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Is bigger always better?

Judging by current trends in the realm of full-size sport-utilities, I was inclined to think so — especially if the bigger vehicle was wearing Ford’s blue oval.

But that was before I drove Chevy’s new Suburban.

As you know, Ford has been consistently upstaging General Motors in the sport-utility size sweepstakes. First it was the Explorer, which was the roomiest of the midsize sport-utilities until the advent of the Dodge Durango.

Then the Expedition eclipsed the Chevy Tahoe.

And most recently we have the Excursion, which reduced the Suburban to second place in the dimension derby.

While the Excursion’s vast size yields advantages in interior volume, I think GM has created a vehicle that’s distinctly more pleasant to live with. This goes beyond better ride quality — the new Suburban seems more supple on rough surfaces than its rival from Ford, particularly washboard stretches of gravel road — and slightly quieter operation.

It also goes beyond what seems to be somewhat livelier engine performance and better handling response. All of those distinctions are tangible, but they’re also subtle.

The dynamic trait that’s really amazing, at least to me, is that GM has managed to make the Suburban feel smaller than it is. This starts with something as simple as getting in.

Although the new Suburban’s ride height is the same as the old one — with or without four-wheel drive, a neat engineering feat — it seems simpler to hike a hip onto the driver’s seat and slide behind the wheel.

The same process in the Excursion requires a definite climb, and its running boards are almost required equipment. Once you’re planted behind the wheel, the Excursion’s seat seems distinctly higher than the Suburban’s.

I know that one of the elements treasured by so many sport-utility drivers is that commanding view of the road that goes with a high seating position, but it seems to me that the Suburban’s perch satisfies that need while the Excursion’s might go a bit too far.

I think the other key element in this sense of big vs. really big has to do with vehicle mass. My Suburban tester, an SLT model with four-wheel drive and a pretty sizeable array of extras, scales in at about 5,600 pounds, and the heaviest member of the clan can be about 5,800 pounds.

The Excursion starts at 6,650 pounds, and a four-wheel drive version with a turbodiesel engine weighs a startling 7,700 pounds.

Inevitably, weight disparities of this magnitude produce some pretty strong distinctions in handling and general feel. And while a 3-ton vehicle like the Suburban isn’t going to remind anyone of a Mazda Miata, it does feel generally friskier than its Ford counterpart.

At 219.3 inches, the new Suburban is a fraction of an inch shorter than its predecessor and more than 7 inches shorter than the Excursion. It’s a couple inches wider than the previous generation, but s till 1.2 inches narrower than its rival from Ford, and at 74.2 inches (with roof rack), its upper top is 2.5 to 5.5 inches closer to the ground than the Excursion’s.

While an overall length of 18-plus feet is far from handy in a supermarket parking lot — I always feel like the skipper of an aircraft carrier during docking — the Suburban is nevertheless easier to deal with in close quarters, partly because its turning circle has been reduced by 1.4 feet.

Impressive go-power

Straight-ahead performance represents yet another Suburban plus, and here you can thank the GM product’s more reasonable curb weights.

My tester was equipped with a 5.3-liter, push rod V8 rated at 285 horsepower and 325 foot-pounds of torque, which was enough to generate 0-60 m.p.h. at around the nine-second mark.

Try achieving that with an Excursion.

This is one of GM’s new family of truck engines, which debuted last year with the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pic ps.

Compared to Ford’s family of overhead cam truck engines, GM’s push rod power plants could be viewed as old-tech,but that would make them the most sophisticated old-tech V8s.

Even though GM cedes the size title to the Excursion, it has reclaimed leadership in a key performance area for the brute utilities: maximum towing capacity.

The Excursion’s towing capability maxes at 10,000 pounds. With the right equipment, a new Suburban can be rated as high as 10,500 pounds.

A small distinction, perhaps, to those of us who don’t plan to drag our own personal 7-11 with us when we’re traveling, but max towing matters to owners of big boats or horses.

One look at the front of the new Suburban — or, for that matter, the slightly smaller Chevy Tahoe — tells you that the relationship between the new sport-utilities and GM’s new full-size pickup trucks goes beyond power trains.

The front end is the same all the way back to the windshield pillar, and, like the pickup, it requires close scrutiny to be sure you’re looking at a new vehicle. The same applies to the GMC version, although in this incarnation, it no longer will be called a Suburban. Instead, GMC will call it the Yukon XL, for “Extra Long,” part of the plan to create more distinction between GMC Truck and Chevy Truck.

Using the new truck chassis as the foundation for the new sport-utilities is a good thing, and it’s a major factor in the Suburban’s excellent deportment, as well as its reduced interior noise levels.

In fact, the sport-utility chassis is arguably better than the pickup frame, because it has to be stronger at the rear to handle the more complex demands of people-hauling.

Interior pleasures

Speaking of that, there are also a couple of significant improvements inside. No. 1, there’s a bit more room in just about every dimension, particularly in elbow room.

Though the previous Suburban was far from cramped, it’s verging on recreation-room spaciousness in the new edition. The Excursion holds an edge here, but it’s almost academic.

No. 2, GM has dramatically improved access to the Suburban’s third row seat with a second row seat system that’s remarkably similar to the Excursion’s. Like the Excursion, there’s room in that rearmost seat for adults to sit comfortably.

Beyond that, everyone on board gets a very good view of the world going by, thanks to slight seat elevation upgrades in rows two and three, plus plenty of glass area.

Demerits? Not many.

Like the pickup trucks, I think GM could have made the Suburban/Tahoe XL instrument panel a little less rectilinear and a little more contemporary. Ford’s is more attractive, in my estimation.

But there’s no problem with legibility. The gauge array is fully comprehensive, and the various secondary controls are large and well-marked.

The bottom line: By refusing to be drawn into an ongoing dimensional escalation, Chevy an d GMC have created a new mega-utility that emphasizes more meaningful automotive virtues, such as comfort, handling, and general user-friendliness.

If you must have one of these seismic ground pounders, GM might have the better formula.

SPECS

Rating: No rating, pre-production.

Vehicle type: Front-engine, 4four-wheel-drive full-size sport-utility vehicle.

Key competitors: Ford Excursion

Base price(SLT): $30,000 (est.)

As tested: $38,000 (est.)

Standard equipment: Anti-lock brake systemABS.

Specifications
(manufacturer’s data)

Engine: 285-horsepower, 5.3-liter V8

EPA fuel econ.: 14 m.p.g. city, 18 hwy.

Curb weight: 5,600 pounds

Wheelbase: 130.0 inches

Length: 219.3 inches

Height: 74.2 inches

Width: 78.8 inches

Where assembled: Janesville, Wisc.