2022 Subaru Ascent: Practically Perfect

Planes, rockets, cars, and trains. There’s a huge list of possibilities that’ll get you from place to place. From Staten Island to the Bahamas to the top of Mount Rushmore, even people are just going, going, gone! It seems like past models of cars are just going, going, gone, too! With all the convenience and fun that comes with each new release of vehicles, sometimes it’s good to look back at just how far we’ve come!

As your local Staten Island Subaru dealer, we like to look through time and space so that we can really appreciate just how far we have come. It’s hard to recognize just how great all the 2022 models are if we don’t compare them to the fact that at one point in time, travel only came in the form of a horse and buggy. Now we can go to the moon and someday even beyond. Through time our three-row SUVs have only gotten better and better, so let’s see where they started and what the new 2022 Subaru Ascents have to offer.

Subaru Ascents of the Past:

Tribeca

If you aren’t familiar with the Subaru Tribeca, don’t worry because it’s been discontinued. For a good reason too. The Tribeca is typically considered Subaru’s first foray into the three-row SUV world, and it was less than great. Initially, it started out as a two-row SUV, but Subaru noticed that they weren’t accommodating larger family sizes and decided to increase the number of passengers by adding that third row in 2010.

The 2010 to 2014 Tribeca offered basic capabilities with less than basic levels of comfort because this was essentially a vehicle built to seat five and changed to seat seven. So you can imagine that legroom was practically non-existent and passenger comfort was less than ideal. Pair that with the standard and unappealing outward appearance, and it’s really no wonder Subaru discontinued it after 2014. Don’t get us wrong, it was a great starting point for a business that had yet to put itself out there for larger SUVs, but it set the bar pretty low. We’re glad that Subaru took the time to really focus on what made a great SUV because five years later, we got the Subaru Ascent to fill the void left by the Tribeca.

2019 Ascent

First released in 2019, the Subaru Ascent was a well-received three-row SUV. The Ascent came in to fill the gap left by the discontinuation of the Subaru Tribeca. Unlike the Tribeca, the Ascent was practically perfect. Well, not quite Mary Poppins, but pretty darn close. They were easily one the best three-row SUVs produced because of the standard all-wheel drive configuration and the fact that they came stock with top-of-line infotainment capabilities. The continuously variable transmission helped this model be incredibly popular because it gave the Ascent great fuel efficiency for a vehicle of that size.

If you’ve ever ridden in the third row of an SUV before, you know that they’re typically not as comfortable, but Subaru gave their Ascent third row seats fit for those with even the most sensitive of backsides. While loosely based on the Tribeca, Subaru took note of what made the Tribeca fail and made sure that comfort and usability were top priorities. Subaru also knows that a vehicle’s outward appearance is very important and gave the Ascents a sporty and sleek exterior that indicated all the good things that the Ascents have to offer. The Ascent proved to be an amazing replacement for the Tribeca and was an excellent restart to the company getting into larger SUVs.

2020 Ascent

Subaru really started out pretty rough with the Tribeca but turned the tides with their first edition of the Ascent, which set the bar ridiculously high. However, they demonstrated their mastery of the car building craft and created another almost practically perfect Mary Poppins of the SUV world. The 2020 model came equipped with all the same features as the 2019 Ascents but added in a couple of additional ones as well.

The back seat safety reminder was added so that parents and nannies alike didn’t forget important things like their children in the back seat of the car. After all, even Mary Poppins needs a little help every now and again. The stock infotainment system remained untouched and is really the only place where a complaint can be made about the 2020 Ascent. Big leaps and bounds were made by technology and not by Subaru, but they really didn’t have a lot left to make better, so they left that for another year.

2021 Ascent

Subaru decided to catch up with the technology with their 2021 release of the Ascent by giving this model all the big safety and driver assistance features. Stock in even their base model, the Ascents now had the coveted adaptive cruise control, lane assist, and automatic emergency braking. The headlights got an update to LEDs for this year as well, which allows drivers to see quite a bit further and almost into the future! Well, not really, but it does add a ton of additional visibility when the weather conditions are more likely to blow Mary Poppins away than to bring her gracefully in.

They also added Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a car wifi hotspot to the 2021 models, which caught Subaru back up with their competitors as far as infotainment features are concerned. They considered the usability of their screens and made them touch compatible with icons designed to be easy to find so that drivers aren’t inadvertently taking an unexpected stroll off the road.

Subaru Ascent of Now: 2022

While the other versions of the Ascent are practically perfect in every way, this one is probably comparable to being Mary Poppins’ mother. Who had to be definitively perfect in every way to raise someone practically perfect. Subaru took all the great qualities of the Ascent, like the comfortable seats, roomy interior, and desirable safety features, and put them in the 2022. Then they still found room to make the 2022 release even better!

While the other model years of the Ascent have been noted to have some road noise, the 2022 is found to be really quiet and enjoyable. Subaru was able to create a lot of storage capacity for the 2022 model by finding unique storage bin placements, such as inside the back passenger doors, among other places. The 2022 edition of the Ascent can come in a couple of different trim levels that fit the needs of every driver and really rounds out the experience that Subaru has been able to provide for their drivers. With the 2022 Ascent, Subaru moved the game from playing catch up with the experienced SUV manufacturers to being a fair and equally matched competitor.

An Unexpected Hit

While Subaru may have started at the bottom of the three-row SUV podium, they have really made huge improvements in the few short years that they have been producing them. While their initial start put them firmly behind the curve, with the creation of the Ascent, they have been able to really move themselves forward and make a name for themselves as all-around vehicle manufacturers. With the addition of the Subaru Ascent to the lineup, we here at Richard Lucas Subaru truly feel like Subaru is finally giving us a vehicle that can fit almost any family.