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Front Comfort

Both of our Chevrolet Suburban LT’s front seats offered 8-way power adjustment with heating for the seatback and bottom cushion, plus power lumbar adjustment. They were very comfortable seats. The center storage box is a good spot to rest an elbow, too, and includes a handy rubber-lined storage tray in the center. There’s plenty of leg and head room, as well as hip and shoulder room. However, I didn’t like the door panel design. The upper sill needs to be wider to serve as a comfortable spot to rest an arm while driving. Side steps are almost a given considering how tall the Suburban is.

Rear Comfort

The Suburban’s second-row bench sits lower than expected, but is dished for good thigh support. Rear seat leg room is tighter than it should be in a vehicle this large, but only when tall people are riding up front. The third row is not comfortable for adults, about on par with a typical minivan. I managed to ride in moderate discomfort on a journey from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles – about 100 miles in 90 minutes. It is a seating position to be endured. Leg and foot space are tight and the seatback is too vertical for comfort. Tumble the second-row seats and the third-row transforms to limo-like comfort.

Loading Cargo

Equipped with the optional power tailgate, a nice feature especially for shorter people who might not be able to reach to pull the tailgate closed, our Chevrolet Suburban offered plenty of cargo room. Liftover height was significant because the Suburban is a tall, body-on-frame vehicle. To get a flat load floor, the third-row seats had to be removed but they were reasonably light, if difficult to reach across the cargo area. On our test Suburban, the second-row seats were power fold-and-tumble units; the resulting space was large but not flat.