2009 Subaru Tribeca Limited

Add the Tribeca to the list of vehicles I completely forget about, but actually like once I'm behind the wheel. This has to be Subaru's nicest interior, and the 3.6-liter boxer-six provides plenty of power. I'd complain that the looks of the Tribeca are just as bland as the rest of Subaru's current lineup, but bland is much better than the Tribeca's previous design, which was universally chastised.

The Tribeca never feels quite as large as it is, which is a good thing on country roads. It's not nearly as athletic as the cars in the Subaru family, but that's to be expected. I like the seating position and there's pretty good visibility.

Looking at the price and fuel economy for this Tribeca, my interest starts to wane. My main complaints about the Ford Flex are the price and fuel economy, but the fuel economy for the Tribeca is virtually the same as an AWD Flex and this tester's $37k sticker pushes it almost to the price of a luxury vehicle, which is certainly not how I'd describe the Tribeca. Not that the Tribeca is a bad choice, it just works better when you're not optioning it to the max.

Phil Floraday, Senior Online Editor