Interesting comparo, Are you comparing to a 2021 expy or a 2022 expy?
You mentioned platty expy, i didnt even know the sub had massage function for the seats, the denalis we driven surely didnt. Are you saying the suburban had better massage function?
Is the gm interface more user friendly? You did mention sync 3, not sync 4. I remember the15in screen being ok with speed and logic but the graphics and display was sharp and clean, just wondering how the gm system is better.
Did the materials feel nicer as well? I haven't driven the new platty, the kr we tested was nice but not luxurious. You said the subs seats were better, however, my wife and I thought the denali seats were a touch too stiff, esp compared to the old expy ltd seats. I will say, my dad escalade did feel a bit better put together, it shook less on the road than the expy. The 22 kr seats were super cushy, felt very similar to my dads escalade. I will say, I do appreciate gm having longer seat bottoms and angling them.
I remember driving a 21 nav and all the information you stated was available for display in the nav hud. Actually, my dads 22 escalade displayed less Info than our current mazda cx9, but regardless the expy doesn't offer this which I agree is annoying. It just surprising that gm would put more Info on the sub hud than the escalade and denali hud.
I won't speak on the sound system of the burb, but my wife and I have driven the denali which has an even more premium sound system and we both agreed is was inferior to our b&o in the 18. We tested the 22 spkr system and we both agreed that it didn't sound as good as the aforementioned ststem, but our sales guy wouldnt stop talkin so we couldnt rele test it. All were inferior to the escalades base akg though. Sound is very subjective I guess.
Did the burb have air ride and mrc, or just mrc? Also, did it have the 20s or 22s? Again, comparing, my dads truck has the air ride but no mrc. It's high speed ride is very good, if a bit too soft, and it's low speed ride doesn't filter bumps as well. Im comparing to the expy. It is more isolating than the expy and better at managing harshness, ours was the base no ccd. The 22 kr had the same level of iso on the hwy, but not as floaty, and was a bIt better at low speeds, but less body control.
Just asking questions, it's interesting to hear different perspective than your own.
My comparison is between my '19 and the '22 suburban. I get that some would say that's not really a fair comparison, but so much of the '19 and '22 expy is the same. other than some of the electronics, in fact the 22's are missing some of the features the 19's had. But mechanically, they are very similar.
What's funny about this, is I just went out to configure a new Suburban Premier edition, and several of the functions I liked aren't even available right now, same as Ford, due to supply chain. Simple stuff, like perforated heated/cooled seats, but the cooling function is missing right now. I did find the user interface to be a bit better than the Sync 3 (mine is on the latest version of 3.4). I get the 15" is newer, but based on many of the reviews on other sites and this one, it's not reliable and many have issues, especially when it's acting up, not having access to climate features, etc. And I get it, the upper end GM's will have much larger screens and will likely eventually shift this model of everything behind a large screen, but this experience was nicer. Not sure what diagonal dimension the screen is, but it is larger than the 8" sync 3, and the cameras were far better. Come to find out, it appears GM is doing 4k resolution cameras on the upper end packages.
The material felt very much the same as the expy, they are probably all made by the same suppliers behind the scenes anyways. But it just seemed like more attention to detail. More leather on the door panels vs. so much plastic (i know, it's all plastic, maybe covered in leather). And you may be right on the Denali seats being too stiff, thing is, both my '19 and this '22 had 30k+ miles, so they are more broken in, in fact we have almost identical mileage so it's a pretty fair comparison. Better bolsters, longer seats near the knees, etc.
As far as info in the HUD, all I can say is its software, could have been fairly updated (though as a rental I would doubt that). I just loved the level of information, things like parking sensors, cross traffic alert, vehicle distance in front, etc. I'm still bitter about the Ford sticker calling red LED's a HUD.
As far as the suspension, I'm not sure if it had the MRC, but based on trying to configure a new one, MRC and Air come together. I do know it had the air, as periodically I could hear the small compressor. Same as every vehicle I've ever owned that had an air suspension. I prefer the air for sure, it definitely helps with even road noise to a degree, as it helps isolate the chassis a bit more. These are just things I noticed.
Another thing I didn't mention originally, one of the other things I don't really like about the Expy's interior, is the crappy design and fit of a lot of the plastic. There are so many cracks, gaps, places for food, dog hair and debris to build up. and it's difficult to get vacuum attachments into these nooks and crannies to clean. The plastic molding along the floor for example in the suburban were tighter, more single pieces and not lots of little plastic ones that keep falling apart. Like the seatbelt attachment covers that keep getting sucked up in the vacuum and never stay in place.
On the downside, you can tell the suburban shares parts with other vehicles that have more features, and this had a bunch of makeshift cubbies and stuff. I can't say enough how much I hated the shifter buttons, DUMB! I think Ford knows there is pretty limited competition in this space, and likely won't invest in making these any higher quality and more reliable. That just eats into the profits!
Interesting to see the pics of the new Seqouia interior. Not really even considering it, it's a lot smaller. But there are some characteristics of the new interior I kind of like, like an actual transmission shifter! I know toyota has a massive following, I'm sure it will do okay. we'll see how the hybrid motor really holds up.
