though?

It is rated 16 city/23 highway which is, coincidentally, exactly the same as the 2015 Chevy Tahoe with the 5.3L V8 engine.

Maybe the 500 miles he drove was all downhill? :biggrin:

 

[ponyo]

If you can afford the new Tahoe/Yukon, you can afford the gas.

I can afford the gas. I just can't afford Tahoe/Yukon. :hmm:

 

[Yuriman]

Weight of cargo should make very little difference in economy, from my experience. With trailers, it's usually the added aerodynamic and rolling resistance from the extra wheels that get you.

 

[LTC8K6]

It was all highway with max speeds of 65-70. Near perfect conditions for great fuel economy.

I have a 2008 GC 5.7L 4X4 and my brother recently traded his 2012 3.6L 2WD for a 2015 3.6L 2WD.

So, I will report on the 8 speed after we take the same trip with it.

My Hemi does about 21-22mpg highway if I cruise where the MDS stays most active.

It has made the same 500 mile highway trip.

I have also rented a GC with the older 3.7L V6 and made the same trip.

It's not that hard to beat the EPA numbers, particularly the highway numbers.
I'm very familiar with the trip, and how much fuel is used / should be used.

 

[LTC8K6]

27mpg though?

It is rated 16 city/23 highway which is, coincidentally, exactly the same as the 2015 Chevy Tahoe with the 5.3L V8 engine.

Maybe the 500 miles he drove was all downhill? :biggrin:

You didn't even make the city number with the Tahoe? You said you got 15mpg.

Was fun romping on the accelerator and roaring past hybrids.

You have a heavy foot. :biggrin:

 

[foghorn67]

The Expedition and Navigator twins have IRS. It helps a ton. Their interiors, while comfy, aren't as nice as the GM offerings.

 

[Nebor]

The amount of people I know that have these (or Suburbans or Escalades) just to drive around town with 2 or less kids is staggering. They seem overpriced to me.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You didn't even make the city number with the Tahoe? You said you got 15mpg.



You have a heavy foot. :biggrin:

Yeah, maybe I could have achieved 16mpg if I kept my foot out of it in the stop and go traffic on the 405. Seriously, I only did that a few times. Acceleration is on par with my Camry Hybrid but the throttle mapping is horrible. You put your foot down and it does nothing so you push it down further and it still does nothing, then you really mash it and it kicks down 3 gears and roars off in a huge gas sucking hurry. :biggrin:

When traffic was moving we were doing 80mph. When it was slow... we drove slowly.

 

[Raduque]

Doing 85, I can average about 16.5mpg in my F150 on I10. That gives me right around 430 miles of range. I have a 26 gallon tank. If I get on a 75mph road, I can hit 19mpg easy. That's almost 500 miles. Curb weight is around 5200 and I have the 5.0 v8. I drive from Odessa to SA several times a year and always make it in one tank.

 

[Brian Stirling]

You didn't even make the city number with the Tahoe? You said you got 15mpg.



You have a heavy foot. :biggrin:

In fairness, truck owner love to quote the highest mileage they've ever had as if that was there normal mileage.

For much of the last 9 years I've traveled for work and been in rental cars about 10.5 months of the year. I generally prefer to get mid sized cars but often you get what they have and often it's big SUV's. My experience with them is that getting over 20mpg is rare -- yeah, you might baby it by cruising at modest speed, but given the fact that most of the people that pass me on the highway are driving pickups or large SUV's I'm inclined to believe that driving at modest speed isn't all that common with this group.

Additionally, big vehicles that have a lot of aero drag don't tend to get much better mileage by driving more modestly, a little better for sure, but since aero drag rules the margin for improvement by driving modestly isn't as great.


Brian

 

[LTC8K6]

Yeah, maybe I could have achieved 16mpg if I kept my foot out of it in the stop and go traffic on the 405. Seriously, I only did that a few times. Acceleration is on par with my Camry Hybrid but the throttle mapping is horrible. You put your foot down and it does nothing so you push it down further and it still does nothing, then you really mash it and it kicks down 3 gears and roars off in a huge gas sucking hurry. :biggrin:

When traffic was moving we were doing 80mph. When it was slow... we drove slowly.

I have noticed that in some newer vehicles. They refuse to downshift, trying to stay in the highest gear they can. I suppose it's an attempt to save fuel, but the result is predictable.

To get it to move out quickly, you have to either change the transmission to Sport mode if it has one, start shifting yourself if it allows you to, or stomp on it and hold it there for a while.

It can be an adventure trying to pass on a two lane road, trying to time it so you get the acceleration at the right time.

It's reminiscent of the old "turbo lag".

I wonder if this stubborn shift programming is actually saving any fuel in the real world, as opposed to during an EPA test?

 

[Yuriman]

In fairness, truck owner love to quote the highest mileage they've ever had as if that was there normal mileage.

For much of the last 9 years I've traveled for work and been in rental cars about 10.5 months of the year. I generally prefer to get mid sized cars but often you get what they have and often it's big SUV's. My experience with them is that getting over 20mpg is rare -- yeah, you might baby it by cruising at modest speed, but given the fact that most of the people that pass me on the highway are driving pickups or large SUV's I'm inclined to believe that driving at modest speed isn't all that common with this group.

Additionally, big vehicles that have a lot of aero drag don't tend to get much better mileage by driving more modestly, a little better for sure, but since aero drag rules the margin for improvement by driving modestly isn't as great.


Brian

There are a lot of vehicles, especially large ones, that don't seem to gain much economy by slowing down, but this isn't a good explanation as to why.

The force required to move an object through a viscous fluid doesn't increase linearly with speed - it actually increases by the square of the speed, so assuming a fixed rolling resistance and parasitic loads (electrical, drivetrain losses, and air conditioning, mostly), you can see why. Moving the same vehicle at 85mph should take almost 2.5x as much energy as moving 55mph, but you're only going 50% faster. Basic math shows us (taking only aerodynamics into account) that if you're getting 20mpg at 55mph, you can expect 13mpg at 85mph.

My best guess is that parasitic loads make the portion of energy used by moving through the air less significant. This is why we're starting to see the introduction of electric power steering, smart climate control, taller gearing and more gears (creating vacuum is a parasitic loss), reduction of electrical load in the form of LEDs and such, low rolling resistance tires, etc.