| 2006 Subaru Tribeca B9 |
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By Terry Jackson, Men.com Automotive Editor
What’s got an ugly face, is overpriced and sucks fuel like its owner is an oil sheik?
If you answered the 2006 Subaru Tribeca B9, you, my friend, are a discerning car person. If you didn’t think of the Tribeca, you either haven’t seen one, driven one or work for Subaru.
For the uninitiated, the Tribeca B9 is a crossover SUV that’s positioned to compete against the Lexus RX330 or lesser priced vehicles like the Toyota Highlander or even some upscale minivans like the Honda Odyssey.
It’s the largest and most expensive Subaru ever offered, checking it at a base price of more than $30,000, with the top-of-the-line Limited version carrying a sticker price of more than $38,000. In size, it’s comparable to a Ford Explorer.
Overall, this SUV is a Subaru that, charitably, does little to distinguish itself in a field crowded with some very good vehicles. Less charitably, there’s little to recommend it on almost any level.
Let’s start with the exterior, which is the most controversial part. The Tribeca has a nose only a plastic surgeon with dreams of big fees could possibly love. It’s a prominent hooter with a chromed grille that protrudes like a boxer who stopped one too many punches. Think of the old Edsel, which at the time looked like a Mercury that bit into a lemon, and you have a sense of the Tribeca’s nose.
Subaru thinks the nose has an aircraft look to it – no plane I’d ever fly in should look like this – and celebrates the company’s heritage as one of the builders of the World War II Japanese Zero fighter plane.
I realize that Pearl Harbor is by most measures ancient history and Subaru builds the Tribeca in Indiana, but it seems unwise to emphasize such a manufacturing heritage.
And besides, it’s ugly.
But as our mothers taught us, beauty is only skin deep, so maybe there’s true inner charm underneath the Tribeca.
To create the Tribeca – named for the trendy New York neighborhood – Subaru took the Outback/Legacy chassis and stretched it to 189.8 inches. It retains the same flat 3-liter six-cylinder engine found in other Subarus. In the Tribeca it makes 250 horsepower at 6,600 rpm.
In the Subaru tradition, the Tribeca is an all-wheel-drive vehicle that comes only connected to a five-speed automatic transmission. As a nod to possible sporty intentions, the Tribeca has a manual shift mode.
It comes in five- and seven-passenger configurations, but the seven-passenger version can carry seven only if the two relegated to the flip-up third-row seats had better be Munchkin small.
Both versions can be had in standard or Limited trim, which includes leather seats and a more powerful stereo system, among other upgrades. On top-of-the line models a satellite navigation and rear-seat DVD system can be ordered.
Slip behind the wheel and a large, curvy center control cluster draws your attention. If the navigation system is on board, it occupies the top center of the stack with a large, well-lit screen. Stereo and climate controls are arranged below and are well marked and easy to use.
In front of the driver are two chrome-rimmed instrument pods with illuminated gauges that show bright white all the time. One drawback to those bright gauges is that at night they appear so bright that a driver might forget that the headlights may not be on.
Driving the Tribeca is a lot like driving your mom’s minivan, so fans of the smaller, more nimble Outback or Legacy models will be sorely disappointed.
The flat six-cylinder engine has enough oomph to move this 4,200-pound van around , but never with a sense of quick response. There’s no fuel economy here, either. Although rated at as much as 24 mpg in highway mode, more than 400 miles in combined city-highway driving failed to yield much more than 18 mpg.
Steering is isolated, without a feel for what the front wheels are doing. Four-wheel disc brakes work without complaint, but the suspension is way too floaty for a vehicle that bills itself as an SUV. There’s also too much road and wind noise in the cockpit for a vehicle that is priced well into luxury territory.
People who love Subarus – their psychological profile is probably similar to drivers who religiously buy Saabs -- will be tempted to buy the Tribeca. But unless they just have blind allegiance to the brand, the Tribeca could be the Subaru that breaks the spell.
For the rest of us, we’ll just pass this one by.
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