Building on a history of leading the segment, the 2025 Chevy Tahoe and Suburban were revealed today. While this is more of a refresh than an all-new model, that doesn’t make the changes less significant. In fact, we’d argue they’re a pretty big deal.
Diesel for all
One of the massive oversights on the prior-gen Chevy Tahoe and Suburban was the lack of a diesel offering for the Z71 off-road trim.
Why is that a big deal? Two things. First, with off-road driving, it is all about torque, and what engine produces the most torque? Yup that’s a diesel. Second, the older 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder LM2 Duramax diesel engine had been carried over, making customers wonder why. The new LZ0 diesel has more torque and better reliability, especially considering the long-crank, slow-start oddity of the older one.
Now you get both. Yup, the LZ0 diesel is available across the board, and the Z71 trim gets a diesel engine as well. They were able to redo the front-end design to get the cooling lines to fit, which was the main issue with the old LM2 fitting.
Our Silverado 1500 long-term review vehicle has this LZ0 diesel in it, and the power delivery of 495 pound-feet at just 1,500 RPMs is amazing, making the truck feel much faster.
Plus, the fuel economy can seem unreal with myself and other owners getting nearly 30 MPG. In offline conversations, General Motors engineers shared it isn’t unheard of for a Chevy Suburban equipped with a diesel to go 600 miles without needing fuel. Think about that. A vehicle weighing more than 2.75 tons going 600 miles without needing fuel. That’s incredible.
2025 Chevy Tahoe, Suburban design changes
Ok, enough of my love affair with the Duramax diesel. There’s more to these new Chevy full-size SUVs.
All six trims — LS, LT, RST, Z71, Premier and High Country — get a new front fascia (grille and bumper). The Z71 trim better incorporates the skid plate and high-approach angle of the bumper, while the High Country has a better balance of black and Galvano chrome.
There are also new 24-inch wheel designs for the High Country and, for the first time, on the RST trim.
Finally, there is new front and rear lighting for both and the High Country and Premiere trims, which have standard welcome and walk-away lighting animations as well as animated swipe turn signals. They look pretty upscale in person.
On the inside, Chevrolet made some key changes to help driver visibility, phone charging and storage options.
The instrument panel or the dash has been lowered by 1 inch. With all the computers, steering column, HVAC vents and what not, dropping it by an inch makes a significant difference for the driver being able to see over the dash. Additionally, the new 17.7-inch infotainment screen, angled slightly toward the driver, is easier to see and use. Plus, you can finally see all the cameras Chevy uses without having to squint at the screen.
There is an 11-inch gauge cluster behind a redesigned steering wheel. The wheel looks a more athletic (not so bland), and what I like the most: It’s thicker, making it easier to use. Furthermore, steering has been improved as well to be less responsive at higher speeds and more responsive at slower speeds. Plus, the steering responsiveness has been improved in Tow/Haul Mode as well.
There is authentic wood decor for the High Country interior, a first for Tahoe and Suburban. There is also a new Jet Black/Sky Cool Gray interior for Premier, Victory Red stitching for RST and more soft-touch and wrapped materials on select trims.
They did keep the upscale-looking piano black for the push-button controls for various things, which is a pet peeve of mine since they always look dusty. The seat material has also changed for the High Country, and I’ll be eager to see if that improves seat comfort.
Driving improvements
Besides looks, a diesel engine and a beefier steering wheel, the suspension has been updated.
The 2025 Chevy Tahoe and Suburban will come with three different suspension setups: coil springs, coil springs with magnetic ride control and coil springs with magnetic ride control and air ride adaptive suspension. In case you aren’t familiar with it, magnetic ride control uses magnetized liquid to adjust the responsiveness of the dampers. This system uses sensors to read the road 1,000 times a second and adjusts how the shocks respond instantly through magnetizing the fluid in the dampers to more or less depending on the road.
Also new for 2025, the air ride suspension is available on RST. This four-corner air suspension system will raise and lower for entry/exit as well as in certain driving situations, such as on the highway, for better aero or higher for off-road driving.
Towing and safety
The 2025 Tahoe has a maximum towing rating of 8,400 pounds, and the Suburban is at 8,200 pounds with the max towing package, which includes a high-capacity radiator and cooling fan as well as integrated trailer brake controller.
All the towing and safety systems from the 2024 model year are carried over with a few notable additions. There is an Interior Motion Detection system that can detect certain types of “micro-movements” in the cabin when the vehicle is off and in park and then send out a series of escalating alerts. Basically, if you leave your child or pet in the vehicle, the vehicle will alert you if it senses movement.
There is also a new Connected Cameras feature, which works through your app with your permission to not only record video in case of a crash but also check the cabin interior from anywhere.
Then there is a new AutoSense Power Liftgate. This means you no longer have to do parking lot yoga with your leg for the system to pop open the liftgate. It will now sense you are back there with the key on you and automatically open.
Finally, Super Cruise, GM’s semi-autonomous self-driving technology, will be available after the initial launch.
The 2025 Chevy Tahoe and Suburban go on sale in late 2024, and will continue to be built in Arlington, Texas.
The bottom line
While some will see these changes as minor, and the need for the replacement of diesel particulate filters (DPF) as an added expense, the diesel-powered Z71 really stands out to me as being the big news item. It was an oversight on GM’s part not to include it in the redesign a few years ago, and I look forward to getting behind the wheel and checking it out.
2025 Chevy Tahoe Photo Gallery
2025 Chevy Suburban Photo Gallery
