Recently, my early morning crew I take to school every morning was so happy to see the 2012 Chevy Tahoe as my test vehicle for the week. After several weeks of being without a test vehicle and being crammed into my Honda Insight, the kids were glad to have some room to spread out.

And the Tahoe has some elbow room.

My test vehicle was outfitted with two rows of captain chairs and a third row 50/50 split bench seat. You can get a front split seat bench and second row bench seat that would up your passenger quota to 9. The Tahoe is the only SUV that offers this.

I was a little disappointed the third row wouldn’t fold flat. You can fold and push up against the second row to increase cargo room, but you have to take the seats completely out to really get the full use of your rear cargo area, which comes in at 109 cubic feet.

Places to put stuff are EVERYWHERE in this vehicle. The cubby between the two front seats is very large and useful. You could put a small child in there if necessary, though I wouldn’t recommend that.

My test vehicle had the premium LTZ trim appointments. This Tahoe was approaching the luxury SUV category.

It had plush leather, navigation, moonroof, rear entertainment, heated and ventilated front seats, upgraded air suspension, blind-spot warning system, premium audio system, power liftgate and more.

One of my passengers remarked that the technology in the Tahoe rivaled that of the tech-laden Audi A6 from the week before, and was easier to use. I agree.

Though a little more rough around the edges ride-wise and design aesthetic-wise, than a Lexus or a Mercedes full -size SUV, the Tahoe LTZ is just about as nice.

With a Tahoe, though, you’re dealing with a lot more weight, up to 3 tons, and you have towing capability.

All Tahoes come with a 5.3-liter V8 generating 320 horsepower and 335 pound-feet of torque. Properly outfitted, you could tow up to 8,500 pounds.

Gas-wise, I did not like the Tahoe. After weeks of driving my Insight on $20 of gas a week. I was shocked when my $20 worth of gas in the Tahoe lasted about a day and a half.

The Tahoe is rated for 15/21 mpg. I don’t know if it was the cold or what, but I averaged about 14 mpg for the week I had my test vehicle.

The base price for a Tahoe LTZ is $55,770. My test vehicle had the Sun and Entertainment package added on and it boosted the price to $59,135.