2018 Expo VS 2021 Tahoe test drive.

[Deadman]

My wife is looking at a large SUV, and we almost bought a 2nd Expedition this week. I told her that the new GM stuff was being released real soon and that I wanted to at least drive one to know we weren't making a mistake.
So yesterday we found a 2021 Tahoe High Country to test drive. The suburbans aren't out yet, but we would consider buying the Suburban or Denali XL length.

First off, I'm keeping my 2018 expedition, because I really like it. This would be a second vehicle purchase.

On the test drive, I found very few differences that amounted to much. Both vehicles were very similar, but one thing stood out like a sore thumb, the REAR SUSPENSION. My Expedition with CCD leans horribly left and right on driveway approaches and offsets in the roads. This GM didn't do that AT ALL. I was soooooo impressed, and my wife was blown away.
The 6.2L is LAZYYYYYY. We drove it in town, so we couldn't get it revved to the moon where it makes its power. My 3.5L would smoke it in town, hands down no question.

After thinking, we are probably buying a new GM simply because it rides so much more comfortable on the offsets and irregular roads. I still love my Expedition, but it annoys me on how much side to side jostling it offers the passengers on weird road surfaces. I drive a lot of backroads that are rough and it gets frustrating trying not to slam your head into the side windows on real rough sections. My addition of the aftermarket rear sway bar helped this rear sway movement a TON, but its not 100% solved.

Anyway, I just thought this was worth posting and I'm not looking for any bashing comments toward either vehicle as they are both excellent choices.

 

[Robert McMillan]

My wife is looking at a large SUV, and we almost bought a 2nd Expedition this week. I told her that the new GM stuff was being released real soon and that I wanted to at least drive one to know we weren't making a mistake.
So yesterday we found a 2021 Tahoe High Country to test drive. The suburbans aren't out yet, but we would consider buying the Suburban or Denali XL length.

First off, I'm keeping my 2018 expedition, because I really like it. This would be a second vehicle purchase.

On the test drive, I found very few differences that amounted to much. Both vehicles were very similar, but one thing stood out like a sore thumb, the REAR SUSPENSION. My Expedition with CCD leans horribly left and right on driveway approaches and offsets in the roads. This GM didn't do that AT ALL. I was soooooo impressed, and my wife was blown away.
The 6.2L is LAZYYYYYY. We drove it in town, so we couldn't get it revved to the moon where it makes its power. My 3.5L would smoke it in town, hands down no question.

After thinking, we are probably buying a new GM simply because it rides so much more comfortable on the offsets and irregular roads. I still love my Expedition, but it annoys me on how much side to side jostling it offers the passengers on weird road surfaces. I drive a lot of backroads that are rough and it gets frustrating trying not to slam your head into the side windows on real rough sections. My addition of the aftermarket rear sway bar helped this rear sway movement a TON, but its not 100% solved.

Anyway, I just thought this was worth posting and I'm not looking for any bashing comments toward either vehicle as they are both excellent choices.

Nothing wrong with two expeditions! I own two 2016s!

 

[duneslider]

Be more interesting to see what you think after having both for a longer period of time. I don't seem to notice the sway you seem to have. Not sure if I'm just not that picky or if having the xlt with bilstiens just doesn't do it? I am not a fan of chevy but the suburban was at the top of my list before I drove the 2019 expi we bought.

 

[grumpyoleman]

I don't seem to notice the sway you seem to have.

Ditto to this.

As a previous Suburban owner, I was blown away when I first test drove a Navi with 3.5EB.b While I passed on the Navi ($$$) I ended up with my current '18 Expi XLT and it's ride is luxury vehicle smooth under virtually every circumstance.

 

[Deadman]

Another thing we noticed was how LOUD the 6.2L was. The engine roared and the exhaust roared like crazy behind you. Cool if you are 19 and want to hear that racket, but I don't expect to hear that in an 80K vehicle.

 

[Deadman]

Be more interesting to see what you think after having both for a longer period of time. I don't seem to notice the sway you seem to have. Not sure if I'm just not that picky or if having the xlt with bilstiens just doesn't do it? I am not a fan of chevy but the suburban was at the top of my list before I drove the 2019 expi we bought.

I'm guessing you run a bunch of highway. Backroads and angle approaches and off road this Expedition makes you into a Bobble-head. I've hated that from day 1. On the highway it doesn't do that....

 

[Tys expedition]

agreed. love the expi. hate the suspension. that being said i just spent two weeks in the top of line armada. not even comparable how much better the expi is in all areas. id be curious how a long term review would pan out. I've always loved the LS im surprised you found it lazy. might be gearing. my expi has 373 and platinum is tuned a little hotter so its always shocked me the power it feels like it has.

 

[dj2big]

I have owned 4 expedition
2011 XLT
2013 KING RANCH
2015 LIMITED
2019 XLT MAX Fx4

In 2017 I switched to a Tahoe Premier
The ride was better in the Tahoe than the expedition


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[Robert McMillan]

Another thing we noticed was how LOUD the 6.2L was. The engine roared and the exhaust roared like crazy behind you. Cool if you are 19 and want to hear that racket, but I don't expect to hear that in an 80K vehicle.

it’s a v8, what did you expect it to sound like?

