By Twain Mein

Pros:

• Very smooth ride
• Plenty of power
• Yep-18 miles per gallon

Cons:

• Expensive
• Susceptible to winds
• WIDE

Introduction
This is GM’s bold entry into the Hybrid SUV market. At first glance, the all black beast was intimidating yet “friendly” with its hybrid decals plastered about. What would it be like?

Driving Impressions
There is pretty much nothing as intimidating as GM’s class of SUVs, the Yukon/Tahoe and Suburban. They’re huge and stereo-typed for being gas-guzzlers, but also luxurious. What about one that says “HYBRID”? How would people react? I have to say, I was driving around with a grin, wondering what people would think of this nearly 3 ton dichotomy. I did notice puzzled looks from other people on the roads. I even accosted a Prius driver in the company parking lot who concluded that a hybrid version was a better choice—if you chose an SUV in the first place. I even showed it to my sister and her equally Eco-minded friends who, like her, have 2 kids and a dog; they were fascinated and seemed almost guilty that they really like the concept of a huge SUV with hybrid efficiency. It was as if they’d been conditioned to dislike these beasts though secretly liking the utility.

Build
GM has really perfected this platform. Very solid—at 5,840 pounds according to Car and Driver, it better be. The Yukon has great fit and finish with luxurious materials throughout the cabin. Overall, it’s very impressive.

Interior Comfort and Ergonomics
I was impressed by the gorgeous interior of the Yukon Hybrid. The dash is well laid out; controls are easy to understand and use (much better than the Acura MDX). And there is the awesome back-up camera. Very useful when maneuvering a vehicle that has the dimensions of a water buffalo.

Unfortunately, the headphones for the DVD player did not work (the massively thick owner’s manual suggested low batteries but I did not try replacing them). Regardless, I ran the DVD audio through the car speaker system to the absolute delight of my 5 year old.

The driver’s seat never felt truly comfortable to me; for some reason, my pants kept riding up and I couldn’t find a position to alleviate that.

There is also no “dead pedal”—and because the interior is so wide, you sort of feel lost without that additional thing to brace against.

The biggest drawback, though, is the 2^nd row seat. For such a massive auto, there is less knee and leg room than the Toyota Hybrid. This seems inexcusable. Further, the pillar that separates the front row from the second row is huge; this creates a narrow opening that is awkward to climb in to and negotiate between the front seats and the rear.

This vehicle did not have the 3^rd row seats installed, though I have driven others with them. The third row is very difficult to get in to with a bench second row. It is also cramped and not suitable for adults. Cargo room is impinged upon in the rear by massive side bolsters. Yukon/Tahoe have large interior space not because of length but because of width and depth. This is not always useful when hauling long items.

Performance
The 2-mode hybrid system of the Yukon/Tahoe combines a 6.0 liter V-8 with 332hp/367lb-ft of torque gas motor with two 80 hp/118 lb/torque electric engines. On paper, that’s over 500 pounds of torque! In practice, there was plenty of pep. However, when merging onto freeways at full throttle, there seems to be a lag at 4200 rpm as it looks for the next gear. This is odd because the Yukon employs a dual transmission; CVT under normal circumstance with a manual transmission for towing. Around town, there was plenty of torque and it was easy to, ahem, get it sideways, with aggressive acceleration.

Most importantly, I got 17.5 - 19 MPG during the test period with an 18 MPG average. That is absolutely impressive.

The side profile of the Yukon has as much surface area as a billboard advertising the next truck stop, such that it is annoyingly susceptibility to cross-winds. When waiting for turn lights and traffic whizzing past, the boat, uh Yukon, would move from side to side. I didn’t notice it too much while driving but I wouldn’t want to be on a windy freeway with semis passing by. I’ve never felt this much movement from any car, ever.

The Yukon is also a very wide vehicle. Parking requires extreme accuracy to fit between the white lines. And be careful opening the huge doors to avoid dinging your neighbors.

Handling
For a huge SUV, that, to reiterate, weighs 3 tons with driver on board, the handling and ride quality is miraculous. The dampening is good; body roll is minimal, while the ride is still incredibly smooth. The only hints of its largess are going over “whoops” in the road where it takes a while to settle back down. Overall, very, very impressive.

Styling
GM added aerodynamic aids to the front end of this beast such as a very large air dam. This combines for an incredibly impressive drag coefficient of .34. And dressed in menacing black, this looks simply bad ass—though my wife thought it was trying too hard (boy-racer meets red neck) and really didn’t want to be caught behind the wheel. Paradoxically, the multitude of HYBRID stickers and gee-gaws make it look a bit strange. The wheels are a bit underwhelming and I would have preferred the 20 inchers that come stock on non-hybrids.

Value
A loaded hybrid Yukon like this stickers for about 56-large, about $5,000 more than a non-hybrid with the same options (note: the Chevy Tahoe is less expensive by a small margin when compared to the Yukon). And GM isn’t making a lot of them so there may be a premium. That is a lot of money. That being said, it offers 18 mpg versus 12. At $4/gallon for 15,000 miles per year, you’d save $1,660 in one year. So, two years to pay for the hybrid upgrade. That’s faster ROI than most hybrid options.

Conclusion
I spent several hours tooling around in this beast. And I have to say, for the most part, it felt truly luxurious. Amazing ride quality, superb materials, great power, intimidating road presence, while still getting around 18 mpg. I really got to like it. Major nits were driver seat comfort, cargo utility, and second row seat that should have had more leg room.

Who should buy it?
If you love the feel of big GM SUVS and need to tow up to 6000 pounds, this vehicle offers the best of all worlds. If you have kids and a lot of gear, consider a minivan; more usable interior space with about the same gas mileage. Unless, of course, you like the large presence of a super-size SUV not worry about having to refill the gas tank every other day.