LANSDOWNE, MD. – Driving the 2007 Chevy Tahoe along Virginia’s winding two-lanes hooked us. After leaving behind the traffic and congestion of the Washington Beltway, the rural countryside revealed the superior driving dynamics of a conveyance mired in the social consciousness of size, fuel economy and crash compatibility. Thanks to a complete redesign, the 2007 Tahoe is space efficient, gets better fuel economy, and is engineered to be more crash-compatible with traditional passengers cars. Suddenly, out there cruising the Virginia back country, the completely redesigned 2007 Tahoe made all the sense in the world.

General Motors would tell you that 40 percent of its current Tahoe owners use their vehicle to transport children; 50 percent to haul tools, appliances and other large goods; 24 percent to carry sporting gear, such as bikes, canoes and equipment that requires a trailer; and that nearly 80 percent say they “sometimes or frequently” encounter harsh weather. But, we would tell you that the all-new 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe has improved performance, better looks, greater ease of operation, more upscale amenities, and a ride/handling mix that approaches near-luxury levels of competence.

All automakers tout the advantages of their new models, and it’s easy to get swept up in what ‘they’ say. The folks who have reengineered and redesigned the new 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe are rightfully proud of their new big cheese, but even if this rig wasn’t an impressive machine, Chevrolet spokespeople would tout it as the best model in its class just because the Tahoe is so darned important to GM. Designed to ferry up to nine riders and haul up to 7,700 lbs., the new Tahoe is charged with grabbing a sizeable portion of the 6.5 million full-size SUV owners scrambling along the roads of America today. To date, the Chevy Tahoe has been the best-selling big sport-ute since 2001, claiming some 26 percent of the market. Add the longer-wheelbased Suburban model’s catch, and the total represents 41 percent of all full-sized SUV registrations in the United States.

A truer test of any new mousetrap is to listen to what the experts say – those who drive dozens of new models back-to-back each year. Now that we’ve gotten a chance to sit behind the wheel, work the power adjustable pedals, and spend some time in the driver’s seat motoring through city traffic and along country roads, we can agree with GM’s in-house superlatives. The new 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe is a delightful blend of “living larger” and “driving smaller.”