April 5, 2007

2008 Subaru Tribeca loses its face

The redesigned 2008 Subaru Tribeca large crossover SUV is actually a car without a face. Its original front may have been too extravagant for the American customers but now, when it lost its trademark headlamps and grille, the new Subaru Tribeca is more like just another Japanese SUV that you pass on the road without noticing it.

2008 Subaru Tribeca loses its face
The new Subaru Tribeca's design may be described as "Hyundai Santa Fe meets Chrysler Aspen meets new Toyota RAV4". Whether it's good or bad is up to you to decide but, seriously considering getting the 2007 Subaru B9 Tribeca as the new family vehicle just a month ago, I wouldn't buy the new Tribeca under any circumstances.

2008 Subaru Tribeca (front)

2008 Subaru Tribeca (back)

The only good news about the face-ripped-off vehicle is that it now receives larger 3.6-liter 256-horsepower Boxer engine, which is claimed to be delivering more power while drinking the same amount of fuel, regular instead of premium as it was before. Well, Subaru's engineers are still superior to Subaru's designers I suppose.

2008 Subaru Tribeca (engine)

2008 Subaru Tribeca (interior)

See also: Redesigned 2008 Subaru B9 Tribeca to be unveiled in New York

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2 comments:

Andy Askren said...

The 08 Tribeca is just sad. I am almost embarrassed to be driving my 06--and I have been proud of it, maybe one of the few who *especially* liked the front end because it doesn't look like every other freakin xover on the market. At least, at the very least, it stood out--those who think its ugly have no imagination (to me); but that's beside the point. What Subaru did to accommodate a supposed larger market was to homegenize and put out an utterly gutless, thoughtless, absolutely uninspired design, when they had at least *something* going for them with the 'polarizing' 05, 06 and 07 models. It might not have been "right" or have met market forecasts, but there is no WAY this vanilla look is likely to do anything for them long term. Oh well. Guess that's why I'm not in the car biz; probably a good thing. I can't believe I'm ranting about something so ridiculous. BAD SUBIE; and this from a fan.

regan said...

The 08 tribeca will out sell the old model by double. It didn't sell before so a change needed to be made. Subaru is in the car business to sell cars. Great the original was distinctive but it was a sales flop! Business 101 would indicate a change was in order.
The Tribeca is a very good vehicle that more buyers need to expeience. Subaru now needs to get them in the door to test drive one.