Subaru Tribeca 2008 News

The only difference to the model voted by Carsguide experts as the best of the best in 2007 is that this is the just-released automatic.The little 1.6-litre diesel engine puts out a very nippy 85kW of power and 255Nm of torque to create a well-balanced and surprisingly spritely about-town car. However, the real quality of the car showed out on a day trip to the South Coast recently when the fully-laden car handled with aplomb on the open road.Its road handling and zippy acceleration found plenty of praise at the highway speed limit.We look forward to enjoying its economic six litres per 100km diesel fuel economy, which should keep service station visits to a minimum.The auto costs $23,490 — $2000 more than the manual. Sitting beside the Hyundai is the rather more exclusive Lexus LS460. There has been plenty written about 'soulless' Lexus models and while the LS460 may not light the fires of passion, it most certainly pushes the “I'm feelin' special” buttons.There are some technological advances that bewilder more than bedazzle — the eight-gear automatic is one — and there are others that have simple charm, like the superb Mark Levinson sound system.Rear-view camera, supportive and comfortable leather seats with a huge range of adjustments, ample room and a very acceptable V8 engine all add to the attraction.One of the stranger impressions of the LS460, however, is that it is dissociative — only because the level of cabin refinement and noise, vibration and harshness levels are so good that you really do keep checking the tacho to reassure yourself the car is turned on.At a price of $184,874 plus delivery and on-road costs, the LS460 has plenty to live up to.So far, it is doing a sterling job.A rather more modest but none-the-less interesting member of the garage is the Subaru Tribeca. This vehicle is the 'giant' of the Subaru range.It has seven seats, command-drive position and 3.6-litre boxer engine.But its road manners are more akin to a much smaller car.There is much to like about the Tribeca, including its new inoffensive front-end, but there a few issues have come to notice with regular use.To make the third row of seats usable, even for the little tikes, it is mandatory to slide the second row of seats forward. Now, it's good that those seats can be moved but the end result is that both second- and third-row passengers feel the squeeze.The lack of reach-adjustment on the steering wheel has been a notable problem, but certainly not as much as the radio adjustment buttons that sit proud on the steering-wheel spokes and are prone to channel shifting when the wheel travels to full lock.On that subject, at 11.4m, Tribeca has one of the best turning circles of any car its size on the market. 

A late call on a new Impreza sedan could have cost Subaru Australia another showroom record this year.The new Impreza hatch has just landed, with more models on the way, but short supplies from Japan will limit the number of cars Subaru can deliver to the end of the year.The sedan will boost Impreza sales by about 200 cars a month, from a hatch estimate of 1000 cars a month. But it will not join the local line-up until the third quarter next year.It is lagging behind the hatch because the car was originally developed for the US and it took time for Australia to make a business case.Before then, Subaru will also have a facelifted Tribeca people mover, a new Forester and the high-performance Impreza STi. An Impreza diesel is also on the way.So the head of Subaru Australia, Nick Senior, believes he will not have enough cars to claw back lost ground this year.Sales are up but the 3 per cent improvement trails in an industry that has grown by more than 9 per cent to the end of August.“We'll struggle to do another record this year, to be honest. We cannot get enough cars,” Senior says. “There is simply not enough time. We're expecting some solid months to the end of the year, but we won't claw it all back.”He believes the safer new Impreza will be a hit but admits the plan has changed following the late development of the four-door sedan.“The intention with the new Impreza was to have one variation globally and that was the hatch,” he says. “Relatively late, the US decided that to maximise the potential of the car in their market they would like a sedan.“When the decision was made to build a sedan for the US we were asked if we had an interest, so we researched the potential. We thought we could add some incremental sales, but the timing meant we would have to wait 12 months.“There will only be the North American market and Australia having both hatch and sedan. But in the past we've had a foot in both camps, with half a wagon and half a hatch.”He believes Australian buyers could take up to 350 sedans a month but, with some hatch substitution, is aiming for total Impreza sales of about 1200 cars. That would make it the company's No.1, ahead of the chunky Forester.But that could change with the arrival of the new Forester early next year. 

