ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Subaru Tribeca Looks Slicker on City Streets
By Richard WilliamsonScripps Howard News Service
Since "Tribeca" generally refers to a neighborhood in Manhattan, it seems appropriate that Subaru would introduce the latest version of a sport utility vehicle bearing that name at the New York International Auto Show.
More stylish than most SUVs -- or anything Subaru has unveiled in recent years -- the 2008 Tribeca is the latest attempt to redefine a category that blends aspects of wagons, minivans and pickups. They call these vehicles "crossovers" because they straddle lines between cars and trucks.
The updated Tribeca's April debut drew attention to the new 6-cylinder engine, curvaceous interior and exterior and its capacity for up to seven passengers. The vehicle goes on sale next fall. Unlike some of its competitors the Tribeca comes only in all-wheel-drive, as do all Subarus.
Give Subaru credit for thinking outside the box on the name for the SUV it introduced in the 2006 model year as the B9 Tribeca.
While rivals evoke unpaved mountain passes and muddy meadows, Subaru is pitching its ute to residents of the Triangle Below Canal (Tribeca), a trendy district of lower Manhattan, just a hoot and a holler from Wall Street. It's the kind of parking-deprived urban zone where it doesn't make much sense to even own a car, much less an SUV.
Be that as it may, let's indulge the marketing folks with the notion that the Tribeca will carry stacks of artists' canvases as easily as it does the cast of a Broadway play.
With a front end bearing a Subaru star framed by a set of chromed wings, the Tribeca somewhat resembles a modernistic street rod. The new front end is designed to solve styling complaints focused on the oddly trapezoidal grille. The visage of the original suggested more the face of a koala bear than a raptor.
Aspiring to a more seductive personality, the fiercer front is backed up by beefy fenders and wheel cutouts that fortify a windswept profile.
Inside, Subaru has done a terrific job of merging efficiency and form.
The front dash echoes the spread wing design, arcing around the passengers and converging in a curved center stack defies suggestions of gimmickry. All the instruments and clusters are so well placed that form and function blend beautifully.
Aluminum-like trim decorates the dashboard that is further bejeweled by glowing dials and ambient luminesence for the front and rear footwells, the center console and cupholders.
Taking center stage on the dash is an information cluster for the audio system, clock, fuel economy and outside temperature.
With the optional navigation system, you get a seven-inch touch screen information center that can double as a display for the backing camera, which activates whenever you shift into reverse. The video image is one of the sharpest I've seen and is shielded from solar glare.
Below the screen are controls for the audio and climate system. The control buttons have been simplified to the point of near non-existence. But once you identify the function of each button, the system becomes fairly intuitive.
Like the Volvo XC90 and other mid-size rivals in this space, the Tribeca can expand to seven-passenger capacity with a third row of seats. From the outside, you'd never guess that this ute could haul that many folks.
The seven-passenger model is equipped with a standard 50/50 split fold-down third-row seat with integral headrests and carpeted back surface. It also comes with an auxiliary rear cabin air conditioner with fan speed control in the second row.
The seven-passenger Tribeca can also be equipped with an optional rear-seat DVD entertainment system.
Your first question upon hearing that the Tribeca can haul seven passengers may be: How fast?
Fast enough, at least in New York's stop-and-go traffic.
With a solo driver, the Tribeca is quite brisk, cranking 256 horses and 247 foot-pounds of torque. That's an increase of 11 horses and 32 foot-pounds from the previous engine.
Subaru calls the 6-cylinder engine a "boxer" because of its flat horizontal layout. The automotive offspring of Fuji Heavy Industries has proven it can do wonders with these engines. After years of relying primarily on turbocharged 4-cylinder boxers, Subaru is performing similar magic with the two additional combustion chambers.
The new 3.6-liter engine features Active Valve Control System (AVCS) variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust valves.
An updated five-speed automatic transmission includes a new lockup torque converter and calibration that quickens responses.
Subaru's well regarded Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system is enhanced with computer systems that deliver Variable Torque Distribution, Vehicle Dynamics Control and four-wheel traction control system (TCS).
Suffice to say that, with all that and a reasonably low center of gravity, you would have to work pretty hard to lose control on a slick surface or turn this vehicle topsy-turvy.
What's new: Redesign, more powerful engine.
Pluses: Styling, comfort, versatility.
Minuses: Rear-window visibility, fuel economy.
Bottom line: Best blend of style and function.
Richard Williamson writes about automobiles for Scripps Howard News Service.