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2015 Chevrolet and GMC Full-Size SUVs Improve Fuel Economy

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2015 Chevrolet and GMC Full-Size SUVs

The Chevy Tahoe

General Motors announced Monday that the 2015 Chevrolet and GMC full-size SUVs will all improve upon the fuel economy of the outgoing models by nearly 10 percent. The next iterations of the Chevy Tahoe and
Suburban
 and GMC Yukon Denali and Yukon XL Denali will all boost fuel efficiency without giving up any of their characteristic horsepower.

The 2015 Chevy Tahoe and Suburban will come standard with a 5.3-liter V8 that doles out around 355 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque. The engine utilizes an advanced combustion system to improve upon direct fuel injection, cylinder deactivation, and CVVT technologies to create a nearly 10 percent increase in highway fuel economy (23 mpg with 2WD) and a seven percent city mileage boost (16 mpg 2WD).

2015 Chevrolet and GMC Full-Size SUVs

The Tahoe interior

“Customers use the Tahoe and Suburban for everything from school runs to towing boats, and we’ve developed a powertrain that delivers greater efficiency without sacrificing the power they expect from a Chevrolet SUV,” said Sheryl Balsley, assistant chief engineer for Small Block engines, in a press release. “The capability of the engine to instantly switch to four-cylinder mode, for example, improves efficiency when less power is required, but delivers full eight-cylinder power whenever it’s needed.”

Of course, the same technology will be at the heart of the 2015 GMC Yukon Denali and Yukon XL Denali, which produce the same figures when equipped with the 5.3-liter V8. Unique to the Yukons, however, is a 6.2-liter V8 that creates 420 horses and 460 lb-ft of torque. These figures make the 2015 models top in their class without sacrificing much in the way of efficiency; the 6.2-liter V8-equipped models will get 15 mpg city/21 mpg highway in a 2WD configuration.

“GMC Yukon’s powertrains represent the rare instance where more power is delivered with less fuel consumption, giving customers the confidence of power on demand for any situation and the benefit of greater efficiency,” Balsley said about the GMC models. “The capability of the engines to instantly switch to four-cylinder mode, for example, improves efficiency when less power is required, but delivers full eight-cylinder power whenever it’s needed.”

With both 2015 Chevrolet and GMC full-size SUVs set to arrive at dealerships later this year, we can only expect more details as launch day nears.