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Subaru Tribeca 2008
I've just seen the pictures of the new 2008 Tribeca, and must say that I'm dissapointed. Although the old front was not the most beautiful, at least it had caracter and distiguished itself from all other competition. But the 2008 seems so common, I hate it. It looks more like a Crysler than a Subaru. The only thing I enjoyed was the rails on the roof.
About the interior, I'm impressed by the design (same as in the old model) but would like to see better material quality, as well as better front seats, with more suport on the side. And on a more personal note, what about a couple of small pockets (for change, garage remote etc), preferable covered, on both the driver and co-driver side, left and right of the gear-shift? There is enough room for 2 on each side.
As for the engine, I'm wondering when will the proclamed 3.0 L diesel engine will appear? And what about a 6-speed auto transmition?
And finally can the VDC be dissengaged and engaged while driving?
About the interior, I'm impressed by the design (same as in the old model) but would like to see better material quality, as well as better front seats, with more suport on the side. And on a more personal note, what about a couple of small pockets (for change, garage remote etc), preferable covered, on both the driver and co-driver side, left and right of the gear-shift? There is enough room for 2 on each side.
As for the engine, I'm wondering when will the proclamed 3.0 L diesel engine will appear? And what about a 6-speed auto transmition?
And finally can the VDC be dissengaged and engaged while driving?
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Comments
Bob
Mark my words. This will be a big hit for Subaru.
Bob
http://blogs.edmunds.com/Straightline/2566
Bob
EXPECTING MORE? What planet do you live on? This is only 2 years into the cycle, we are lucky that we got a re-design so quickly. The improvements as bob said will boost sales on this imensely and it'll be a good seller for them.
-mike
I'm a Subie fan (already had 3 in the past and wanted to make them 4) so ofcourse I have higher expectations from Subaru.
-mike
About the interior quality, that can be priced in as an extra. And as for the exterior - I prefer the the old design to the new
3.0L Diesel, don't count on it being sold here. Heck the Jeep dropped the CRD Liberty due to emissions testing issues. It *may* make it here eventually but it's expensive to get it tested etc, especially if they aren't going to sell a lot of them.
6-speed, yeah it would be nice but it costs a lot to do, especially since they just did the 5EAT a few years ago.
As for upgrading the interior, people are already complaining about the price, anything more would push it out of range completely for a Subaru.
-mike
The only other complaints I had were seemingly poor gas mileage. Is that any better with the new engine? On a several hundred mile stint in the rental I didn't even manage 20mpg. Also, I noticed the third row had absolutely NO leg room. Is the new one longer with more third row space?
Lastly, and this is the kicker, I hated the Starship Enterprise center console. Has this been changed? I could look past all of the other nit picks I had, but the space age center console single handily prevented me from considering one of these a year ago when I was looking for a three row family vehicle. I ended up with a Ford Freestyle which has a LOT more interior room and gets better gas mileage but at the same time is boring in the looks department.
- Chad
As to the diesel engine, it is a must, at least in Europe. Since Subaru has the basic design with the 2.0 d they unveiled in Geneva last month, why shouldnt they add 2 more cylinders?
It also looks like there is a new roof rack possibility. The current rack doesn't have enough spread for my hang glider. Maybe this one has the potential of being better???
Of course- the 3.6L engine seems like a grand improvement.
If I manage to seize my engine. I wonder if I can get the 3.6 as a replacement?
This is a home run, out of the ball park. Walk the bases and wave to the kids, Subaru.
They kept the character lines, the shoulder haunches, the fender flares, yet they added a butch, macho face to it. It's like the old one went to the gym and put on some new muscle.
The roof rack makes it look taller. The upright hood makes it look more SUV, less minivan. It's much bolder, basically.
Sure, the headlights resemble the Santa Fe's, but that's another handsome SUV. As for the grille, there is a little Chrysler influence, but not much. And Chryslers look good, they have problems in other areas, not styling. Heck, they were styling leaders for a long time. Just check out how much the new Audi A5 resembles the old Chrysler Sebring coupe.
This will be a winner for Subaru, not the least because it offers:
* a little more power
* a lot more torque
* 10-15% better gas mileage
* more importantly, better range
* likely better resale values (already 4 star rated by ALG)
* better visibility
* easier ingress/egress
Heck yeah, sign me up! :shades:
I chose Subaru for their quality & AWD system.
While this design is not as unique - the U in SUV has been addressed. I believe the 06/07 motor, use of premium fuel, rear visibility etc. tipped the scales in favor of other brands.
08 improvements may even triple sales before the next change.
With regards to looking like a Hyundai.......NOT!!!
The Hyundai has no sharp character lines. It looks too soft and unfinished - Like the last generation Taurus. This of course is my opinion.
Charlie
IT HAS SUBARU UNDERPINNINGS: Engine, Suspension, AWD System
That's what makes a Subaru a Subaru and why it will out perform FWD based AWD systems with non Boxer engines!
-mike
It no longer stands out.
-mike
It will definitely be remembered as cutting edge. The market just wasn't ready for Subaru to be the one to deliver that kind of bold statement, though. Bugatti will get the credit.
Oh well, I like the new one as well.
Only the headlight shape looks like the Santa Fe, I didn't mean to imply the whole SUV did. And who cares? The Santa Fe is a handsome SUV anyway, it's just a bit low budget next to the Tribeca.
