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2019 Subaru Tribeca Heir Spied Benchmarking Against Mazda CX-9, Ford Explorer

In the mid-size crossover SUV genre, Subaru’s weapon of choice used to be the Tribeca. But with its demise in 2014, the Tribeca’s competition has flourished. Nevertheless, the Japanese manufacturer prepares to get back in the game with an all-new seven-seat model that’ll succeed the Tribeca.
2019 Subaru Tribeca successor 16 photos
Photo: Stefan Baldauf/SB-Medien
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Nobody knows what it’s called at the time of writing, but here it is in all its pre-production and heavily-camouflaged glory. The 2019 Subaru Tribeca successor has been caught by the shutterbugs doing its thing at high altitude, joined by its main rivals: the Ford Explorer and the refreshed Mazda CX-9.

Underpinned by the Subaru Global Platform, a modular vehicle architecture that also acts as the backbone of the 2017 Subaru Impreza, the next-generation Tribeca moves away from the design language of the old model. The styling is best described as urban-centric. It’s sleek, it’s rugged, and it has that outdoorsy look everyone expects from a rough-and-ready Subaru.

It also looks massive, although not as wide or tall as the boxy-shaped Ford Explorer. The front grille and the shape of the headlight clusters pay dividend in the exterior design department. But then again, this type of vehicle is all about space. The wheelbase, as you can see in the adjacent photography, is long enough to integrate a third row of seats, but heaven knows how much legroom the rear occupants will have. It all comes down to packaging, an area where most modern sport utility vehicles have gotten a lot better at.

Like all Subaru models, the Tribeca’s successor will come as standard with the likes of a boxer engine, Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive prowess, as well as the benefits of active torque vectoring. In the engine bay, we’re expecting Subaru to shoehorn a familiar 3.6-liter six-cylinder unit with at least 256 horsepower.

Word has it the 2019 Subaru Tribeca heir apparent will make its live debut in 2018, probably at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Thus, expect the new kid on the block to go on sale in model year 2019.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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