When sales are concerned, currently Tahoe is undeniably leading the charts while all competitors are far below. Together with Suburban, it reached over 160k units last year, while things like Armada, QX80, and Sequoia struggle to touch a tenth of that. Yet, its figures at the beginning of the millennium were nearly twice of the current ones and Expedition manage to be sold in almost 60k units last year despite being grossly dated.
After a decade new Expedition is set to arrive in dealerships near the end of this year and while it is hardly going to outsell, on its own, whole bunch of GM variations, as Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon and Yukon XL pour money into the same bank, it will undeniably make a big dent in GM’s financial reports. It is after all based on the best selling truck of all times. Chevy knows that and since Tahoe is on the sale from 2014, here is something to keep us interested, and it comes in the form of 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe RST.
WHAT IS IT?
RST stands for Rally Sport Truck, and it tries to make sporty looking over the 200-inch long beast. We could all argue whether full-size SUV can carry any sporty connotations, considering enormous size and bulkiness, but what’s wrong with some visual delicacy shooting in that direction? If you ever wanted a spicy appearance from Tahoe or Suburban, your wish has just been granted.
2018 Chevrolet Tahoe RST STYLING
2018 Chevrolet Tahoe RST brings only styling changes to the exterior, while upgrades that this trim brings are also available for Suburban. You have four special colors, and the car is denied off almost all chrome that existed in abundance before. Grille has fewer slats, while they are gloss black now its outer sides are body colored. Black is a reoccurring theme as it covers badges, mirrors, window surround and D-pillars.
Add to that sporty looking 22-inch bi-colored alloys, and the result is quite interesting. RST hasn’t turned it into a sports car, but neither TRD Sport did that to Sequoia, and both are undeniably more special.
MORE THAN STYLING
RST doesn’t bring more than just styling touches, but if you opt for it, you have the opportunity to go for Performance package, which is reserved just for Tahoe. You can’t go straight for that package without RST as Chevy obviously wasn’t in the mood to allow better under the skin stuff coming without proper exterior clues about that. With opting for it, you’ll end with 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V8 boosting 426 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque.
That is the same engine that goes under the bonnet of Camaros and Corvettes, though with more power there. We don’t mind as it is a lot stronger than usual thing under Tahoe hood or the 5.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 delivering 340 hp and 383 lb-ft. Acceleration time of 5.7 seconds is quite an achievement compared to 7.2 seconds for smaller V8.
With that powerplant you’ll get 10-speed automatic, one co-developed with Ford, instead of existing 6-speed one, and you’ll get Magnetic Ride Control suspension. Yes, that is same suspension making capable Camaro and Vett of destroying everything on the race tracks. Those are also same things that you get with Yukon in Denali trim, kind of diluting GMC upmarket tendencies, but most of us didn’t buy that story about positioning GMC above Chevrolet, especially when confronted with almost insignificant differences.
EVEN MORE
You can even go further, above all mentioned, and check out optional Borla exhaust which could, besides sounding and looking great, add up to 10 hp, along with front Brembo brake package featuring calipers with six pistons and significantly larger rotors, which will undeniably help with stopping close to 6,000 pounds monster.
In order to wipe out the sadness of your face, if you were considering going after gaping cargo space of Suburban, while planning to garnish it with RST visual delights, but left disappointed knowing that Performance package is out of the reach, do know that you can opt for Borla and Brembo even without RST. On the other hand, if you wanted Tahoe, but a special one, and you were ready to cash out over $20k above starting price tag of $48k, what are you waiting for?