Only question now is: what colors will be available? Atlantic Blue is a front runner, but I like that silver in the pictures. :shades:
-juice
The grille alone, maybe, even then Subaru's is much smaller and has a different shape along the top. The headlights on the Aspen are enormous and have that round edge on the bottom, plus that hood has those stripes running the length of it.
The overall effect of the new Tribeca looks nothing at all like the new Tribeca.
While the grille is a bit similar, the overall effect is not at all Chrysler-ish IMO.
Aspen ain't bad looking, anyway. Looks better than the Durango ever did by far.
Are you still going to the show on Monday?
If so Can we meet at the Subaru dispay?
Charlie
I guess I'll wake up as early as I can, and drive to Bob's, who is about 45 minutes north from me. We drive another 4.5 hours or so to NY, so I figure we'll get there just after lunch.
e-mail me so we can swap phone numbers. Add @ifc.org to the end of my handle.
http://blogs.edmunds.com/Straightline/2580
Bob
Tribeca
Vue
Escape
In fact, it was exactly the uncommon and polarizing nature of the front end which drew me to the Tribeca in the first place when I was shopping for my first SUV. I already owned a 15 year old Subaru and although I had heard about the Tribeca way back when it was still in the rumour mill stages, a Subaru SUV was not even a seed of an idea when I first went shopping. It was only when I had given up on the other manufacturers and showed up on the Subaru lot ready to settle for a Forrester or Outback, that a row of Tribeca frontends suddenly caught my eye. To me, Subaru's main selling points have always been AWD, reliability and uniquely appealing designs. Taking away the most visible of those traits isn't likely to win my dollars but then again, I'm probably not one of their "target buyers", since I also liked and bought an SVX. I had entertained the idea of upgrading to a newer Tribeca in time, because my current one was purchased almost out of desperation and thus lacked the through research and testing one would normally conduct before making such a purcahse. I basically asked for an overnight test drive and was ready to talk price and sign papers the next day. Did I mention that my other car is 15 years old? But given the current design changes and past history, it looks like I may have to wait another 15 years before I can upgrade again.
KuoH
-mike
The Ford Escape's new grill is similar, sure, but look at the lower bumper, and other views differ greatly.
I don't see the link to the Saturn Vue. Maybe just the angle of the front clip, but not any of the details.
The 06-07 Tribeca was polarizing, you either loved it or you hated it.
Even though I liked the original Tribeca, there just weren't enough of us. Look at the sales figures. I don't think they sold half as many as they wanted to.
We can't blame Subaru for going with a conservative front end. Thankfully the shoulders, flares, and concave panels still make it an interesting design overall, and far more than the box on wheels that you see with the Escape, Highlander, Pilot, etc.
I like both, but I want the 3.6l engine so I think I'm getting a 2008.
-mike
I don't need more than that. 1500 lbs is enough for my needs.
I'll order a hitch if mine doesn't come with one. I hope it's pre-wired like my Forester was, install was a snap.
-mike
How much does that trailer weigh loaded up? It's gotta be about 5k lbs, right?
-mike
I suppose that was Subaru's intent, to make it look like just another SUV. To Subaru, less polarizing seems to mean more common looking, but without added incentives like more power & ammenities for less money, I don't see them gaining that much ground over what they will lose. If the 06 model had looked like this when I was shopping, they would've lost me over to the Nissan Murano for sure.
KuoH
ateixeira said:
To be honest I don't see a lot of similarities there.
The Ford Escape's new grill is similar, sure, but look at the lower bumper, and other views differ greatly.
I don't see the link to the Saturn Vue. Maybe just the angle of the front clip, but not any of the details.
Subaru's new design is very dissappointing. Instead of moving away from the crowd with a cult front end, Tribeca in this new look will just be another run of the mill SUV. No doubt people who want something with a different look will now again go back to Nissan Murano.
Since I just got a 24 month lease on a Forester, maybe this will happen when I'm in the market again (I am 6' 3" and don't really fit in the Forester all that well).
This definately put's the tribeca into the mainstream. Eventually - the '06/'07 design will begin to look like the 'old' model, regardless of whether the styling was more insteresting.
I probably would have never went for the test drive if the original 'beca looked like the '08. But- then again, perhaps many more people would have in my place. Good luck subaru. er... and can I have that new engine in my '07 please?
I mentioned this in the other thread - if this 08 had been introduced from the get-go, noone would call it boring. The shoulder lines, concave panels, bold fender flares, all those things are relatively unique.
Sure, one SUV or another shares maybe one of those, but not all. By itself, on its own merits, it would have been well received.
Problem is, the 06 was so shocking, out on a limb, that whatever followed was going to be called bland.
It's less stunning, no doubt, and will surely be less polarizing, too. Sadly the old polarizing style never got the 3.6l engine and the styling just didn't draw in enough buyers.
Newcomers such as the CX9, Veracruz, Outlook, Acadia, and Enclave are all competing for the same buyers. On the budget side, you have upward pressure from the Santa Fe, XL7, RAV4, and Outlander, all which offer a 3rd row as well.
So there are more entries competing for the same slice of pie.
Still, I predict about a 50% increase in sales, potentially double the sales if they set the pricing properly.
I looked again, and $31k and change buys a 7 pass LTD with NAV right now. Great deal. Invoice is $34k. Automotive News said the price may drop by $1000, and that should put the invoice around $33k.
Even so, the actual street price would be up a couple of grand. It's certainly worth more with the new engine, but a $2000 increase will limit how much the sales will grow.