Yes he is. He was/is the lead engineer on the 10 speed Ford is using now. Both of us have always liked Suburban's. I like the Navigators too but the 'Burb' clicked all the boxes for her so what we got. I don't like the 'Nav's' all plastic front end either. Parked next to an Explorer the other day and lined the front bumpers up even. The 'Burb' is a good 2 feet longer than the Explorer....lol
One thing I did was I immediately bought a Range Electronics cylinder delete-delete. I don't care for the GM cylinder cut out feature at all. I suspect GM did that to increase their corporate fuel economy ratings. The 5.3 is a V8 and I have an issue with only half the cylinders working at speed. Burb's aren't economy vehicles anyway. My focus is...lol I read they did that on the V6's too.
Told my wife we could 'social distance with another couple in the Burb. Put them in the 3rd row seats, they'd be 6 feet from us....
Still have not figured out all the options but we like the heated and air conditioned seats and the power lift gate and moon roof. She got the optional leather, probably should have gotten cloth instead. Leather is slippery.
I'll be taking it on hunting trips when I can get it away from her.....
It's 4 wheel drive, of course. Kind of real 4 wheel drive with limited slip front and rear.