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The uncharitable will call it gauche and ugly, the kind will call it striking and characteristic. Whatever you think, there's no denying that the Subaru Tribeca will divide aesthetic opinion. It photographs badly, and it looks uncomfortably gawky in the solitary confinement of a starkly lit showroom. But gliding up, over and down these humpbacked San Francisco streets, the Tribeca looks imposing. Not handsome, granted, but just sitting on the right side of distinctive. And anyway, you will have plenty of time to recalibrate your aesthetic barometer to see if it looks as good in Swindon as it does in San Fran - the big Scooby crossover doesn't arrives here until the end of 2006.
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| Tribeca is based on the Legacy platform |
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The Tribeca, named after a trendy residential area of New York City, is more than Subaru's first foray into the premium sports utility market. It also signposts a radical change of design direction for the Japanese carmaker. Under new creative director and ex-Alfa design Andreas Zapatinas, Subaru is forging ahead with a family look that centres on that solitary central nostril of a grille that is, according to Zapatinas, inspired by the company's aeronautical heritage. So we'd better get used to it then - the next-generation Impreza is bound to wear a similar, if less pronounced face, as will the facelifted Legacy and Outback. And the Tribeca will not, we are promised, be reskinned to create a Saab like the Impreza was. Thank goodness.
Beneath that high-shouldered chunky carapace, the seven-seater Tribeca is a traditional Subaru. It sits on a Legacy platform that's been stretched 80mm between the axles to swallow the Tribeca's third row of seats. Rear accommodation is further boosted by ditching the Legacy's bulky rear suspension set-up in favour of a new double wishbone layout - it's a more compact and lower arrangement that increases boot and rear passenger space.
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