Subdriven | The Subaru Enthuisast Website

Just got back from the B9 Tribeca SoA Staff Ride-&-Drive at Valley Forge, PA. Fellow SubDriven contributor A.J. Teixeira (juice) and I drove up the night before, so that we would be ready at 9:00 am the next morning. This event was limited to SOA employees from the Cherry Hill headquarters. I believe juice and I were the only other invited guests. I must say (we) felt somewhat special.

I have to say the morning got off to a somewhat rocky start. As I went to take a picture in front of the hotel, I discovered that my son had removed the memory card from my digital camera! Grrrrrr!

There must have been twenty or more Tribecas there, all different versions, some cloth, some leather, some with NAV, some with NAV/DVD, some with trunk covers and other options, and some without any of that stuff.

We spent an hour and a half driving around the historic grounds of Valley Forge, over all sorts of roads ranging from the national park, to back roads, to highway. Each car had 3 – 4 people, and we rotated driving every few miles. We also rotated cars. In addition, there was a Honda Pilot, Nissan Murano, and Volvo XC90 in the group so that we could get to sample some of the competition. In theory, this was a great plan. However, the reality was that over the 20-or-so-mile trip, I only got to drive the Tribeca once, and didn't get to drive the competition at all on the open road portion of the drive. Bummer…

So did I learn anything new about the Tribeca? A little, but it mostly confirmed many of my earlier suspicions, as I did get to drive one the week prior for a short drive; so I had a pretty good inkling of what to expect.

First, the car handles extremely well; this is not a surprise as the boxer engine affords a low center of gravity, it has meaty 255/55R18 tires, and Subaru has historically put a great deal of emphasis on handling.

Second, it has a rev-happy engine that doesn't produce a great deal of torque down low. You could feel this with 4 passengers, and it was especially noticeable while going up hills. This results in a lot of downshifting when more power is demanded, and frankly that can be a bit annoying. I wasn't the only one who felt that way, as everyone in the car I was in also commented on that aspect; same at lunch, when I was with a group of other people. I'm hoping that Subaru will address this issue in the not too distant future with a larger, more torque-friendly engine, a low-boost turbo, or something. When I was driving, I kept it in the manual SportShift mode, and I had no problems. In fact, I found this to be the most enjoyable way of driving the Tribeca.

Third, the Tribeca is sprightly. It's not fast, but it definitely is not slow. I had mentioned to Tribeca Brand Manager, Dave Sullivan, that I would love to see the 6-speed manual from the Legacy 3.0R Spec B made available. The answer I got back was that such a combo was not likely, as the market is too small for such a vehicle. I'm not so sure: If it were packaged/marketed properly, can you say: "B9 Tribeca 3.0R Spec B?"

Fourth, the more I learn about this vehicle, the more impressed I am. When it was first introduced I was concerned about it not being "outdoorsy," like the Outback and Forester. It definitely is a very nice "road" vehicle, and it should prove to be very useful. I never had any doubts about the styling direction, but I'm now coming slowly around to see what Subaru had in mind with is vehicle. As with all Subarus, you get a lot of content for what you pay. A lot of people were concerned that it was going to be overpriced, and not competitive in the marketplace. I don't think that will be the case at all, and I would not be a bit surprised if Subaru has been a bit conservative with their B9 Tribeca sales projections for 2006.

Tribeca Tidbits:

• I loved the NAV! The screen is large, well positioned above the center stack, and very easy to read at a glance. The only problem I had was I kept watching the NAV - and not watching the road.

• A comment about the "rev-happy" 3.0 engine: I suspect that if the Tribeca had a larger (and more relaxed) 3.5 engine, that it would get as good, if not better, gas mileage than the smaller (and harder working) 3.0 engine.

• I did cross-compare the XC90 with the Tribeca in the slalom course that SOA had set up. Verdict: The Volvo felt very truck-like in quick slalom transitions, whereas the Tribeca was much more nimble in feeling. You could also feel the Volvo's on-demand Haldex AWD kick in and out, which I don't like - not so with the Tribeca, because it uses a full-time AWD system.

