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Has your family grown beyond expectations? Or have your expectations grown beyond fitting the family in a mini-van?

Do all the kids on the Little-League soccer team have your last name sewn on their jerseys-and you aren’t the team’s sponsor?

Then it’s time for you to check out the Suburban, the nine-passenger people-hauler/trailer-tower best known as a product from Chevrolet, but which also is the name given to GMC Truck’s version of a people-mover.

The rap against Suburban, the Chevy and GMC versions, was that it was proneto rust. You could watch the metal dissolve before your eyes. It also consumedfuel at a feverish rate. You could burn a tank of petrol getting out of your driveway.

In the 1992 model year, GM woke up to the realities of the market, acknowledging that seating nine people in a hollowed-out, rusted shell didn’t make for nine happy campers. So it redesigned Suburban and used galvanized metal to fight rust.

The redesign meant the vehicle was a bit more aerodynamic and lighter, so fuel economy increased-by 1 m.p.g. city and highway. One of two solutions is better than none.

We test-drove the slimmer, trimmer ’94 GMC Suburban in two-wheel-drive version. With two-wheel drive rather than four-wheel drive, the Suburban gets its best fuel economy. Unfortunately, that means 13 m.p.g. city/17 highway with the 5.7-liter, 210-horsepower V-8 engine. Based on the number of stops wemade at the filling station in a week (the owner asked us to be the godparent for his kid), the rating seems overly optimistic. A 42-gallon tank is standard.

GM needs to get with the program and boost mileage by 4 m.p.g. city and highway. There are those who insist that while 13 m.p.g. is not very conservation-minded, moving nine people at 13 m.p.g. isn’t any worse than moving one soul at 20 m.p.g. OK, but how often is the Suburban driven with just one person behind the wheel and all the other seats empty?

Though the Suburban is built on a 131.5-inch wheelbase and is 219.5 inches long, it doesn’t feel heavy or bulky and is rather easy to maneuver. You only need one try to park between the lines at the mall. Ride and handling are decent, too. Credit the independent front suspension, multileaf rear springs, front stabilizer bar and heavy-duty shocks.

Four-wheel anti-lock brakes are standard, a necessity in a vehicle designedto handle nine people at a time, and in which weight distribution isn’t alwaysgoing to go by the book-such as when the rear is loaded with luggage or camping or hunting gear and a boat or camper is tied to the rear bumper.

Unfortunately, there is no air bag. An air bag is the price of admission totoday’s market. The Suburban needs one. Two would be better, of course. Bags are coming soon, GMC promises.

Our test vehicle was stickered at $20,236, a tolerable price for such a functional machine, until you look at what’s standard and what’s optional.

S tandard equipment includes steel-belted radial tires, power brakes and steering, side-door guard beams, intermittent windshield wipers, AM/FM stereo with clock, tinted solar glass, dual outside manual mirrors and 24-hour roadside assistance. Look closely at that list of equipment and you’ll notice the comfort and convenience features are mostly optional.

Our vehicle came with leather seats at $1,380, high-back bucket seats at $540, two-tone paint at $290, rear-window wiper and defroster at $279, aluminum wheels at $268, locking rear differential at $252, six-way power driver’s seat at $240, heavy-duty trailering package at $210, heavy-duty cooling system at $198, upgraded tires at $95, six speakers for the radio at $85 and a tachometer at $59. A $5,399 special option package consisted of air conditioning in the front and rear; a tilt steering wheel; cruise control; deep tinted glass upgrade; dual power, remote mirror upgrade; power windows and door locks; and a radio pgrade, including cassette player and graphic equalizer.

That $20,000 price swelled to $29,531, and with a $640 freight charge, it totaled $30,171.

We’d appreciate Suburban more if fuel economy were 25 percent higher and the price tag 25 percent lower. It also needs air bags. And a 25 percent lowerprice tag. Did we mention that already?