The first thing you should know about the Tribeca is that it's a big SUV, as big or bigger than a Nissan Murano or Toyota Highlander or even a Ford Explorer. It seats up to seven passengers.

The first thing you're likely to notice, however, is the styling, particularly that grille. It looks like something from an Alfa Romeo. Subaru's new chief designer came from Alfa, but he told us the grille was already set in stone when he arrived. The design of the Tribeca doesn't please everyone, but seems to grow on some people with time.

TriBeCa is a trendy, upscale neighborhood between New York's Soho and Lower Manhattan districts. It isn't cheap real estate. Nor is the Subaru Tribeca cheap transportation. In case you haven't noticed, all Subaru models are somewhat pricey, but we think they offer a lot of value in terms of technology, handling, foul-weather capability and dependability. For its part, the Tribeca is competitive in the class, especially given the lengthy list of features with which it comes standard, much of which are optional or not even available elsewhere.

Extensive driving in Northern California revealed the Tribeca to be a joy to drive, comfortable and practical. In short, we'd list it as a buy. That's a strong recommendation, given that we think highly of the Highlander and Murano.