Subaru has been making four-wheel drive cars for so long that it seems, in retrospect, rather odd that until now there has never been a full-sized SUV in the range. The B9 Tribeca fills that gap, and immediately finds itself up against fearsome opposition in the forms of the BMW X5, Nissan Murano and Volvo XC90.
Whatever the merits of the big Subaru - and there are several, as we'll see - this is a tough call. The X5 and the XC90 in particular will appeal to people who like the idea of being associated with BMW and Volvo badges respectively, and who might be difficult to persuade into anything else.
It probably doesn't help Subaru's cause that the name chosen for the US market has been brought across the Atlantic. An American buyer will instantly recognise "Tribeca" as the name of an upmarket district in New York, but I bet not many British people make the connection. First time I read the word I wondered if it referred to some obscure shape known only to high-level geometrists, and for all the resonance it has in the UK I suppose it might as well have done.
Behind the badge, there's a lot about the Tribeca that we've seen before. Both the three-litre engine and the five-speed automatic transmission are also found in the Legacy Spec.B, though the gear ratios in the latter have been revised to suit a large SUV rather than a sporty saloon/estate.
This is, as we've found so many times in the past, a stonker of an engine, partly because it performs so well and partly because of its flat-six boxer layout. Subaru offers a key statistic to demonstrate the advantage this engine gives - the Tribeca has a much higher ground clearance than the BMW X5 (213mm versus 180mm), but the centre of gravity is significantly lower (640mm for the Subaru, 679mm for the BMW).
The effect is immediately apparent on the road. Although the Tribeca is very tall, it doesn't feel like it on corners. Hustle this car through some twisty stuff and it feels like a scaled-up and slightly less precise Legacy. And the Legacy is so good in these situations that it's to the Tribeca's credit that it can reasonably be talked about in the same sentence.
Snag is, though, it drinks petrol, and the way resale values have been going over the last couple of years it's clear that an SUV which does that is becoming about as popular as one which sprays acid on pedestrians as it goes past. That doesn't make me want to recommend it any the less for its handling ability, but SUV buyers who count that as one of their priorities must surely make up a small proportion of the total.
Another excellent result of the engine layout is its contribution to safety. The Tribeca is already strong on this point, at least according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has given it five stars for both front and side crash protection (at the time of writing, Euro NCAP has not yet tested the car).
The NHTSA has also awarded the Tribeca four stars in its rollover tests, and rated its likelihood of overturning at 16%. "In what circumstances?" you may ask. Not having the faintest idea myself, I'll dodge the question and point out that this is in the middle of the percentage range awarded to passenger cars; the average rating for SUVs on the US market is 30%. Isn't a low centre of gravity just great?
There are three models in the range, and they all look the same, but Subaru expects that the £31,995 SE5 will be the top seller. You can spend £3000 less on the S5, which does without the test car's leather interior, memory function on the driver's seat and door mirrors, heated front seats, DVD navigation system and reversing camera.
Alternatively, you can raise the stakes by a further £2000 if you want the extra third row of seats in the SE7. This one also gets a DVD-based rear entertainment system (with two sets of headphones) plus separate air-conditioning for rear passengers.
It's hard to imagine that even the SE5 will become a familiar sight on UK roads. The lack of a diesel option is almost certainly going to hurt, and I don't think the name will help much. Still, the Tribeca's road manners might be enough on their own to tempt potential buyers who are willing to take a look.