The world's biggest motor show is weeks away, yet the car companies are already scrambling over each other to release clues about their exhibits.Among the highlights of the 62nd Frankfurt International Motor Show are cars made out of bamboo, a boxer diesel engine and yet more “urban crossover SUVs.”Mitsubishi Motors Corporation will unveil its Concept-cX compact SUV at the show.Concept-cX uses interior trim materials made from bamboo and other plant-based resins.The concept is powered by a new high-output, high-efficiency 1.8 litre diesel engine, featuring a variable geometry turbocharger for optimum boost control and a diesel oxidation catalyst with diesel particulate filter, and Mitsubishi's new twin clutch sport shift transmission.Dodge will also launch a crossover wagon, called Crew, which hits Australia late next year.The seven-seater is based on the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring sedan platform but with all-wheel drive and powered by 2.4-litre petrol and 2-litre turbo-diesel engines.The Crew looks like a shrunken Chrysler Voyager people mover, but with a longer nose and higher ground clearance.It will be built at Chrysler's Toluca plant in Mexico with production due to start in December.Subaru will use the show for its biggest new model blitz yet.Leading the line-up will be the new Impreza five-door hatchback in its 1.5 and 2 litre naturally aspirated formats, which arrives in Australia the same month.Other Subarus on show include an Impreza-based World Rally Car Concept, facelifted Tribeca luxury SUV with more efficient 3.6-litre boxer engine and five-speed auto, new Justy one-litre supermini and the world's first horizontally opposed boxer turbo-diesel engine, due to be progressively installed in models from early in 2008.Mazda will debut its Mazda6, the second Mazda new generation product to evolve to the next stage following the new Mazda2.Although Australia is yet to see the Kia cee'd five-door, the Korean company will debut its new sporty three-door Pro-cee'd, the third model in the family of cars designed for Europe and made in Slovakia.Only the bonnet and the front wing panels are carried over from the five-door model.Volkswagen will revive the 'people's car' with a concept Beetle.It is called the City Expert because The Beetle name has been taken by the more expensive new-generation car.The City Expert goes back to Beetle roots with a rear-mounted, flat-four boxer engine and a cheap price tag.VW will also reveal six new models with BlueMotion diesel technology, including the new Golf BlueMotion claiming economy of 4.5 litres/100km down 0.6-litres from the previous model, and CO2 emissions down 16g/km to 119g/km.Range on a 55-litre tank is now more than 1200km.Peugeot's 308RCZ concept will give a big hint towards a future body style for the 308 family.The ultra-light 2+2 coupe uses aluminium, polycarbonate windows and carbon fibre body parts and is powered by a 160kW 1.6-litre twin-scroll turbo jointly developed by PSA Peugeot Citroen and BMW.Renault will show a wagon version of its Clio mini.The Clio Sport Tourer will go on sale in Europe early next year.Mini is also on the bandwagon with the return of the Clubman van.The five-door model has double rear doors and a suicide door on the driver's side.The suicide door, which opens the opposite way, is designed to allow passengers easier access to the back.It would make more sense on the other side, but clearly the former British car now owned by BMW is designed for left-hand-drive markets with the blinkers also on the left.Ford will show its Kuga crossover all-wheel-drive probably powered by a range of petrol and turbodiesel engines, including the 2-litre 100kW/320Nm TDCi that has just appeared in the Focus.The Kuga is based on the Iosis X concept unveiled at last year's Paris Motor Show.In a surprise move, Suzuki will show it's expanding from small cars and SUVs into the family market.Their Kizashi family car looks mean with a massive black grille, sloping lamp clusters and low-level fog lamps.Also looking mean is Saab's 9-3 Turbo X which will rekindle the spirit of the 1980s Saab 900 Black Turbo.It will feature Cross-Wheel Drive allowing torque to be split to either side of the rear axle via an electronically limited slip differential, based on information from the stability and traction control systems.However, the show-stealer is likely to be seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher when he unveils the Ferrari 430 Scuderia, a lighter and faster development of the existing 430 coupe and convertible.Power is up to 380kW, weight is down 100kg and the F1 transmission has new software that cuts shift times to 60 milliseconds. 

