9.9L Lingenfelter Suburban POV: Behind the Wheel of the Ultimate Sleeper SUV

A few years back, we caught wind of one of Lingenfelter’s 550-horsepower Chevy Suburban 2500s for sale out in Washington. Fitted with a 9.9-liter Mercury Marine V8 rather than the standard 7.4-liter, or 454, this low-volume upgrade from our friends over at Lingenfelter Performance Engineering reads like peak ’90s land-yachtism.

While Lingenfelter has conjured up more than its fair share of eye-wateringly fast GMs, this Super-burban wasn’t actually the tuner’s idea—at least not in concept. It came instead by way of a request from the Saudi Arabian government, which was in search of a new heavy-duty, high-performance law enforcement vehicle. GM turned the bid over to Lingenfelter, which in turn produced the monstrosity you see here. This insidiously quick sleeper package was then made available to the public, because hey, why not?

We noted its 550 horsepower off the top, but that V8 also puts out 705 pound-feet of torque, which was enough to get the barge from zero to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds when Car & Driver tested it in 1994. On modern tires, this thing is probably quick enough to make a Durango Hellcat driver sweat. With specs like that, its pre-COVID price tag of $17,000 seems like a bargain in today’s economy. But does it really live up to the hype?

Tedward‘ managed to get his hands on one of these juggernauts—tough to do, given that they were produced in very low numbers—and his drive reveals both the big ‘Burban’s strengths and weaknesses. It has all the thrust in the world (at one point he says it “makes the 454 feel like a Corolla”) and sounds great showing it off, but it gets up to speed so quickly that he’d feel a lot better if it had some beefier brakes, which he acknowledges would be difficult while maintaining its original sleeper aesthetic. And that under-the-radar theme is only reinforced by the effortless way it builds speed. Sure, you’ll hear this thing, but it’s not trying to draw unnecessary attention.

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