The Best SUV Chevy Has Ever Built

Although 2006 is in its infancy, I recently spent the day driving Chevy's new 2007 Tahoe SUV. GM introduced the full-size rig to

Chevy introduced the full-size 2007 Tahoe to an assortment of auto journalists in Arizona. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

an assortment of auto journalists in none other than sunny Arizona; but if you think the plan was to simply drive the latest GM product down Scottsdale's cacti-lined Boulevards, guess again. Our route took us along a series of secondary highways that connected Lake Roosevelt to Tortilla Flats via the Apache Trail. As Terry Woychowski put it, Chevy's Chief Engineer for full-size trucks, "If we didn't have confidence in this vehicle, we wouldn't have tackled the Apache Trail," a dust-laden roller coaster of a dirt road that clings to canyon walls, dipping and diving hundreds of metres (900 feet) at a time. This former supply trail is characterized by blind hairpin turns, severe wash-boarding and steep inclines - the compilation of which push a vehicle's traction and handling capabilities to the max.

With interior craftsmanship and design beginning to fail the test of time, combined

Most apparent to the eye in transformation from 2006 to 2007 model year, is the new Tahoe's tremendously clean sheet metal, (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

with exterior styling that was long in the tooth, there's little arguing that Chevy needed to pay some immediate attention to its full-size line of SUVs. To rectify the detractions, the bowtie division didn't just plaster on a new front grille and throw in a revised instrument panel. No, they pretty much re-did the Tahoe from rubber to roof. Most apparent to the eye is its tremendously clean sheet metal, which by the way has resulted in a remarkable 0.36 co-efficient of drag (CD) - that's equivalent to the sleek C4 generation of Corvette (1992-1996) incidentally. And of course the better the CD, the better the fuel economy. Plus, a slippery shape generates less atmospheric turbulence, translation: reduced wind noise. Anytime an auto manufacturer can move something roughly the shape of a breadbox down a highway without it producing wind noise equivalent to a category-5 hurricane, progress has been made.