It’s not very often that a full-size SUV is also fun to drive. Usually driving anything that can seat up to nine passengers is a slow-and-steady experience.
So imagine my surprise, when on a Chevrolet-sponsored press drive in Texas, I found myself giddy and grinning behind the wheel of the 2018 Tahoe RST.
The Chevrolet Tahoe is a true body-on-frame SUV that also provides the architecture for the longer, big-boy Suburban. The RST — which stands for Rally Sport Truck — starts as either a Premier or LT model and adds a $2,630 appearance package with blacked out trim, body-color door handles and 22-inch gloss black wheels.
The Tahoe RST’s 10-speed automatic transmission is a retuned version of the one used in the Camaro ZL1. With 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque on tap from the 6.2-liter small-block V8, the powertrain provides a clean line of acceleration with exceptionally smooth shifts. Chevy says that hitting 60 miles per hour takes just 5.7 seconds, which is pretty impressive for a four-wheel-drive SUV that weighs north of 5,600 pounds.
Tahoe pricing starts at a reasonable $48,745 for an LS model with two-wheel drive, a high-end, four-wheel drive Premier starts at $65,130. Add the RST packages, a $2,885 entertainment package, $2,795 for upgraded front brakes (which oddly isn’t part of the RST Performance Package) and a few other baubles and the price works out to a lofty $78,155.
That’s certainly a lot of coin to pony up for a Tahoe, but the added kick of the 6.2-liter V8 makes the RST a bit of a sleeper. A very large sleeper.
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