Families never stop being an important factor when it comes to finding the right kind of vehicle, and Chevy keeps that in mind even with their luxury-themed Suburban. In fact, the Suburban is probably best known for its great look and luxurious, celebrity-ready interior. Believe it or not, there’s more to this full-size SUV than that, especially when it comes to features for families. Maybe there are some features you didn’t know about the 2021 Chevy Suburban that make it great for families.
For instance, the full-size SUV features seating for up to 9 people. This gives everybody a lot of room for passengers across three rows. The comfort features, technology, and safety all contribute to what makes for a great family vehicle, even if the Suburban is probably best known for chauffeuring around various celebrities. It’s time to break down why the Suburban makes for a great family vehicle, rising above its own prestige as the Hollywood SUV.
Enough Seats for Everyone…Even the Dog
As mentioned, the Chevy Suburban sports seating for up to 9 people. You can have the full-size SUV configured for just 7 or 8, though. That is, if you want dual sets of captain chairs in the first and second row, with a split-bench for the third row. This kind of optional configuration is great if maybe you have a couple of kids and a dog. You can use the 7-seater configuration for the kids and let the dog take the third bench all to himself. Besides, he could use the extra room to stretch his paws.
With the 8-seat configuration, you have access to a second and third row made up of bench seats. The seating breaks down to 40/20/40 split-bench seats for the second and third row. Upfront, you have total access to 42.30-inches of headroom, 44.50-inches of legroom, 66-inches of shoulder room, and 61.50-inches of hip room. You have very similar measurements for the second and third-row as well, with lots of space behind the third row for additional storage. There are even options for multiple lower-anchors and tethers (LATCH) connectors for small children, making it great for starter and veteran families alike.
The top-end of the Suburban’s passenger capacity sees up to 9 people being able to sit across all three rows. How this works is that the LT trim allows you to take advantage of an optional split-bench for the front row. Specifically, instead of having two front-row captain chairs, you would have a 40/20/40 split-bench front seat, so three people can sit upfront. Then you would have two additional rows of seats, each seating up to 3 people. If you have an extremely large family, then this setup is perfect. Maybe if you also have a medium family, but you also carpool other kids to school or cohorts to work, then it’s another big bonus being a full-size SUV.
Cargo Capacity for All Those Gadgets, Gizmos, and Gear
When you have a family, you have to consider that one or more of your kids always has something with them; requires storage for some school project, or needs a lot of space for a gadget, gizmo, or maybe gear for a school trip. A lot of full-size SUVs really hammer home how much space they have, but let’s put this into context. The 2021 Suburban gives you access to 144.7-cubic feet of cargo volume behind the first row. That’s the equivalent of 4 cubic meters of space, or up to 105.4-inches of cargo area length from the floor to the first row seats.
As many reviewers have pointed out, the Suburban has the largest amount of cargo volume out of all of the full-size competitors on the market. In the same way that it might make for an unwieldy mammoth on four wheels, you also have to consider that if you absolutely needed all that actual space, the Suburban provides it in spades. You can fold down the second and third-row seats for all the additional cargo volume, using it for all sorts of stuff.
If you planned on going on vacation or taking the family on a road trip, you can pack the kids into the second row and then fold down the third row. This way, you have a total cargo volume of 93.8-cubic feet to store whatever you want in the back. If you have a large family, you can fill out all three rows and still have up to 41.5-cubic feet of space to store camping gear, luggage, travel items, or anything else you can think of. In fact, you have more cargo volume behind the third row than you have in total passenger space for some small sedans. That really gives you an idea of just how much space you have to work with in the 2021 Suburban.
Keep Everyone Occupied With Multimedia Functionality
When you have small kids riding in the back of the SUV, you can almost guarantee that someone will be grumpy, discontent, or disruptive at some point during the ride. Every parent knows what that can be like. However, newer vehicles have accommodated drivers and passengers with the very much-appreciated infotainment suite to keep not only drivers focused on the road but also keep passengers busy in the back. The ability to stream multimedia or access multiple touchscreens makes the Suburban a life-saver when you want the kids to stay entertained without having to worry about being pestered (or having the kids pester each other) throughout the entire ride.
With the Suburban, you not only have a standard 10.2-inch diagonal high-definition Chevrolet Infotainment System 3 Plus system installed on the front dash of most trims but there’s also the availability of the Rear Media and Nav Package. This spruces up the Suburban with 12.6-inch diagonal high-definition touchscreens. It’s like having a large, HD tablet staring you right in the face on your way to school, to band practice, or to karate class. But these rear-row multimedia devices get even better.
With dual HDMI and USB ports, along with wireless Bluetooth support, you can plug in a number of different devices, ranging from smartphones and tablets to MP3 players and streaming devices. What’s more is that you can even hook up game consoles to the screens, which is great if you want to keep the kids playing their favorite video game during those long road trips. The driver or front passenger can also control what’s on display in the rear infotainment devices using simple push-button controls. It’s a perfect setup if you need to mute or turn off the display for the rear occupants, giving parents total control over what media the kids are consuming.
Safety for All
Safety is a huge issue when it comes to picking the right vehicle for your family. You certainly don’t want a crash-prone SUV ferrying around your family, right? Well, the Chevy Suburban comes equipped with plenty of active and passive safety features to keep everyone safe on the road.
The added bonus of having both active and passive safety features makes the 2021 Chevy Suburban look even more appealing for safety-conscious drivers with a family to think about. A lot of the standard safety alert systems, from the Forward Collision Alert to the Following Distance Indicator, all come standard. This is in addition to the Suburban coming equipped with features such as Front Pedestrian Braking and Automatic Emergency Braking to make your reaction times in potentially hazardous situations even faster.
The Suburban Is Really Great for Families
Simply put, there’s a litany of safety features that come standard on the Suburban. This not only makes it a great vehicle to keep the kids entertained, to provide a lot of space for small and large family members alike but also making sure that everyone is kept safe and secure no matter what your destination is. The Suburban may be large, but it makes great use of its size, especially for families.