 

[Deadman]

agreed. love the expi. hate the suspension. that being said i just spent two weeks in the top of line armada. not even comparable how much better the expi is in all areas. id be curious how a long term review would pan out. I've always loved the LS im surprised you found it lazy. might be gearing. my expi has 373 and platinum is tuned a little hotter so its always shocked me the power it feels like it has.

It was a tow pack, so it should of had decent gears in it. Not sure, they didn't list the numerical number on the window tag.
The 6.2L was extremely lethargic. It ran good, but around town (under 45), it never could rev to the moon to find its power, so it was laboring at lower rpm and it simply didn't even impress my wife. Her first comment was wow this things noisy but doesn't have as much power as the Expedition.

 

[Deadman]

it’s a v8, what did you expect it to sound like?

I fully expected it to sound like a vehicle with a muffler on it. They specifically tuned the exhaust to bark on it, and its really annoying. Its probably 4 TIMES as loud in the Drivers seat as the Expedition is just driving it around town and squeezing on it. The racket got old quick.... I'm a big power guy and I'll admit the exhaust note itself sounded great, but at 40 yrs old, I don't want to listen to that BS for 100K miles. lol.

 

[Deadman]

I just ordered a front sway bar for Expedition. Maybe I can get the bobble-head action settled down!

 

[dlcorbett]

Itll probably be awhile before one of the gm utes make it here to guam. Ive been wantin to drive one, they been out since late june. Ive seen pov test drives from youtube reviewers, and comparing to pov expy test drives, honestly, it doesnt seem to ride much better if at all. it does seem quieter though. However, like you said, the difference is only on certain surfaces that illicit sharp movements on one side. My old limited without ccd would rock side to side sometimes depending on how i hit certain roads, so i would like to see how chevy does away with that. I also thought the magneride made the old gm utes ride too hard, and wondering if they tuned the harshness out with the irs as well. I feel like thats why they added the air suspension, even though its not available yet in them from my understanding

 

[Dice Roll]

I’m sure it will be fine. For at most 80k miles. That might be enough for some people. Too many gm horror stories in my family that I’ve had to deal with too. I’m sure the new design is better than the old one. It has to be. I did a test drive of a suburban when I was shopping for expys. Have no idea how they dominate the market.

 

[Soliyou]

It was a tow pack, so it should of had decent gears in it. Not sure, they didn't list the numerical number on the window tag.
The 6.2L was extremely lethargic. It ran good, but around town (under 45), it never could rev to the moon to find its power, so it was laboring at lower rpm and it simply didn't even impress my wife. Her first comment was wow this things noisy but doesn't have as much power as the Expedition.

We test drove the Yukon (6.2), Armada, and Sequoia, then we reached the conclusion: Nothing pulls like an Ecoboost!

 

[carymccarr]

Have no idea how they dominate the market.

I’m guessing you were test driving a 2 year old model vs a 5 year old model and most people don’t keep their vehicles much past the initial warranty so service issues aren’t a big deal.

I’d also add that until this current gen the looks of the Navi and expy were just horrible and dated. I know that’s an opinion but I think looks drives a lot of the market.

 

[Deadman]

One other notable thing is that the front head room was a couple inches less height than my Expedition. My head was nearly touching the ceiling in Tahoe and I'm only 6' tall. My head has 4 inches clearance in Expedition. I didn't mess with seat height much, so it could just be raised up....

 

[carymccarr]

One other notable thing is that the front head room was a couple inches less height than my Expedition. My head was nearly touching the ceiling in Tahoe and I'm only 6' tall. My head has 4 inches clearance in Expedition. I didn't mess with seat height much, so it could just be raised up....

Both vehicles have 42” first row headroom


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[scotthere]

We just bought the 19 expy platinum coming from a 04 escalade 5.3L base whichwas only twice in the shop for a failure in 15 years. That was the vacuum operated AC damper that dumped hot air into the cabin on a hot Florida afternoon and it had air ride leveling suspension that the compressor failed. Didn't ride nearly as smooth without it. I bought the expy because a comparable yukon or Tahoe used with low miles was $10,000 more and hard to find.
Definitely loving the early torque curve the turbo gives, you had to kick the GM down hard to get it to pull like the expy but it will pull every bit as hard especially a 6.2L just got to get the revs up then the big dog will bark. I think the looks of the yukon is best of the 3 GMs. Until 4th gen I didn't like the look of expy's I'm hoping the expy gives as good a service as the escalade. Ford is definitely giving more tech for your $. Load up a GM and the $ piles high quickly. Cadillac is ridiculous.

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[Dice Roll]

I’m guessing you were test driving a 2 year old model vs a 5 year old model and most people don’t keep their vehicles much past the initial warranty so service issues aren’t a big deal.

I’d also add that until this current gen the looks of the Navi and expy were just horrible and dated. I know that’s an opinion but I think looks drives a lot of the market.

still doesn’t explain why people bought the milquetoast gm stuff over the 18 up ford. It’s not even a contest once you drive the two. Now it might be with the new gm.