• The flip-down, ceiling-mounted DVD does interfere somewhat with the rearview mirror. It limits your rear vision by perhaps 30% or more.

• The secondary gauges (fuel and temp) are a tad hard to read, as the inside edge of the steering wheel somewhat in the way.

• The gear indicator, when in SportShift mode, is sitting a bit low on the tach face, and sometimes gets obscured by the steering wheel, depending on the position of the steering wheel.

• The middle row seat has a 2-stage sliding feature. This so you don't accidentally crush the legs of 3rd-row passengers. Smart thinking! This 2-stage second-row seat is a bit tricky. I had to be shown as to how it works. What you do is: (1) Grab the lever under the seat, and slide it back to position # 1, where it will lock in place. (2) Then, again grab that same under the seat lever, and with the other hand grab another release lever on the outside edge of the seat. That outside lever will release it from the first stop, so that the seat can be slid all the way back. I found the interior room to be very good, especially with the second-row seats in their rearmost position.

• No one in my group ever considered sitting in the 3rd-row while doing the Ride-and-drive, not even to see what it would be like to ride back there. Hmmm...

• I've said this before and I'll say it again: If the third row seats are important, in that they will be used often and/or by a variety of people of varying sizes, then a minivan is the better choice. This holds true for any crossover, not just the Tribeca.

• With all three rows of seats up, there is not a huge amount of space behind the rear seat. I think it's perhaps equal or better than any of the other vehicles in this class.

• If you opt for the 5-passenger version there is a storage compartment in place of the rear seat. The problem is it's divided into four fixed-space subdivisions. That limits its use. For example, you couldn't put an umbrella in there if you wanted to.

So that’s about it for now. Hope to have another Tribeca in a month or so, this time for a few days. I will then again report back with further impressions on what it’s like to live with.

Juice jumps in for a “Point/Counterpoint”

juice - While more power is always welcome, I didn’t feel any lack of grunt. When my rotation put me in a Honda Pilot, we actually struggled to keep up with the Tribeca in front of us, it was just lighter on its feet and had better rolling acceleration. The Pilot also had poor NVH control and more secondary rocking motions in the suspension when we hit bumps in an obstacle course they had set up for us.

Bob - Absolutely. The B9 Tribeca has plenty of horsepower. It’s just high up on the rev-meter. If you don’t mind hearing the engine “sing” from time-to-time, you’ll love the power.

juice - Subaru also pitted the Tribeca against the Murano in an emergency avoidance maneuver. We entered at 25mph and had a course that forced us to take a hard left followed by a hard right. The Tribeca managed the course uneventfully, while the Murano squealed tires and had a lot more body roll. One tester actually got the Murano up on 3 wheels, which is fun in a Golf but a little scary on a tall SUV.

Bob - I really wish I had an opportunity to drive these two back-to-back. In fact I really wished I had an opportunity to drive all the other competitors that were there during the on-road segment. I do concur with juice’s observation here, however.

juice - The Volvo XC90 was mismatched, with the 208hp 2.5T engine struggling to move all that mass. We had to wrestle with the steering to get it around a slow speed slalom. Just get the new V8 model and avoid doing U-turns, and you’ll be fine.

Bob - While I didn’t get to drive the Volvo on the road, I did drive it (and the others too) during the various comparison sessions; and, yep, the Volvo is a truck compared to the Subaru. I’m not so sure the engine had much to do with it, however. I really think even if the Volvo were equipped with their powerful V8, that it still would have felt truck-like next to the B9 Tribeca. Also, in the slalom, you could feel the on-demand Haldex kick in and kick out - which I definitely didn’t like.

juice - My pick of the litter is the sportiest - the Subaru B9 Tribeca.

Bob - No question about it.


For more discussion on this story, click on the link to our discussion forums to the left.