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By
EWAN KENNEDY
7 November 2005
Very few imported vehicles have created so much advance interest as
the Subaru B9 Tribeca. That’s because the Japanese company has an
excellent reputation for building quality products that work extremely
well in Australia conditions. Subaru has been designing crossovers since
long before the tag crossover even existed so has a huge amount of
expertise in this area.
Previewed at the North American International
Auto Show in January, then displayed as a possible future import
at the Melbourne Motor Show the Tribeca gained a lot of positive
comment and shortly before the Sydney Motor Show the local
importer announced that it would definitely be coming to
Australia.
Subaru has been famed for its conservative
designs in the past, but Tribeca's styling is much bolder than
anything the company has done since the SVX sports coupe of the
1980s. At the front, the Tribeca has a large, inverted centre
grille flanked by two large air intakes. Interestingly, the theme
of Tribeca's three-piece front grille has been carried across to
the latest Impreza, so it looks as though Subaru is going to the
so-called corporate look for all of its models. BMW and Mercedes
have been doing this very successfully for years, now Subaru is
trying the same idea.
The upper edge of the Tribeca's grille is higher
than the bonnet-closure line, so the bonnet has a raised centre
section to meet up with it. The bold styling theme carries through
to the rear where slim taillights work particularly well. Note the
extravagant shape of the C-pillar and the way the taillight
housings sweep well forward.
Inside, the dash swoops around in a dramatic
double-curved manner to give a twin-cockpit feel to the two front
occupants. The middle-row seat is large and can seat three abreast
in relative ease, the third-row seat can hold two children or a
pair of smallish adults.
The B9 Tribeca is a large SUV with dimensions
similar to that of a Honda MDX which is likely to be its biggest
rival. It’s bigger than the current BMW X5, and similar in size
to the recently released new Jeep Grand Cherokee and Mercedes
ML-Class models.
Power comes from Subaru's 3.0-litre flat-six
engine with a lofty 186 kW. Torque output almost manages the
benchmark 100 Newton metres per litre, peaking at 296 Nm at 4200
rpm. The revs seem on the high side, but Subaru's engineers
traditionally manage a good spread throughout the range so Tribeca
should be easy to drive.
Subaru has been designing user-friendly
all-wheel-drive systems for decades and its latest version is used
in the Tribeca. It operates through a five-speed automatic with
manual overrides. There are electronic stability devices to help
keep the vehicle moving safely, but this isn’t intended to be a
heavy-duty vehicle.
Subaru Australia hasn’t been able to tie down
a definite date for imports to begin (interestingly the B9 Tribeca
comes from a factory in the USA), only saying at this stage that
it’s expected to be in the second half of 2006. Let's hope it
makes it here even sooner than that because many Australian
drivers are waiting eagerly to see just how good it is.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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