Stumble It!
Tribeca opens new market for Subaru
When Subaru first appeared in the UK they were seen
as workhorse vehicles for rural types - pick ups and estate cars
that had some added go-anywhere ability, thanks to their
four-wheel-drive system. Then, along came Colin McRae spearheading their high-profile
world rally championship successes. Suddenly Subaru became the sporty.
A sporty Impreza may appeal to a sizeable chunk of the buying public, but any manufacturer who aspires to a larger slice of the total market has to offer more.
The European launch of the Subaru B9 Tribeca takes the company into a whole new market sector, but which sector is it? Is the Tribeca an MPV or is it a 4x4 off roader?
I suppose the quick answer is that it is a little bit of both. The Tribeca is a five or seven-seat MPV (the six and seventh chair are options and slot right in the back), but it can also lay claim to compete against some of the 4x4 crowd with its permanent four-wheel-drive system. That said, I didn't try any serious mud-plugging or moorland wading in it. It doesn't seem like a vehicle for serious off-road stuff, even compared with vehicles like the BMW X3, Volvo XC90 and Nissan Murano (which are the vehicles that Subaru would like the Tribeca to be compared with).
Space inside is good, but to my eye it was immediately obvious that this vehicle is targeted to US buyers - and that was even before I found the foot-operated parking brake. It just doesn't have the European quality of interior finish that you would expect in a car with our up-market aspirations on this side of the Atlantic. Delve a little further into the Tribeca's information and you find that it is, indeed, built in the USA.
Power comes from a three-litre six-cylinder engine and Subaru purists will be delighted to know that it is a "boxer" engine with the cylinders horizontally opposed, just like the Impreza. I found it surprisingly quick off the mark for an automatic and you do have the option of selecting the five ratios manually, or using the sports settings.
From 0-60 takes just 9.3 seconds - not bad for a large people-carrying 4x4. The downside of this willing engine with its 245PS output, though, is the fuel consumption. On my daily commute, the Tribeca was returning just over 17 mpg. CO2 emissions are also high at 291, putting this into the top road tax band. Being a model born in the USA, it is perhaps not surprising that there is no diesel option, but that definitely restrict sales in Europe.
Despite the Subaru rally heritage the Tribeca is not the sharpest handler on twisty roads. Subaru go out of their way to say that the suspension has come in for fine tuning to suit European roads. I still felt it wasn't entirely at home on twisty roads, especially if you don't use the manual change to drop down a gear to stabilise the car and provide a smoother get away out of the bend.
Subaru make the point that, at £29,097 on the road, the B9 Tribeca undercuts its rivals. But, even with that price advantage, I don't magine it will be selling lots of Tribecas in the UK.
Think of it in US terms, however, and it seems much more in tune with what customers want. There it will surely strengthen the Subaru brand enormously, fulfilling America's insatiable demand for big mini-vans (as they call MPVs). The fact that this one has four-wheel-drive credibility and a rally-bred image, will just add to the appeal.
A sporty Impreza may appeal to a sizeable chunk of the buying public, but any manufacturer who aspires to a larger slice of the total market has to offer more.
The European launch of the Subaru B9 Tribeca takes the company into a whole new market sector, but which sector is it? Is the Tribeca an MPV or is it a 4x4 off roader?
I suppose the quick answer is that it is a little bit of both. The Tribeca is a five or seven-seat MPV (the six and seventh chair are options and slot right in the back), but it can also lay claim to compete against some of the 4x4 crowd with its permanent four-wheel-drive system. That said, I didn't try any serious mud-plugging or moorland wading in it. It doesn't seem like a vehicle for serious off-road stuff, even compared with vehicles like the BMW X3, Volvo XC90 and Nissan Murano (which are the vehicles that Subaru would like the Tribeca to be compared with).
Space inside is good, but to my eye it was immediately obvious that this vehicle is targeted to US buyers - and that was even before I found the foot-operated parking brake. It just doesn't have the European quality of interior finish that you would expect in a car with our up-market aspirations on this side of the Atlantic. Delve a little further into the Tribeca's information and you find that it is, indeed, built in the USA.
Power comes from a three-litre six-cylinder engine and Subaru purists will be delighted to know that it is a "boxer" engine with the cylinders horizontally opposed, just like the Impreza. I found it surprisingly quick off the mark for an automatic and you do have the option of selecting the five ratios manually, or using the sports settings.
From 0-60 takes just 9.3 seconds - not bad for a large people-carrying 4x4. The downside of this willing engine with its 245PS output, though, is the fuel consumption. On my daily commute, the Tribeca was returning just over 17 mpg. CO2 emissions are also high at 291, putting this into the top road tax band. Being a model born in the USA, it is perhaps not surprising that there is no diesel option, but that definitely restrict sales in Europe.
Despite the Subaru rally heritage the Tribeca is not the sharpest handler on twisty roads. Subaru go out of their way to say that the suspension has come in for fine tuning to suit European roads. I still felt it wasn't entirely at home on twisty roads, especially if you don't use the manual change to drop down a gear to stabilise the car and provide a smoother get away out of the bend.
Subaru make the point that, at £29,097 on the road, the B9 Tribeca undercuts its rivals. But, even with that price advantage, I don't magine it will be selling lots of Tribecas in the UK.
Think of it in US terms, however, and it seems much more in tune with what customers want. There it will surely strengthen the Subaru brand enormously, fulfilling America's insatiable demand for big mini-vans (as they call MPVs). The fact that this one has four-wheel-drive credibility and a rally-bred image, will just add to the appeal.
|