The Perfect SUV For Our Great American Road Trip: The 2015 Chevy Tahoe
Kirsten Maxwell
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Road tripping to Cooperstown in a 2015 Chevy Tahoe 4WD LTZ.
A couple of weeks ago, our family of five took a road trip from Chicago to the birthplace of baseball, Cooperstown, New York. Our oldest son’s baseball team had been invited to participate in a week long tournament. While we were excited to spend a week on vacation in New York, we were equally excited to take a road trip in the 2015 Chevy Tahoe.
When the car arrived our driveway, I was impressed. It is a beautiful car. We went shopping for a new car a year and a half ago, and had looked at the previous model of the Chevy Tahoe. The body style on the 2015 is a nice update from the previous model and the inside configuration is much improved. I had a feeling before we even left our driveway this was going to be a good trip.
Comfortable and spacious for a family of 5
I am a huge fan of SUVs that have the second row bucket seat configuration. Our kids are 8, 10, and 12, and the second row bucket seats allowed them to easily pass through to the third row. There is an option of using the quick power release to flip up the second row seats for easier access, but our kids find that too time consuming. The third row is a 60/40 configuration with flat fold power seats and they fold super fast. I mean, I have power fold seats in my car, but these are high speed.
The power third row seats lay down flat faster than anything I’ve seen before! Credit: Kirsten Maxwell for AGirlsGuidetoCars
With all of our gear, it was decided that our youngest needed to sit in the back middle seat and we would need to fold down the single seat in the third row. Everyone was very happy with this arrangement because they were all close to a portable charging station (there are up to 13 charging stations in the Tahoe, so we didn’t need to worry). There was ample storage space between, in front, and around all of the seats, so each child was happy before we even left the driveway.
Ample room for all of our gear. Credit: Kirsten Maxwell for AGirlsGuidetoCars
The interior of the Chevy Tahoe LTZ model is stunning with its leather seats and faux wood accent trim. The front seats have lumbar support, a heating and cooling option (we actually used both on the trip and love this feature), and the ride is super quiet (except when the kids were arguing in the back), which is something you don’t find very often in a large SUV.
Mind blowing technology
The technology in this car blew us away, so I don’t even know where to begin. Thanks to On-Star, the Chevy Tahoe has a 4G LTE Wi-Fi signal built in that allowed us to connect up to 7 devices if we were so inclined (I think we only had 5, but it was still impressive)! There were charging stations throughout the car, including USB ports, a three prong plug, and wireless charging. I have never seen this before in a car and my mind was blown.
In the dashboard, there is an 8-inch color touch screen display that allows you to control different features such as audio and video, and behind it is a hidden storage area where you can lock your devices. It was so well disguised, I didn’t even know about this feature until after we returned the car!
Easy to use 8″ screen at your fingertips. Credit: Kirsten Maxwell for AGirlsGuidetoCars
The sound system in the Chevy Tahoe is a ten speaker Bose counterpoint surround sound stereo. We enjoyed listening to satellite radio and “tortured” our children by forcing them to endure many hours of music from the 90s, Coffee House, and Lithium channels. The sound from the special effects in the kids’ action movies was so intense, we had to ask them to put on the headphones. The quality is really good.
Car safety keeps getting better
The 2015 Chevy Tahoe LTZ has amazing safety features I wish I had on my car. It has a standard rear view camera, but it also has a flashing light in the rear view mirror that alerts you when someone is in your blind spot. There is also a forward collision alert system. Chevy has equipped this SUV with radars and cameras to make it one of the safest vehicles on the road.
There are also sensors in your seat that vibrate if you are getting too close to another car or drifting out of your lane. We called them cattle prods, because they would buzz you when you switched lanes. An interesting safety feature, we weren’t sure how we felt about them, but a friend said she would love to have a car with these seat “buzzers” for her elderly father to keep him alert while driving. I think that could be very helpful.
The Chevy Tahoe was made for a road trip to Cooperstown! Credit: Kirsten Maxwell for AGirlsGuidetoCars
What We Loved
- Amazing gas mileage for a SUV
- Multiple USB ports and on the go wi-fi allowing for mobile offices on a long road trip
- Comfortable and quiet ride
- 8 inch touch screen display panel is easy to use and understand, easy to reach from driver’s seat
- Convenient push ignition start, no key needed
- Multiple camera and radar sensors to keep you safe on the road
- DVD system with wireless headphones so the kids could watch movies and we didn’t have to listen to them
What You Need to Know
- Base price: $62,000; price for the model I drove, with sunroof, entertainment package and aperitif cruise control, $72,380
- Fuel economy: 18 mpg (combined city/highway)
- Engine: 5.3 EcoTec3 V8 Engine
- Warranty: 2 Year Scheduled Maintenance: 2 years/24,000 miles, Bumper to Bumper Limited Warranty: 3 years/36,000 miles, Powertrain/Drive Train:100,000 miles
Disclosure: The Tahoe was provided to AGirlsGuidetoCars by Chevrolet for this review; the opinions expressed are all my own.