2009 Subaru Wrx Sedan 4-door 2.5l Bargain Time, No Reserve on 2040-cars

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The next Subaru three-row will be the biggest Subaru ever

Subaru's trying to fix what hobbled the too-small, too-odd Tribeca, the company's last attempt at a three-row SUV, with a truly American-sized vehicle that will resemble the Viziv-7 Concept the company showed off at the LA Auto Show. We caught up with Dominick Infante, National Manager of Product Communications, to get the story about what that future SUV will be like. While he couldn't talk about engines ("[W]e'll have big news on that coming up," he said), Infante told us that the production SUV would be based on the new global architecture, a version of which underpins the new Impreza. That car, and its architecture, were "designed to meet crash testing out to 2025, so it's very overbuilt which is why we can go to something as large as this," Infante said. It's also coming soon. Infante told us that the production version be on the road in 2018, which we assume means it'll be a 2019 model year vehicle. Don't expect it to diverge from the company's general styling themes, either. Infante mentioned that the Tribeca, "was a very stylized vehicle ... [it] kind of didn't fit with the brand." We'd say that's an accurate assessment of a vehicle that always stood apart from the rest of the lineup. Subaru will play it safe to avoid that problem, making sure the production version of the Viziv-7 will be immediately identifiable as a Subaru. As Infante put it, "It's not going to be overly fancy or pretty; it'll be rough and tumble. We're going to stick with our Subaru DNA." And it'll also fix the Tribeca's other problem, which was size, particularly in the third row. Infante promised us that adults would fit in the Viziv-7's rear seats, although a quick glance in the Concept didn't confirm this because there wasn't an interior at all. So we'll have to wait and see, and note that there was no discussion of the size of those adults. Infante also promised configurable seating and cargo arrangements that would go beyond anything Subaru's done before – and since Subaru's only done one proper three-row, that means the Tribeca. Since it's debuting in 2018, it's a safe bet we'll see a concept that's much closer to production form next year. Stay tuned.Related Video:

Subaru's three-row Tribeca replacement spotted testing with Explorer and CX-9 in tow

Despite being a roomy, midsize crossover with seven seats living in a market that's mad for the genre, Subaru had a difficult time selling the Tribeca. Subie's largest automobile was one of the worst selling vehicles of 2012, which surely led to its death in 2014. The latest spy shots of Subaru's new three-row crossover reveals that the automaker is finally ready to replace the Tribeca. Our photographers managed to capture photos of Subaru's upcoming three-row crossover testing with the Ford Explorer and Mazda CX-9. The heavily disguised model doesn't appear drastically different than the dead Tribeca, but thick cladding is hiding the majority of the vehicle's features. From the front, the CUV looks to have similar triangular headlights as the old Tribeca, but have been given a sharper design. The front grille closely resembles the one found on the current Subaru Outback with three horizontal slats. The large air intake toward the bottom of the front fascia is also similar to the Outback's. The overall profile of the 'ute indicates that the new crossover will be similarly sized to the now-dead Tribeca, current Explorer, and present-day CX-9. At the back, the crossover features square taillights that are comparable to the ones found on the Forester's LED units. The prototype's dual exhaust outlets hint toward Subaru's 3.6-liter six-cylinder Boxer engine. The new seven-seater is expected to utilize Subaru's new modular architecture that will underpin the majority of the automaker's lineup. While the Tribeca was larger than its competitors, the previous model, as we pointed out in our review, had polarizing styling and a subpar interior that held the machine back. The Tribeca's replacement, which is expected to debut in 2018, should fix the previous car's issues with a rugged, sleeker exterior design and a more luxurious interior. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2019 Subaru Three-Row SUV View 16 Photos Image Credit: KGP Photography Spy Photos Subaru Crossover SUV subaru tribeca three-row three-row cuv

2015 Subaru WRX: Road trip to Maine [w/video]

After driving one of the best sport compacts on the market to one of the best-driving-roads states in the Union, who'd have thought that one of my big takeaways would be... great fuel economy? And yet, after putting more than 2,200 miles on our long-term 2015 Subaru WRX, driving from Ann Arbor, MI, to The Great State of Maine and back, my overall fuel consumption figures were almost as baffling as the premium-gasoline prices throughout Canada. In the early part of the now-past autumn, my wife Molly and I were happy to make use of the long-term WRX for our annual road trip from Michigan to Maine. Our goal, as ever, was to fit as much hiking, boating and lobster eating as we could into a one-week span. And, with the sporting Scoobie as our ride this time, I also hoped to spend time bombing down some of my favorite roads through the White Mountains. Anyone that pays attention to the industry knows that New England is a hot spot for Subaru sales, but it turns out that the WRX is just about tailor made for enjoying the best of Maine, too. First up, though – as it was the most surprising to me – is the fuel economy story. I knew going into the trip that I'd log more than two grand on the odometer, but I never expected the returns to be quite so positive as they ended up netting out. My total observed economy over 2,226 miles was 28.38 miles per gallon, or just a fraction better than the EPA estimated highway number of 28 mpg. How'd I do that? My total observed economy over 2,226 miles was 28.38 miles per gallon. Well, for starters, the stretch of Canadian highway between Michigan and Vermont is exceptionally long, flat, straight and dull. Excepting the inevitable traffic around Toronto, the trip is mostly of the "set it and forget it" variety, typically at a cruise of about 72 miles per hour (so as not to attract the Mounties). Doing that haul, I had one tank of premium (15.9 gallon capacity) last for 466 miles, running a trip-best 31.9 mpg. Considering that the Canadian petrol was running me roughly five American bucks per gallon, I appreciated the Subie's newfound frugality. One small issue, tangentially related to fuel, did crop up on the road. The WRX's gas door stopped popping open when I pulled the lever after my second fill up. As it turned out, there is a technical service bulletin out for this very issue, which was looked after as soon as we got back to the States.