The Chevrolet Tahoe is a lot of things. It’s massive, powerful, spacious, capable off-road, and has acres of road presence. What it isn’t is fuel efficient. Of course, you’d expect that from an SUV that weighs over 2.5 tons and packs a 5.3-liter V8.
Even with cylinder deactivation, the Tahoe likes a good swig of premium fuel. In standstill traffic, it yields 2.5km/L, and you’d be happy to get 4km/L in the city on a good day. The best we could muster out of it was 11km/L on the highway.
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Now, there’s a new ‘economy’ version available. Aside from the V6 Duramax diesel, Chevrolet has introduced a downsized turbo engine for its full-size SUV. It’s an engine we thought would ever make it under the hood of a Tahoe, a boosted 2.7-liter four-cylinder.
With half the cylinders removed and about half the displacement gone, we reckon it frees up a whole lot of space in the Tahoe’s vast engine bay. You’re probably curious how much power it makes. You might be surprised that it’s actually not too far off the 5.3-liter V8. The 2.7-liter turbo makes 300hp, while torque is rated at 500Nm. For comparison, the V8 puts out 355hp and 518Nm.
Just as interesting is the transmission choice. Instead of an eight-speed automatic, the turbocharged Tahoe utilizes a ten-speed unit instead. With its smaller engine, Chevrolet claims far better fuel economy figures compared to the 5.3-liter. Per the manufacturer, it can get up to 8.3km/L in mixed conditions.
As for features, it’s identical to the North American and ‘Rest of World’ models. It’s available with air suspension, a Bose audio system, 7 or 8 seater configurations, advanced driver assist systems, and automatic parking assist.
This version is sold in China at the moment. That said, it’s possible that it can be sold in other countries down the line. The question now is this: Would you consider a Chevrolet Tahoe with a four-cylinder?
If it drives the price down, we might be inclined to say ‘maybe’.
