Take the Road Not Taken
Stepping out into the world, exploring new (to you) frontiers and horizons can be as daunting as it is tantalizing. Taking that first step can be daunting, even for the experienced, and preparation is always key. So exploring Canada’s east coast, with its picturesque towns, pristine coastlines, sheer cliffs and sometimes-less-traveled paths needs a ride as versatile, rugged, and inviting as its environment.
Chevrolet’s Tahoe is largely at home among the ranks of law enforcement and security details, but this Tahoe is taking a different path. Our ride, fitted with Chevy’s Z71 package – a designation dating back to the 1970’s – that largely designates a vehicle as an off-roader. This Tahoe certainly looks the part – featuring a revised front-spoiler with improved angles for any rogue chunks of unmanicured landscape. But this comes at a cost. The facelift also means some safety features like adaptive cruise control and automatic braking are omitted. Oddly enough, sensors still remain that audibly warn when you get too close. But driver intervention will still be required. Given that large vehicles like full-sized pickups and indeed, three-row SUV’s have become more of a lifestyle image, such omissions almost feel like a safety concern to us.
Curiously, despite its heritage, the Z71 doesn’t actually come entirely off-road-ready. Options for the trim include the Off-Road Capability package, featuring air suspension and magnetic ride control to help smooth out rougher surfaces. Or the Off-Road Performance package, swapping out the 5.3L V8 for a chunkier 6.2L. A third engine option, a 3.0L diesel engine, is not available on the Z71 trim. Or perhaps most confusingly, the Z71 trim level offers you an optional Z71 package – essentially combining a number of the aforementioned packages with some luxury features too.
But despite its appearance, luxury is what this Tahoe does very well. Its off-road appearance is largely just that – an appearance package. The Tahoe Z71 can certainly handle unpaved, pothole-ridden paths, but serious off-roaders will see past the façade. It may look the part, but given how the majority of large trucks and SUV’s are actually used, slyly shifting the focus to comfort and on-road capability helps the Tahoe shine in ways other, actual off-road-focused trucks just can’t. On the asphalt, the Tahoe is smooth, quiet and comfortable. Its V8 won’t shock you with raw power, but it shouldn’t. This is a truck that eats up kilometres in quiet comfort, while you and your passengers relax and soak up the ride.
Our Tahoe’s seating configuration allowed for a maximum of 8 passengers, but tick the right boxes and you can boost that capacity up to 9, at the cost of some creature comforts. More base models can be had with a front bench seat, for instance. But our Z71 tester featured chairs in the front. Even with the third row up, cargo space is more than generous, coming in at just over 2,000L. Fold them down, and it’s outright cavernous at just under 3,500L. The dashboard is a departure from typical GM, feeling high quality and premium – which we’d hope given the Z71’s $85,829 price tag. But cost-cutting plastic is still present in places.
Our journey begins in the city of Halifax, where devastating wildfires gave way to a deluge of torrential rain and single-digit temperatures. This is a massive vehicle for cities. Navigating through traffic-logged roads, small neighbourhood streets and downtown roadside parking is a daunting task. The windscreen angle of the Tahoe coupled with its high dashboards does make frontal visibility a concern in such cramped quarters. However, the maneuverability is surprisingly accessible. Light steering, a responsive throttle, parking assist sensors and some very wide mirrors make reversing into a tighter spot more manageable than you might expect. Of course, it will still feel quite precarious navigating around underground parking lots and narrow paths, but as vehicles increase in size, this is all but inevitable. We did hope for a more detailed view from the cameras however – as this is still a hefty vehicle.
But it’s time to leave the city and stretch the Tahoe’s legs. The drive from Halifax to Cape Breton is long, largely straight and until the final portion, not the most scenic. But it’s more than worth the trip. You have not seen Canada’s beauty until you drive the road around Cape Breton Island. The roads feature sharp hairpins, rougher detours, countless off-shoots to hiking paths, coastal loops, numerous scenic lookouts, and no shortage of otherworldly beauty, all taken in pristinely in the Tahoe. A visit to the northern area of Dingwall took the Tahoe through some back country roads and onto some damp, sandy shores, where its 4-wheel-drive system made the difference between spinning tires and actual traction.
The sheer size of the Tahoe, with its buttery smooth ride and surprisingly docile V8 helps it feel like a yacht on land. So how does it handle the sea? Well, we didn’t drive it in to the ocean. But instead, a ferry, where it could get a chance to stroll through the country roads of Prince Edward Island and its almost Martian sandy red landscape. That dust leaves its presence on your ride like nothing else. The Tahoe got a chance to take its tires off-road once again as it ventured to some of the island’s many lighthouses.
The only way off Prince Edward Island is either a return trip on the Ferry, or taking the impressive Confederation Bridge. Windy conditions and a largely boxy vehicle meant the Tahoe, driving above the Northumberland Strait, felt every gust tenfold. Of course, there’s no risk of such a hefty vehicle being blown away under normal conditions. It will stay planted and safe, but the softer, high-riding suspension does allow the vehicle to sway in the wind.
The Confederation Bridge exits to mainland New Brunswick, home of the famed Hopewell Rocks on the Bay of Fundy, where the tide retreats so that visitors can walk on the sea floor. It feels like you’re walking on pudding. But this is a vehicle review, not a footwear review. Outside of tourism, New Brunswick is home to many smaller and remote towns, who are often given little share of government resources to maintain and upkeep their infrastructure. Venture outside of the larger cities like Moncton or Fredericton and this is quite apparent. Luckily the Tahoe’s engineering makes short work of these treacherous and unstable surfaces, but not every local can enjoy such fortune.
From Halifax, to Cape Breton, PEI, New Brunswick and back to Nova Scotia, a lot of ground was covered by the Tahoe over the course of 10 days. Given its size, weight and engine, you might expect it to be as thirsty as a parched New Brunswicker trying to pick where to visit first. (New Brunswick has the most craft breweries per capita in Canada!) With much of the driving relegated to highway-esque roads, we averaged a respectable 12.4 L/100km over the course of the trip. It may be hard to call that objectively good fuel economy, but considering the Tahoe’s stature, it’s not so bad. We’ve certainly experienced worse figures in smaller vehicles.
Like the coffee shop hipster wearing Carhartt, the Tahoe Z71 looks rugged, and certainly has capability, but is softer than you’d think – yet, not in a bad way. Let’s be honest with ourselves – those who buy off-road vehicles rarely, if ever, actually go off-road. At $84,829 before options and fees, this isn’t going to be a second car. It will be a daily driver that may take the odd dirt road from time to time. Call it a poser all you’d like – the Tahoe Z71 sells that image of capability, while giving drivers the comfort, practicality and safe cargo they really want for themselves and their loved ones. You won’t be carving canyons in it, but jaunt across the country with your family or 6 of your favourite people and you’ll be hard pressed to find a better roadgoing carriage. If only it had adaptive cruise control…
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