American drivers have proven to love huge three-row SUVs. Many people are convinced that these civilian tanks are what they need to carry their families around. The love for these massive vehicles has proven to outweigh the lack of fuel economy. Luckily for the lovers of these suburban war machines, Chevy is offering some options to have your cake and eat it too. The Chevy Suburban and Tahoe, two of the biggest family movers in that game, just reported killer milage. 

The 2021 Chevy Tahoe and Chevy Suburban go diesel

Both of the 2021 Chevy bruisers get the Duramax straight-six diesel engine making the potential for better mileage finally possible. The EPA announced that the two-wheel-drive Chevy Tahoe now gets an impressive 21 mpg in town and 28 mpg on the highway, making an overall 24 mpg combined. The bigger of the two, the Chevy Suburban, is only slightly less efficient at 23 mpg combined. That is pretty incredible, especially when compared to other big dawg models. 

How do the Chevys stack up to other big SUVs

Roadshow points out that the two massive Chevrolet trucks beat the pants off the 2020 Ford Expedition. Ford’s heavyweight only managed to get 19 mpg combined from the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6. This powertrain setup is simply less efficient. Diesel engines tend to get more out of their fuel than their gas-powered counterparts. The Duramax squeezes more energy from its oil fuel and has a higher compression ratio making any competition simply unfair. 

The 2021 Chevy Tahoe and Chevy Suburban don’t have the power

Although the Chevys are walking away with the fuel-economy game, the Ford EcoBoost V6 has the Chevys whipped on power. The Duramax diesel is making 277 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque. The Ford’s V6 engine makes the Duramax seem like a couple of hamsters in a wheel. The Ford is getting 375 hp out of the V6 and 470 lb-ft of torque. Although the Chevys won’t win in a sprint, they will stay rolling when the Ford’s tank is dry and dusty. 

There are more important things than speed 

With these big boys with the diesel heart, towing means more than speed. Diesel trucks are bred specifically for towing and hauling; it’s what they do. The Chevy Tahoe is rated to haul up to 8,200 lbs and a payload capacity of 1,717 lbs. The beefier Chevy Suburban can’t pull quite as much, but still an impressive 8,000 lbs with a 1,625-lb payload. The EPA still hasn’t given us fuel numbers on the four-wheel-drive models yet. 

The “Chevy-weights” are impressive dinosaurs 

Body-on-frame land yachts are a thing of the past, but Chevy is still letting it rip. Although they are primitive, they offer unrivaled performance in most things truck people want to do with their trucks. Off-road, towing, and hauling are simpler and often better than their fancier, more modern counterparts. 

GM hasn’t given too many updates to either of these big’ns. The interior is a bit plain, the looks aren’t overly up-to-date, and the theme goes on and on. That Duramax oil-burner is a massive update that was sorely needed by the big SUVs.