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By
EWAN KENNEDY
16 April 2007
Having been stung by a huge amount of criticism of its styling,
Subaru has given up the bold look of its Tribeca and is about to give it
a shape that could be mistaken for many others in the class.
Which is a shame because too many cars are
lookalikes in this day and age and it was great to see the guys
and gals at Subaru having a stab at something really radical.
Sadly it wasn’t to be. Tribeca has fallen into
line with the masses, being aimed to displease as few buyers as
possible. Not that there's anything to criticise about the new
nose on the Tribeca. It has still got a fair bit of character,
with strong horizontal lines in the grille. These are brightened
up by a healthy dash of shiny material and the way this encloses
the Subaru constellation badge works neatly.
Australia won’t be getting the new-shape Tribeca,
which has just been introduced to the public at the New York Motor
Show, until late 2007 or early 2008. So those who appreciate a
boldly shaped car have a few months or so to get in for one of the
Tribeca originals. Who knows, they may just become a modern-day
classic a few years down the track.
On a much more pleasing note, criticism of the
relative lack of power and torque from the original Tribeca engine
has been answered. The 3.0-litre boxer engine will be replaced at
the same time as the new frontal shape is introduced. It will come
with a 20 per cent larger unit displacing a handy 3.6 litres.
Power has been increased only marginally, from 180
kW to 190 kW. But torque, which is the most important factor in
any engine, and even more so in a heavy vehicle that’s aimed at
some dirt-road use has been reworked. In the 3.6-litre powerplant,
peak torque is 334 Nm, compared with 297 Nm on the outgoing motor.
The engineers tell us they have put a lot of
effort into bringing the torque in strongly from relatively low
revs. However, the fact that the top torque comes in at 4400 rpm
makes us a bit wary. Perhaps we shouldn’t worry because Subaru's
longtime emphasis on a good torque spread in its other engines
seems likely to be further enhanced in an engine with a big
capacity of 3.6 litres. We look forward to sampling the new
engine, and the new design of five-speed automatic transmission to
which it is mated, when it arrives in Australia.
Also receiving a rework in the Tribeca has been
the rear seats, another area that received criticism on the car’s
launch. Specifically, entry to the big Subaru has been improved by
altering not only the shape of the rearmost seats, but also by
changing the adjustments of the second-row seats to improve access
to the rear. However, the back seats still don’t appear to be
the most spacious around and are still really only aimed at the
junior members of the human race.
Subaru's Tribeca deserves to succeed. We have
spent a fair bit of time here discussing the restyle of the
original radical concept, but the most important feature of all in
Subarus for decades has been rugged reliability and practicality.
And, even in these early days Tribeca seems to be joining its
honourable ancestors in these vital areas.
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Marque Publishing Company
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