Just ask BMW: Chris Bangle took the company in an entirely new design direction with his “flame surface”, unveiled on the 7 Series. The Bavarian giant didn't escape unscathed, but was able to ride the criticism to the extent that most new cars from any badge show some signs of Bangle influence. Subaru, successful but certainly not anchored the way BMW was, couldn't afford to fight through the negative early reaction to its aeroplane-inspired front on the original Tribeca. Fifteen months after it was launched, the “look” is gone — dead and buried at the New York Motor Show, with the release of a safer, more conservative Tribeca II. “We wanted a less polarising design because not enough people liked it,” Subaru America executive vice-president Tom Doll said at the unveiling in New York. “We listened, and redesigned the front and rear. We addressed engine performance issues, improved the fuel consumption and implemented third-row seat access from both sides of the vehicle.” So why did the Tribeca's stand-out nose have to go? The reason is simple: Subaru needs to expand its appeal across the middle ground rather than contract it. The same philosophy is behind the “mature” and “mainstream” design of the next-generation Impreza and WRX, also unveiled at the New York show. Paradoxically, Subaru Australia's Dave Rowley says interest in the original Tribeca has spiked since news of the more conservative styling approach began circulating. “It's strange, really. As soon as people realised the current model was going to disappear, there has been a lot more interest in it,” Rowley says. “It's almost as if it has become collectable.” External changes to the Tribeca are considerable. From the A-pillar forward, almost every panel has changed. The grille is now larger, squarer and more upright, the headlights have moved down to the flat face of the car and the bonnet is less sculptured. At the rear, the most obvious change is the flattening of the once-prominent brow that ran through the lights and across the tailgate. Wisely, Subaru hasn't changed the Tribeca's interior, retaining the plush, stylish feel of the twin-cockpit design. The biggest change has been to make access to the third row of seats possible from both sides. The other big change to the Tribeca has answered the second resounding criticism of the original: the dozy performance from its three-litre engine. An all-new 3.6-litre, six-cylinder boxer engine gives the Tribeca a competitive 191kW and 335Nm of torque — an increase of 11kW and 38Nm over the outgoing model. Drive is through a revised five-speed automatic with manual shift option and Subaru's constant all-wheel drive. The new Tribeca is expected to be available in Australia early next year. Future Tribeca editions may also gain Subaru's recently announced diesel engine. Believed to be of about 2.5 litres in size, it features a horizontally opposed boxer cylinder design. Subaru says this layout is especially suited to turbo-diesel applications, because the boxer's compact design allows a low centre of gravity and its inherent rotational balance reduces vibration. The Tribeca diesel is not expected to be available in Australia before 2009.

But the new Tribeca — Soob's first all-new model since the late '90s — belongs in a bigger, wider ball park. Indeed, it's the company's biggest ever passenger vehicle.If the name and the super-sized aspect weren't sufficient proof that it had been developed primarily for the American market, the 10 cup-holders should clinch the argument.Although top-end Libertys slay European sports saloons for value, the Tribeca is intended to go up against the Nissan Murano, BMW X3, Volvo XC70, Ford Territory Ghia and Volkswagen Touareg.Apart from powertrains, it shares with the Forester, Liberty and Outback a five-star crashworthiness rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).The six-cylinder, three-litre Tribeca begins at $53,990 in five-seat configuration, with the range-topping Tribeca 3.0R Premium seven-seater $60,990. Both those prices are guaranteed to shake up the segment.The Tribeca is claimed to be the first Subaru to offer a 2000kg braked towing capacity.Both Tribeca variants use the same horizontally opposed boxer engine, a peaky but powerful number that produces 180kW at 6600rpm and 297Nm at 4200rpm.The transmission is a five-speed auto with manual mode. Predictably, there's no manual variant; that third pedal is what they have these days instead of a handbrake.Of course, the Tribeca is mainly about amenity. It comes with a standard rear-view camera, Vehicle Dynamics Control, satnav, an electric sunroof and leather trim, with heated front seats on Premium variants.The second row of seats can be slid back 20cm. It also features a 60/40 split bench and a 40/20/40 split rear- seat backrest with fold-flat capability.There's a centre armrest with two cup-holders, plus a tray table on the reverse side that can be used when the centre section is folded flat.The third row in seven-seat models includes a 50/50 split backrest.A shoulder-level lever allows the seat to be folded down to create flat luggage space. When using only the second row, four suitcases or four golf bags can be carried.Cargo boxes are also located below the floor — two in five-seat models and one in seven-seaters.