2021 Chevy Suburban Duramax Diesel 30-MPG Challenge

Okay, so here's the setup

Can this 6,000 pound Chevy Suburban diesel get over 30 miles per gallon over a 50 mile loop of New Hampshire roads

it kind of seems like we're setting ourselves up for failure, but we're going to give it a try anyways

Hey everybody at Zane from GM-Trucks.com, and today we're going to do something really fun

We are going to squeeze out every last little bit of fuel economy performance

from the all-new 2021 Chevrox Chevrolet. suburban. Now the vehicle we're driving has the new 3.0-liter Durhamax diesel engine, so it's

perfect for getting the very last drop of fuel economy out of it. It's tuned for low-end performance

and just chugging along at speed. So let's find out. I'm going to set a goal for myself. I want to

try to get 30 miles per gallon in this thing. Let's see if we can do it. So the setup for today's

testing in our hopes to get 30 miles per gallon is we're going to kind of stack the deck

We're not going to cheat, but we're going to give ourselves the best possible roads in order to

achieve our goal. And what I mean by that is that we're going to stay away from the city

and all the traffic lights and stop and go traffic and we're going to focus exclusively on highways

and state roads. Today we're going to be traveling between 45 and 65 miles per hour

which should be our sweet spot and use that to try to get the best fuel economy possible

So the first thing you may be wondering is, Zane, how in the world are you going to get 30 miles per gallon in a suburban

And so I'll let me share with you a few of the tricks and tips that I use that would apply to any vehicle

whether it's the small Chevy Tracks or a full-size Silverado or a suburban

And it's really simple. It just basically equates to a few small things

And I don't know if you've heard this before, but the number one thing that will affect your fuel economy is your mood

If you in a terrible mood your fuel economy is going to suffer And conversely if you are relaxed and happy you going to be able to control your vehicle a little bit better and get a little bit more mileage out of it

And I know that kind of sounds a little counterintuitive that your mood could have such an effect

but trust me, it's one of the biggest contributors to your fuel economy

My first tip for getting good fuel economy in your vehicle is don't use the cruise control

While the cruise control is meant for keeping the same consistent speed, it is in no way designed or implemented in a way that will give you good fuel economy

The cruise control's singular goal is to keep you moving at one predetermined speed

It doesn't care how much throttle input it gives. It's going to give you as much or as little as it needs to keep that speed where you set it regardless of what the fuel economy

repercussions of that will be. My second tip is small inputs. Small inputs of the throttle and brake are a big key in getting good fuel economy

in your vehicle. If you are hammering the throttle and accelerating quickly or conversely having to really

apply the brakes and slow down, you're losing energy that you have established in your

vehicle and momentum. and that is really the key to good fuel economy is not using a lot of throttle and not using a lot of brake

So we've talked about not using your cruise control and being light on your throttle and brake

And so that leads us to conserving your momentum. If you've spent gas to accelerate, one of the things that you can do that will hurt your fuel economy is using your brake to dissipate that momentum or energy

If you don't need to be doing that, you're costing yourself fuel economy

And conversely, if you're accelerating faster than you need to be, you are wasting more fuel

So conserving momentum is basically the overarching theme of getting good fuel economy in your vehicle

So what are we going to be using to measure our fuel economy today? Well, one of the great features of the Suburban is it has Chevrolet's Driver Information Center

And in that gauge cluster or information center that's in front of you, you get a lot of information

From how much airs in your tires to how much fuel you're using

And one of the screens that they have is the fuel economy screen

And it shows us two things. It shows us what our fuel economy has been over a set period whether it 25 50 or 500 miles and it also shows us our instantaneous fuel economy And when you combine those two figures together it really allows you to not only

monitor what kind of fuel economy you're getting at any given moment, but judge that based on

the goal that you've set for yourself or your historical fuel economy. So with that in mind

I've been driving the Suburban for a couple days leading up to today's test, and I was averaging

around 25 miles per gallon. And just since we've started talking, I've implemented a lot of those

key tips that I was talking about. And we've been able, believe it or not, to raise the fuel

economy up to 32.7 miles per gallon. And I am not joking, this is far above the 26 months

per gallon that Chevy rates the suburban for the highway and just a little bit of effort

being light-spirred and having fun light on the throttle and conserving my momentum

combined with being on roads that are as flat as possible and around 50 miles an hour

and this suburban is really performing I am absolutely stunned that we have been able to

eke out this level of fuel economy and it just went up to 32 I am totally impressed with the 3-liter Durhamax diesel here in this suburban. Who knew a full-size

SUV could get over 32 miles to the gallon? I am so blown away. It's not like we're even being

unfair or testing on a flat road where of course we'd get good fuel economy. We're driving in

genuine normal New Hampshire everyday roads where the speed level. limit has been between 50 to 65 miles an hour. These are the types of roads I drive on every day

And I thought it was going to be an absolute stretch to get 30 miles per gallon. I plan this test

out knowing that it was going to be super hard or at least thinking it was going to be super

hard. And not only did we get 30 miles per gallon, we bested that by 2.8 miles per gallon for

32.8 miles per gallon in the 3-liter Durhamax Chevy Suburban. I am just, my mind is blown. I cannot

even believe that the biggest vehicle Chevy makes now can get over 30 miles to the gallon

I mean what does this world come to It this is amazing I can believe that we have been able to get 32 miles per gallon average in the last 50 miles It truly impressive for a suburban

So when you're talking about huge fuel economy numbers, the next thing that goes along with that is large range numbers

how far can you go on one tank of gas? And that's another big benefit for the Chevy Suburban

Our full-size Silverado with a 6.2-liter engine goes anywhere between 350 and 450 miles on a single tank of gas

But right now I'm looking at the Driver Information Center on this Suburban

and I'm seeing a fuel range of 687 miles. And I filled this thing up yesterday, which is enough range that means I could drive from here in New Hampshire all the way to Detroit, Michigan, without ever having to stop and fill up the tank

Well, that definitely didn't go as planned. I thought we were going to have a super difficult time getting anywhere near 30 miles per gallon, especially considering this is a full-size SUV

But not only did we get 30 miles per gallon, we crushed it at 32.8 miles per gallon

So I guess that just goes to show. If you're thinking about a full-sized Tahoe or suburban, but you're worried that the fuel economy is just going to be too little for you to drive it on a daily basis

the 3.0-liter Durhamax diesel is going to be your choice. It not only gets great fuel economy, but incredible smoothness and a massive range for you to be able to drive it for miles and miles and miles without ever having to visit the pump

So if you want to talk to more people who own Suburbanes like this or full-sized trucks or any type of GM truck or SUV, head on over to GM-trucks.com

Again, I'm Zane Merva, and I'll see you on the next video. Thank you