Peace of Mind Built into 2015 Chevy Tahoe

By Bill McLauchlan

Ever had your vehicle stolen? How about broken into and its contents ripped off? Speaking from personal experience it’s a gut wrenching experience – in my case the car was just 10 days old. Apart from any recovery or repair costs, associated insurance aggravation and inconvenience, part of the aftermath is a heightened sensitivity about where you park and whether it’ll be there when you return.

Well, Bucko, if that’s what’s troubling you, Chevrolet’s 2015 Tahoe offers a new level of security to put your mind at ease, in a vehicle designed to deter thieves who target vehicle parts.

© General Motors

Thwarting theft was a design focus of Chevrolet’s full-size SUV. New standard features include a steering column lock that deters push-away and tow-away theft – a significant portion of today’s stolen vehicle incidents; side cut keys that deter lock picking and more robust door lock cylinders and shields to prevent access with slim jims and other tools.

© General Motors

Also new are some creative and hidden storage features, such as a compartment behind the available infotainment screen; and third-row seats that are bolted down, all but eliminating theft of third-row seats (which are removable in the current generation full-size SUVs). In 2015 models, the second and third rows fold flat to make storing cargo easier.

Available on the Tahoe’s LT and LTZ trim is a Theft Protection Package, which brings glass breakage sensors, interior motion sensors, and an inclination/tilt sensor – all of which sound an alarm if the vehicle is lifted off the ground, attempted to be broken into, or if motion is detected within the vehicle when the alarm is armed. Additional features reinforce key control systems to make it more difficult to start or move the vehicle without an authorized key.

“We have engineered a layered approach to vehicle security,” said Bill Biondo, General Motors’ Global Vehicle Security lead. “We are making the new Tahoe a less attractive target to thieves and more secure for our customers.”

360 degrees of safety
Everyday safety is also taken care of by new technologies – including radar – that contributes to 360 degrees of crash avoidance and occupant protection. Standard and available features include forward collision alert, front park assist, lane departure warning, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert and adaptive cruise control.

With lane change assist, a warning aid helps the driver avoid crashes with vehicles in the next lane. Radar technology coverage is one lane over from both side mirrors and extends back approximately 70 meters from the side mirror. An orange vehicle symbol in side mirrors illuminates to alert the driver against changing lanes.

An available Safety Alert Seat feature offers directional vibrations to alert the driver about potential crash threats, giving a driver a better sense of the direction of a potential threat than beeping that can compete with other noises in the vehicle.

The Tahoe also offers the segment’s only front-seat centre air bag, in bucket-seat models. That air bag is engineered to provide additional protection for drivers and front passengers in far-side impact crashes, where the affected occupant is on the opposite, non-struck side of the vehicle.

© General Motors

If a Tahoe is stolen its standard OnStar system can help by blocking the ignition circuit, pinpoint its location or help law enforcement in pursuit by electronically reducing power to slow the vehicle for recovery.

The new 2015 Tahoe (and its Suburban sibling) are scheduled to arrive in dealerships in the first quarter of 2014.