In 1988, a young actor in a Tom Hanks movie said, “I wish I were … big”.
And some auto buyers think that way too.

That mantel of big has been held in part for years by Chevy’s long-lived beast of the road, the Chevy Tahoe. For the past two decades, this full-size SUV/people mover/cargo carrier (and its similar cousin the GMC Yukon) has done very well among people who are wanting a large vehicle to truck around their people and things in, and maybe do some towing on the weekends.

I recently got some time in driving a 2015 Tahoe 4WD LTZ, 2015 Chevy Tahoe is big, versatile, tech-savvyand I’m back with a full report of how it performed and who might want to pick one up.

LOOKS
Big is not the trend these days with vehicles (crossover/smaller SUVs are the rage), but the Tahoe is still around and adapting for the times.

The exterior has been redesigned and it has a pretty snazzy look for a tank-like vehicle.

Inside, the key word is versatility. You have a few seating options, ranging from seven to nine people depending on chair setup. There is also lots of adjustability of the seats in second and third row depending how many people/how much cargo you are transporting. With the second and third row seats fully stored away, you have an impressive 94.7 cubic feet of cargo room to work with (though some other models do top this number).

The interior has plenty of head room and storage space and a strong overall interior design.

ENGINE, HANDLING, OVERALL RIDE QUALITY
This vehicle is very heavy, so handling can be a bit of a, well, handful. Not much way around that when a car weighs about 5,500 pounds; it’s not going to drive like a sportscar or be the quickest out the gate from a stop.

Still, all things considered it does pretty well for itself, with a strong performance from the 5.3-liter V-8 engine. The numbers it produces ar 355 horsepower, 383 lb.-ft. of torque; and a 8,400-pound towing capacity.

There is also a very quiet ride in the Tahoe, with its new design having an aerodynamic setup that encourages this.

MPG
During my time driving the Tahoe, I got about 16 to 17 mpg. The official numbers are 16 city/22 highway/18 combined. The vehicle has a 26-gallon fuel tank, so your traveling range can be as high as 500 miles on a tank.

TECH
The Tahoe featured easy-to-use voice commands and touchscreen in the center console, via the optional Chevy MyLink and its 8-inch color touchscreen.

Onstar technology is also included for everything from alerting 911 after accident to vehicle diagnostics.
Other nice touches included the automatic side steps that only come out when you need them to get in or out of the vehicle, and the rain-sensing wipers that were a big help on soggy days.

You get a standard rearview camera, and standard electronic stability control with rollover mitigation technology. Available safety features include: Side Blind Zone Alert, Lane Change Alert, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Forward Collision Alert, Lane Departure Warning, Adaptive Cruise Control with Crash Imminent Braking, and a vibrating seat when a crash is likely.

The Tahoe offers optional heated and cooled seats up front; and seates can be heated in second row too. You can also get keyless start, remote start, a heated steering wheel and a 10-speaker Bose Surround Sound system.

PRICE
You want something this big and feature filled? Prepare to pay for it.
The top-level 2015 Tahoe 4WD LTZ that I tested starts at $62K, plus all the options it had (MyLink system/sunrooof/power running boards/adaptive cruise control/max trailering package, etc.), it ended up just north of the $70K mark.

If you want a more basic version of the 2015 Tahoe without all the frills, you’ll be dealing with a starting price of about $45,000.

BOTTOM LINE
Big SUVs aren’t most people’s preferred mode of transportation in these eco-friendly times, but there is still a market for them and a devoted following for vehicles like the Tahoe for those who want the ability carry around lots of folks/cargo and have towing capacity (the Tahoe and Suburban, another Chevy model, do very well in this segment).

With good exterior looks, strong internal design (including an amazing amount of adjustability of seats to allow for various cargo loads) and just about every option you could want in a vehicle offered, the 2015 Tahoe should continue to please that crowd.

The price will be a deterrent for many, but when you get to this size of vehicle, all the competition is going to be pretty pricey. So it’s more about which vehicle fits a person’s tastes once they’ve settled on the price range they can afford.

If price is an obstacle, many crossover SUVs offer similar seating arrangements at a lower pricetag, minus some cargo space.