Car Reviews

2008 Subaru Tribeca Gets Rhinoplasty, Refinement

By Jim Bray

Sunday, July 22, 2007

I guess maybe the original Tribeca wasn't as "B9" as Subaru had thought.

That's because for 2008, Subaru's nifty Tribeca is no longer called the "B9 Tribeca", at least according to its badging and the company's U.S. website. But that's okay. That double name was confusing to start with, and it just so happens that the welcome move to simplicity is also reflected in more than the vehicle's moniker: the Tribeca's formerly strange front end has been simplified as well.

Subaru Creates a "B9" SUV

By Jim Bray

Friday, October 7, 2005

Subaru has jumped into the so-called SUV market with both feet, offering a terrific new vehicle that’s at least as nice to drive as any other SUV I’ve tried.

Subaru has been marketing its Forester as an SUV for several years now, but I’ve always found it more of a tall wagon than an honest to goodness SUV. And that’s fine! I’ve always liked the Forester, and prefer it to most SUV’s; along with the old Mazda Protégé 5 it has been one of my favourite such wagons, though the Subaru has had the advantage of the company’s traditional all wheel drive.

But Subaru is trumpeting the B9 Tribeca as the real SUV deal, despite calling it a "Crossover Utility Vehicle". And it does look a little like a cross between an SUV and a minivan, without the minivan’s traditional sliding side doors. It drives like a cross between a minivan and an SUV, too, and while that may sound like the B9 Tribeca has a split personality, it drives very nicely regardless of what you want to want to call it.

Subaru Outback: Comes Back Out Front?

One of Subaru’s legacies is its self proclaimed "world’s first sport utility wagon," the Outback. Basically a beefed up version of the Legacy, the Outback is newly redesigned for 2005, a freshening that keeps what made earlier versions popular, but ups the styling and technology ante to reflect the current state of the art better.

I’d never driven a Legacy or an Outback before this review, though I’ve driven most other Subarus from the past couple of years, so I was extremely interested to try this top-of-the-line 3.0R VDC model. I like Subarus, especially the Forester, but on the whole am of the opinion that they don’t come off quite as refined in their feel and appointments as some of the Japanese competition I’ve driven.

This obviously doesn’t matter to Subaru owners, who find many other things to love including their four wheel drive stability and all around driving prowess (as well as a good "fun to drive" quotient).