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By
EWAN KENNEDY
13 November 2006
After decades of building small and mid-sized crossover
all-wheel-drive, Subaru has finally introduced an SUV to compete at the
big end of the 4WD market.
Subaru Tribeca is a radically styled vehicle, something that’s
a real surprise, coming from a Japanese company than normally
leans in the conservative direction. At the front, there's a
large, inverted-centre grille flanked by two large air intakes.
The upper edge of the grille is significantly higher than the
bonnet-closure line, so the bonnet has a raised centre section to
complement it. There's an extravagant shape at the C-pillar,
especially in the way the taillight housings go forward for almost
the full length of the back doors.
Tribeca's style is proving controversial, doing the
love-it-or-hate-it thing both in the USA, its principal market,
and now here in Australia. Subaru has indicated it will stick to
the theme for the time being, but has also hinted that it may tone
down the shape slightly next time around. Unless the market has
come to understand the lines in the meantime. Fashion can be a
fickle thing.
And if you think the exterior is radical, get yourself along to
a Subaru dealer and check out the bold, sweeping lines of the
cabin, particularly the dash area. And look at the back of the
cabin and you will see that the Tribeca offers seven seats for the
first time in any Subaru.
Tribeca has good seating for those in the front two seat rows,
but the back seat is strictly for small children. The centre row
of seats can slide forward to gain more legroom for the rearmost
seat and/or luggage. Folding all seats behind the front buckets
gives a huge load area. Subaru Tribeca has no fewer than 64
luggage/passenger combinations on offer.
Power for the big SUV comes from Subaru's well-known 3.0-litre
flat-six engine in virtually the same format as in the current
Outback. Torque output is impressive, with the engineers almost
managing the tough task of achieving 100 Newton metres per litre.
However, the torque peak doesn’t come until the engine is
spinning at 4200 rpm. So the five-speed automatic transmission is
pretty busy at times to keep almost two tonnes of SUV moving well
in hilly country. The automatic has manual overrides as well as an
sports-auto setting to give the driver some say in what's going
on.
Subaru is a past master at all-wheel-drive systems and there
are electronic stability devices to assist on slippery surfaces.
However the Tribeca isn’t intended to be a heavy-duty, off-road
vehicle, rather it’s an on-road SUV that provides good traction
on dirt and muddy roads.
Having said that, at 215 mm ground clearance it’s better
suited to tough outback roads than many in the so-called soft-roader
class.
All of our initial testing, on a 250 km drive program organised
by Subaru out of Sydney, was on sealed roads. The Tribeca has
impressive levels of refinement and comfort. Though aimed at the
American market, a considerable amount of testing was done in
Australia and the dynamics have been sharpened up to suit local
drivers’ desires. Not to forget the harsh road conditions in
remote bush areas.
Road grip is high and the handling predictable, but this is a
heavy vehicle with a relatively high centre of gravity so you
couldn’t really describe it as nimble. Drive it in a gentle to
moderate manner and it performs just fine.
Testing in the USA has shown the Tribeca to have greater
resistance to rolling over than any SUV tested to date.
Prices begin at a reasonable $53,990 for the Subaru Tribeca
3.0R with five seats. The rearmost row of seats, to bring seating
up to seven, adds $2000 to the price. Note that the extra money
isn’t just for the seat, there are also rear vents and controls
for the air conditioning system.
Paying $58,990 ($60,990 with seven seats) buys a Tribeca 3.0R
Premium which adds a sunroof, leather trim and a rear-seat DVD
system as well as memory settings for the powered driver’s seat.
All Tribeca variants have satellite navigation and powered
front seats for the passenger and driver. There's the safety of a
rear-view camera, front, side and curtain airbags allied with
active head restraints also feature strongly in the safety
package. It comes as no surprise that a recent Australian crash
test saw Tribeca scoring a five-star result for occupant
protection.
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Marque Publishing Company
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