Subaru Ascent SUV is a Business Insider Car of the Year runner-up

Our 2019 Subaru Ascent test car.Business Insider/Jessica Tyler

Editorial note: Business Insider will name its 2018 Car of the Year on Monday, November 19. Each day this week, we’re taking another look at the five vehicles that were runners-up that were selected from a pool of 15 finalists. Earlier this week, we featured the 2018 Lincoln Navigator, the 2018 Ferrari 812 Superfast, and the Jaguar I-PACE. Today, our featured runner-up is the 2019 Subaru Ascent. 

• The Subaru Ascent midsize crossover SUV is all new for 2019.
• The Ascent is Subaru‘s first attempt at a midsize SUV since the disappointing Tribeca was discontinued in 2014.
• Subaru’s new SUV will take on industry leaders like the Toyota Highlander and the Ford Explorer. 
• The base 2019 Subaru Ascent starts at $31,995, while our top-of-the-line Ascent Touring starts at $44,695. With fees, our car carried an as-test price of $45,670.
• We were impressed by the Ascent’s comfortable cabin, bountiful safety features, solid driving dynamics, and powerful turbocharged engine.
• The Ascent’s somewhat anonymous styling, spongy brakes, and lethargic transmission, however, were a bit disappointing. 

Subaru has been on a roll in the US. The longtime purveyor of Japanese all-wheel-drive motors has reported nearly seven years’ worth of consecutive month-over-month sales growth.

Its Outback, Forester, and Crosstrek crossovers have become a popular alternative to the more mainstream offerings from Toyota, Ford, Honda, and Nissan. 

Success in the midsize SUV segment, however, has eluded Subaru over the years. It tried in 2005 with the B9 Tribeca. Unfortunately, the Tribeca’s odd styling, diminutive size, and tepid performance prevented it from gaining traction in the market. Even a 2008 facelift and the addition of a more powerful engine couldn’t save the Tribeca, which soldiered on for nearly a decade before Subaru pulled the plug on the SUV in 2014.

Read More: One of these 15 finalists will become Business Insider’s 2018 Car of the Year.

For 2019, Subaru is back with an all-new midsize SUV: the Ascent. The Ascent is larger than the Tribeca, with room for up to eight passengers, and is packed with a bevy of state-of-the-art tech features. 

The Ascent is meant to slot in above the Outback wagon in Subaru’s lineup and will be its most expensive offering. 

Recently, Business Insider had the chance to spend a week with a new Magnetite Gray Metallic Subaru Ascent Touring.

The base 2019 Subaru Ascent starts at $31,995, while our top-of-the-line Ascent Touring starts at $44,695. With fees, our test car carried an as-test price of $45,670.

So, what’s it like to drive?

The Subaru Ascent is surprisingly good to drive. In a segment of the market in which driving pleasure is not exactly at the top of the priority list, the Ascent stands out for its confident handling and gutsy acceleration.

I was initially concerned about the lack of a six-cylinder option. After all, this is a 4,600-pound, three-row SUV. My fears, however, were quickly allayed by turbo four.

The Ascent felt perky around town and plenty capable while sprinting down highway on-ramps. In fact, even with four occupants and a full load of cargo, the Ascent’s drivetrain never felt overmatched.

The engine delivers solid low-end grunt with its 277 pounds of torque at just 2,000 RPMs. In addition, the traditionally lackadaisical CVT did a fair impression of an eight-speed automatic transmission. Its pre-programmed shift points mimicked the feel of an automatic and reduced the effect of that dreaded CVT drone.

Our only real complaint with the Ascent’s driving dynamics was its brakes, which felt spongy and not as responsive as we would have liked.

Our verdict.

In all honesty, we haven’t been terribly impressed with the past couple of Subarus we’ve tested. We found the four-cylinder Outback wagon and the Crosstrek crossover to be underpowered and a bit rough around the edges.

The Ascent was none of those things.

Subaru really needed to get the Ascent right. And boy did they nail it. The 2019 Subaru Ascent wowed us with its user-friendly design, its refined cabin, a cornucopia of standard safety features, infotainment tech that works, and a gutsy turbocharged engine.

In a market in which the weak are quickly exposed, Subaru is entering the fray with all guns blazing.