2021 Chevy Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicle revealed with slew of upgrades

The 2021 Chevy Tahoe has had a complete redesign, revealed just a few months ago. Now Chevy is showing off the police versions, known as Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicle (PPV) in road-going form and the Tahoe Special Service Vehicle (SSV) for off-road and utility purposes. While it doesn't look vastly different from the civilian truck, the Police Pursuit Vehicle version gets some comprehensive mechanical upgrades.

The Police Pursuit Vehicle is shown above, and besides the lights and push bar that would be added by upfitters, the PPV has a couple of exterior distinctions. It, as well as the SSV, gets the Tahoe Z71's front bumper and fascia for an improved approach angle, which can come in handy when hopping curbs or driving over medians as necessary. It also picks up the front skid plate from the Z71. Unique to these specialty Tahoes are the 20-inch steel wheels wrapped in specially developed Firestone Firehawk Pursuit tires. While likely extremely heavy, they should be able to handle hard impacts with serious bends at worst, rather than actually cracking and breaking.

The PPV and SSV may look similar, but the PPV gets a host of mechanical changes for improved performance. The 5.3-liter V8 doesn't have higher output than stock (355 horsepower, 383 pound-feet of torque), but it does pick up the engine rocker covers from the Camaro ZL1, which Chevy says provide better crankcase ventilation and allow the engine to handle high cornering loads for longer. That's important, since Chevy also lowered the Tahoe PPV and gave it retuned springs, shocks and anti-roll bars for better handling.

The engine and the 10-speed automatic transmission each get oil coolers, too. Braking duty is handled by six-piston Brembo front calipers with 16-inch rotors. Capping off the performance upgrades is a clutch-type rear limited-slip differential. While it doesn't effect driving performance, the PPV comes with a large auxiliary battery for running lights, radios and such with the engine off, as well as a high-output alternator for running them with the engine on.

The PPV is available either in two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The SSV on the other hand is four-wheel drive only. It skips out on the various driving performance upgrades, but it does come with standard Terrain Mode for aiding traction off-road. Available as an option is a towing package that allows a Tahoe SSV to pull up to 8,200 pounds, and it includes a two-speed transfer case to enable low-range four-wheel drive.