LIKES
- Car-like interior
- Massive V-8 power
- 8,300-pound towing
- Cavernous space
DISLIKES
- Massive outside
- Expensive
- Not much standard equipment
- Truck-like fuel economy
BUYING TIP
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban can haul the family and its gear in relative comfort and style, as well as tow the toys.
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban is the largest full-size SUV on the market. It’s based on the Chevy Silverado pickup truck, but meant to haul up to nine people, and large enough to haul the starting unit for the local basketball or hockey team, plus gear. It can tow the substitutes, too.
The Suburban got a much needed redesign for 2021, so the 2020 is a carryover model that dealers will likely cut prices to move it off lots. That’s your gain for the timeless Jurassic classic. The excellent towing capacity, upscale interior, and V-8 engine options have aged well, earning the 2020 Chevy Suburban a 6.0 out of a possible 10 points.
The 2020 Suburban includes the LS, LT, and Premier trims, and offers seating for up to nine occupants (on base LS models only) and rear- or four-wheel drive. A 355-horsepower 5.3-liter V-8 with 6-speed automatic is standard, and the powerful 420-hp 6.2-liter V-8 from elsewhere in GM’s lineup is available with the Premier trim in certain configurations.
If the massive Suburban is too big for your garage, Chevy offers the smaller Tahoe on the same platform, with essentially the same looks and equipment. For a more upscale appeal, there is the GMC Yukon XL, while the Cadillac Escalade ESV offers even more refinement.
Inside, the Suburban comes with an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. Cloth upholstery and a three-position bench seat are standard on the Suburban LS, but most buyers will choose the LT trim or above, which swaps in heated and cooled leather captain’s chairs as a second-row option. All seats fold flat for a cavernous 121.7 cubic feet of maximum cargo capacity, and if that’s somehow not enough space, you’re probably going to need a party bus.
Styling
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban is an ageless classic, like the bowtie.
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban balances a handsome exterior with a comfy interior to earn a 6 out of 10 points on our scale.
The two-box design with the stacked headlights and broad fascia can be blacked out in LT Midnight Editions, buffed up in Texas Editions, or tweaked for performance cues in RST Editions in Premier trim. There are plenty of packages to customize it to your liking, inside and out.
Inside, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and premium cloth front bucket seats are standard. Fake wood and plastic chrome feel right at home in the base and mid-grade models, and the deep truck-like storage areas in the cabin keep the family needs front and center. Real open-pore wood and leather surfaces deck the Premier trim; we hope the kids are old enough to appreciate it. A front-row split bench seat is available on base LS models to sit nine people, three in each row. But the middle passenger up front might want more leg room.
Performance
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban has two V-8 engines for all the power you could possibly need, though it may not be as efficient as newer models.
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban is large by design, and moving the nearly 6,000-pound full-size SUV requires large engines. GM’s V-8s are more than capable. We’ve given it a 6 out of 10 for its smooth ride and strong engines.
The 5.3-liter V-8 comes with a 6-speed automatic to make 355 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque with either rear- or four-wheel drive. In Premier trim, the 6.2-liter V-8 pairs with a 10-speed automatic for about $5,500 via the RST Performance or Premier Plus Special Edition Packages. This familiar engine in Chevy’s lineup makes 420 hp and 460 pound-feet has cylinder deactivation to optimize fuel economy, but it will only get 17 mpg, which is only 1 mpg behind the 5.3-liter.
When properly equipped, the four-wheel-drive Suburban can tow up to 8,000 pounds, while rear-wheel drive models pull 300 pounds more.
Comfort & Quality
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban has one job to do, haul people and their things, and it does it well.
The 2020 Suburban earns above-average scores for front and rear seat comfort, and quality materials for a total score of 8 out of 10.
Up to nine people can sit in cloth, leather, or perforated leather, while soft-touch surfaces and wood, chrome and black adorn the cabin. Up front, most buyers will opt for bucket seats and a deep and wide center console instead of that middle seat. The third-row seat is easy to access with a power-folding second row and ample leg room even for adults. This is one reason why its the livery of choice on airport and other shuttle runs. It rides so much smoother than the pickup truck it’s based on.
The Suburban provides nearly 40 cubic feet of space with all seats up, and that increases to 77 cubic feet with the third row folded flat. Both aft rows fold down for 122 cubic feet, which ties the GMC Yukon for the most cargo space of any passenger vehicle.
Safety
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban offers ample crash safety tech, but a four-star rating from the NHTSA is concerning.
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban has available active safety features packs but none are standard equipment. While it hasn’t been crash-tested by the IIHS, the insurance-funded group rated its child safety seat anchors at “Marginal” for ease of using the LATCH system. Moreover, the NHTSA gave it four out of five stars, a relatively low score. As a result, we’re unable to give it a full score for safety, but it wouldn’t be very good as it stands right now.
The Enhanced Driver Alert Package adds low-speed automatic emergency braking, automatic high-beam headlights, and active lane control to the LS package as an option and comes standard on the LT and Premier trims.
The NHTSA noted that its high center of gravity contributes to a greater rollover risk, though it performed well on side crash tests. The sheer size and weight of the Suburban help it in crashes, but we expect the 2021 model to be safer.
The 2020 Chevrolet Suburban offers full-size features at a full-size price.
Available in LS, LT, and Premier trim levels, the full-size SUV starts at $53,000 and climbs to more than $80,000 with packages. All of the available features let you have whatever type of Suburban you want, which is why we give it 7 out of 10 points for features.
The base LS trim starts at about $53,000 (add $3,000 for four-wheel drive across the board) and comes with cloth upholstery, power adjustable front seats, three-zone climate control, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, and an 8.0-inch touchscreen.
For just $695 more on the LS, the Enhanced Driver Alert Package includes automatic low-speed emergency braking, forward collision alert, active lane control, safety alert seat that vibrates a warning, and high-beam assist. While we wish it were standard equipment at this price point, it inexpensively adds vital safety tech without needing to upgrade to the LT trim.
The 2020 Suburban LT starts at about $5,000 more, and includes the active safety tech, leather seats, heated fronts, a Bose audio system, and a power liftgate.
The Premier trim tops the Suburban range for $9,000 more than LT, and adds ventilated front seats, blind spot monitors, a more powerful Bose system, a hands-free liftgate, and keyless ignition. For 2020, Premier buyers can upgrade to the more powerful 6.2-liter V-8 with the 10-speed automatic starting at more than $72,000, which includes a head-up display and adaptive cruise control.
The Premier Plus package offers basically every option in the book with a more visual flair, but at that point the Cadillac ESV might be the better value.
Fuel Economy
Thanks to engines that can shut down four cylinders and a new 10-speed transmission, the 2020 Chevrolet Suburban is reasonably efficient for its size.
For an older model with an old V-8 engine, the 2020 Chevrolet Suburban tries to run lean with cylinder deactivation, which shuts down four of the eight cylinders on highway cruising. That warrants a 3 out of 10 on our scale.
Rear-wheel drive models are the lightest and most efficient of the bunch, with an EPA-estimated 15 mpg city, 22 highway, 18 combined for the 5.3-liter V-8. Four-wheel drive brings those figures down to 14/21/16 mpg, but with a 31-gallon tank you may need not have to stop at every gas station along the way. Maybe. The available 6.2-liter V-8 with 10-speed automatic transmission gets 14/20/16 mpg.
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