2021 Chevy Tahoe Vs. Suburban Drag Race — What’s The Quickest New Big Boy Chevy SUV?

Despite a power difference, the results are closer than you might think

2021 Chevrolet Suburban vs. the Tahoe – drag racing awesomeness! [Photos: TFLcar]

2021 Chevrolet Suburban vs. 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe – weight AND displacement battle royale!

This video is just one more in a series we’ve done with the brand new Chevy Tahoe and Suburban SUVs. We’re also doing some towing, seeing how GM’s new SUVs perform off-road, and giving you a top-to-bottom look at what you get for the money. In this video, though, we’re doing one of the things we know best: a good old-fashioned drag race.

In this generation, there’s about a 200 pounds difference in weight between the 2021 Chevy Suburban vs. the 2021 Chevy Tahoe. Apart from the Suburban’s larger body, the lion’s share of that weight difference comes down to displacement. This Suburban High Country packs a larger displacement 6.2-liter V8, while the Tahoe Z71 has a smaller 5.3-liter V8. So, there is a notable weight difference, but the Suburban also has a power difference on its smaller sibling.

Just like our Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss long-term truck, the 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe has a 355 horsepower, 5.3-liter V8 that makes 383 lb-ft of torque. The much larger 2021 Chevrolet Suburban has the beefy 6.2-liter V8 that makes 420 hp and 460 lb-ft of torque. Both of these particular SUVs come standard with a 10-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive.

The difference isn’t just down to weight and power

On top of the weight and power disparity, there is the tire and suspension setup. You see, the 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe has the Z71 package which gives it a further disadvantage for speed. It has larger, off-road-orientated tires and a tiny chin spoiler. While that chin spoiler helps with ground clearance, it hurts the SUV’s aerodynamic profile, as does its greater ride height.

On the other hand, the 2021 Chevrolet Suburban has more street-biased tires and a huge chin spoiler. That’s done for efficiency and helps with aerodynamics, as the High Country is meant as an on-road luxurious model. It’s pretty safe to say which one has the advantage on paper, taking these factors into account.

With all of that being said, we truly enjoy lining up these beefy trucks next to each other and seeing what will happen. Don’t worry, we didn’t use our Tesla Model Y to race the overall winner in this video.