General Motors introduced the all-new 2021 Chevy Tahoe late last year, uncovering a fresh fifth generation model complete with a ground-up overhaul. Naturally, the folks over at Hennessey Performance Engineering were eager to get their hands on the SUV to see what sort of power it could make, as seen in the following brief video.
Clocking in at just one-minute, 11 seconds, the video is pretty straightforward, showing the 2021 Chevy Tahoe laying into the loud pedal as its rear wheels spin the dyno rollers. However, while this upgraded Tahoe definitely sounds meaner than stock, it isn’t all that different from the model you’d get off the showroom floor.
Final numbers from the 2021 Chevy Tahoe’s 6.2L V8 L87 gas engine come in at 369 horsepower and 397 pound-feet of torque at the rear wheels. Compare that to the manufacturer’s claim of 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque, and it’s looking like this particular Tahoe isn’t too far from stock.
“Sorry folks, that’s as much as it’s going to make as the new 2021 GM SUVs (Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon/Denali and Escalade) have locked ECUs and thus cannot be modified beyond a cold air intake and cat-back exhaust,” reads the video description. “We hope that GM will consider working with SEMA and the aftermarket industry to come up with a tuning solution for these vehicles, but for now and the foreseeable future, stock power is about all you’re going to get out of their new vehicles.”
Indeed, we also would like to see all those eager tuners out there get the tools they need to uncork GM’s new full-size SUVs and make big power. For example, Hennessey Performance offers upgrades up to 800 horsepower for the previous-generation Tahoe.
Regardless, we’re sure that where there’s a will, there’s a way, and that eventually, the 2021 Chevy Tahoe will match (and even beat) the previous-gen’s power potential. In the meantime, hit play and listen to this lightly modified SUV do its thing on the dyno.
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Comments
Best thing they could do for performance on that is some lightweight 20″ wheels. GM 22s are very heavy.
20’s?? It needs a lift kit and some 35’s! And why not use the engine from the Vette? More power!!!!
Nothing surprising given that this is a stock 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe without any aftermarket tuning; but one could imagine if Hennessey dropped one of their supercharged engines into the Chevy Tahoe as it could perform like a C8 Corvette given it had enough horsepower.
I have a 97 Tahoe 5.7 vortex with 180,000 miles, unbelievably still strong, 19 highway, 15 in the city. What up grade’s do you suggest!?
I work for GM at the proving grounds and can tell you first hand that GM engines REALLY break in at 10K miles so this doesn’t surprise me at all.