Subaru's U.S. team just has to rue the ungainly name tagged on their swoopy, stylish new crossover ute. Sure, the surname Tribeca brings with it globally cool images of haughty supermodels and film festivals and good rustic Italian food. But that all too descriptive middle name states what's obvious after a short drive in the B9.
Yes, though they're pitching it as a "progressive" SUV, this new Subaru is as inoffensive as the average Indianan that screws 'em together out there in West Lafayette . (Thank God Axl Rose is long gone, or our whole lead would be shot.) It really wants to be as outre as the Nissan Murano was back in the day, but it so closely resembles in profile that it just blends into the current SUV landscape. And it wants the benefits of symmetrical all-wheel drive and flat-six engines to make other SUVs seem decrepit, but it can't muster the speed or an obvious handling advantage to draw attention to those unique bits of hardware.
What the Tribeca does is no small feat, though. It gives this small-means player an urbane alternative to the suburbane Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander. The Tribeca's a big step forward in size and sophistication for Subaru, even if it's a little narrower and tighter than those top-ranked crossovers.
Hardware in store
Part of the reason it's a little narrower and tighter is that the Tribeca's chassis is spun from the basic platform of the Legacy/Outback. It's been stretched and stiffened: Subaru says it's 22 percent better in terms of twisting and 55 percent better when it comes to resisting bending forces than its ancestors. Who can complain with numbers like that? My own resistance to bending has markedly increased this year, but not that much. At 4155 pounds in base form it's no lightweight, but Subaru has done things like using an aluminum hood to reduce weight.
The extra heft over the Legacy/Outback plays out in the Tribeca's performance envelope. It's outfitted with the 250-hp, 3.0-liter flat six that formerly was the sole province of those other vehicles, and here it takes 8.5 seconds to get to 60 mph, a tick or two slower than vehicles like the Pilot and the Chrysler Pacifica. Subaru also says it reaches a top speed of 130 mph. It doesn't feel perky, but there's a rippling, high-dollar sound emanating from the flat six that probably masks some of the speed the Tribeca does build.
The transmission - five-speed automatic only - is coupled to an all-wheel-drive system without a low range. Its all-wheel-drive system is biased 45/55 percent to the rear. Ground clearance is SUV-good at 8.4 inches. So is it better called an SUV or a crossover? Despite the lack of low range, there's no front-drive version and it sits up pretty high. We'll be liberal like most of the intended drivers and let it be a sport-ute. (That nagging question is why we at TCC put crossovers, SUVs, and wagons all in one review category - too many blurry lines.) The Tribeca can tow 3500 pounds, too.
The Tribeca sounds utterly conventional underneath its skin. It's a well-tuned set of springs and struts and control arms. The ride is the most carefully balanced element of its character - pillowy, not billowy response is the order of the day. Too, the steering is SUV-safe - no drama, not much involvement either, but predictable responses. Its handling is all the more surprising given its overall size and the treads it wears. Those 18-inch wheels seem awfully big for a Subaru, don't they?
A nose is a nose is a nose
That skin, and particularly that prow out front of the Tribeca, is intentionally styled to make you think "different." It's the least SUV-ish thing about the Tribeca. In fact, it's downright Alfa Romeo.
Even the radically infused lines temper down on repeated viewings, though. You've seen the individual elements, just not completely wedded in this shape. Remember when SUVs weren't so much styled as folded, riveted and vaguely waterproofed? Chief stylist Andreas Zapatinas has draped the Tribeca in a taut SUV profile and that wacky Alfa-like nose, with a C-pillar that is pretty familiar now after the Murano and A-Class and X3.
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