Bliss in Suburbia; Our latest toy promises miles of coddled comfort, acres of space and utility.(Product/service evaluation)

Byline: WES RAYNAL, BOB GRITZINGER

WE WANTED a luxury liner that could tow our long-term Airstream trailer-aka AutoWeek Mobile HQ-in comfort to events we planned to attend, from the Woodward Dream Cruise to an IRL race at Michigan International Speedway to... who knows? Maybe the Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas.

Thing is, the Airstream weighs a stout 5600 pounds. Clearly, not just any truck would do. So we turned to Chevrolet and ordered up-what else?-a 2007 Suburban. Chevy has been making Suburbans since 1935, when it started building what was called the Suburban Carryall, so we figured it knows what it's talking about when it comes to a brute that could tow our HQ.

When we say "ordered,'' we ain't kiddin'. To the Suburban's $40,540 base price we added enough options to ratchet the price up to $53,425. At first glance, it appears worth it.

The Suburban is part of the General Motors family of new full-size SUVs and pickups that the company has been trickling out this year, including the Suburban, Escalade, Silverado, Tahoe, Yukon and Sierra.

GM sweated the details this time around, and the new Suburban is a vast improvement over the outgoing model. For starters, it looks better, with crisper, sleeker sheetmetal. The chassis is new, too (35 percent stiffer in bending resistance and 50 percent stiffer in torsional rigidity, claims GM), with an independent front suspension with coilover shocks, rack-and-pinion steering and a five-link rear.

We went with the standard V8, the Vortec 5.3-liter, developing 310 hp and 335 lb-ft of torque, mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. This engine is a gem. Active Fuel Management, which shuts off four cylinders when cruising, is seamless. "If anyone says he can tell when four of those eight cylinders deactivate, he's lying,'' is how one editor put it. In our track testing, a similarly equipped Suburban hit 60 mph in 9.78 seconds.