The Subaru Tribeca. Never heard of it until I saw a car review program on PBS today that was raving about it. My Fiancé drove a Subaru first year out of High School. He is a car designer now and still claims that it was one of his favorite cars. (Probably because he drove it with absolutely no sense and it actually survived for more than 2-years.) Anyway, it peeked my curiosity. On to the Tribeca.
About the Name…
B9 Tribeca is so-called because B9 is Subaru’s internal designation for the chassis and powertrain that are the vehicle’s foundation. Tribeca — short for Triangle Below Canal Street, a hip area of Manhattan — is a signal that the vehicle is cool, off the wall, distinctive.
OK, now the meat. Here is what USATODAY.com had to say -
Subie’s all-wheel-drive, high-riding station wagons and sedans (along with Toyota’s RAV4) pioneered what we now call crossover sport-utility vehicles. But Subaru has been losing business as its Legacy and Outback owners decide they need something larger than the midsizers that have been Subaru’s biggest, something with a third-row seat.
Tribeca is based on an enlarged version of the Outback wagon platform and uses the 3-liter, six-cylinder engine and sophisticated all-wheel-drive system from upmarket versions of Outback. Thus, the underpinnings are more or less proven and perform quite well on both slick and dry surfaces.
Tribeca is pleasant to drive day in, day out. It is reasonably handy in most types of use. The list of standard features is long and well thought out.
Tribeca’s engine, a little shy on low-speed power, can be encouraged to deliver its utmost by a simple flick of the driver’s wrist, moving the automatic-transmission lever into sport mode. That holds the transmission in lower gears longer and kicks down into lower gears with less gas-pedal provocation, which makes the Tribeca snappier at the cost of a little more gas.
Subaru is considering an engine that would have more power overall, especially at low speed, but details are scarce and timing appears distant.
Tribeca is an SUV that quickly can earn affection simply by being so nice and so easy to use in so many ways; almost forgettably accommodating. In that sense, it’s a typically, subtly alluring Subaru.
For more on the 2007 Tribeca visit edmunds.com
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