Subaru’s newest model, the Tribeca, has scored five stars in independent crashworthiness testing conducted by the Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP).

Tribeca, a luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV), follows the five-star path established by current generation Forester, Liberty and Outback.

The five-star rating applies to occupant protection.

Tribeca was unveiled on Thursday at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney. It goes on sale in Australia next month.

It will be the largest vehicle in Subaru’s range and is available with five and seven-seat cabins.

Among Tribeca’s safety features are:

• ABS brakes with four-wheel discs and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD)
• Brake assist
• Child seat anchor points
• Dual front, side and curtain airbags
• Front seatbelts with pretensioners and load limiters
• Heated external mirrors
• Rear door child lock
• Reversing camera
• Ring-shaped reinforcements surrounding the passenger cabin
• Rollover sensor
• Seatbelt indicator lights – all seats
• Side intrusion bars
• Speed sensitive wipers
• Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive
• Three-point A/ELR rear centre seatbelt
• VDC – Vehicle Dynamics Control with Traction Control System
• Windscreen wiper de-icer

Tribeca underwent a frontal crash test at 64 km/h, where part of the vehicle hits a barrier and a side impact test at 50 km/h.

It was also tested to assess likely injuries caused to pedestrians by the vehicle travelling at 40 km/h.

Tribeca underwent an optional pole test too, where the vehicle travelling sideways at 29 km/h strikes a round pole lined up with the driver’s head. This measures the effectiveness of head protecting side airbags and can result in extra points being scored.

Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia, said: “Safety is an absolute priority for Subaru."

“The fact that we have so many five-star ANCAP rated vehicles in our range is proof of their engineering integrity."

“Engineers from Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru cars, together with our own engineers from Subaru Australia, work closely to produce vehicles that are ideally set-up for Australian conditions. That’s reflected in this result.”