Ryan, since you reviewed so many AWD cross-overs, it's difficult for the consumer to remember which manufacturer does best off-road. Please consider doing an annual and all-time-to-date rating of small- and mid-sized all-purpose vehicles for weekend warriors.
When there are iPhones, there are also Samsung or Google Pixels. But, when it comes to vehicle testing and reviews, there is no one quite like Ryan. Thank you for creating such informative and enjoyable videos for us.
I just bought one of these without the sunroof package (premium, but it doesn't have the sunroof, no heated seats, no blindspot monitoring, saved $2700 or thereabouts). Absolutely love it! It's my first new car and my first 'baru. What a versatile little crossover! I love the steering feel. 2.5 would've been nice but I wouldn't have been able to afford it, so 2.0 vs no Crosstrek, I think I made the right choice, and I can say it's made in Japan! Woooooo! Got it with Option 13, which gives it a cool rear bumper guard and sporty looking mudguards. Great review!
I have a ‘21 Sport. As of today, I have 35,700 miles. Actually, I just got back from a drive from WV back to DC. So I have put some miles on this car. I’ve driven from DC to Tampa to Louisiana and back to Tampa and then Nashville and back to DC over a span of 4 months. The next year, I drove from DC to Pittsburg to Detroit and then back down to DC via WV over a span of a month. The last gen Crosstrek is perfectly fine to travel. I had no mechanically issues or comfort issues. The seats won’t give you leprosy or scurvy or scoliosis. Once, in the Keys, I slept in the rear with seat down. Let me add that as a military dependent who had to drive across the country 3 times and numerous times from San Diego to Seattle/Tacoma, I have the experience to know what a travel car needs to be. And the Crosstrek is perfectly fine.
As many others say, you’re the best car reviewer on this platform. Your good-natured and honest character gives us a lot of confidence in the information you provide, and it helped me pick the 24 Crosstrek as my first new car (the 2.5L, of course). Keep up the awesome work!
I really dislike the large screen in the redesign. I think visually it works better on larger Outback and Legacy models. My mother-in-law's previous gen Crosstrek has what I consider to be the "Goldilocks" user interface. Screen plenty big enough for back up camera and radio, but LOTS of buttons and knobs. That said, more comfortable seats would be welcome.
I agree. I managed to snag one of the last Crosstrek outdoors (Canada) and did so as I was warned of the massive displays in the new models. On the other hand there are a ton of other refinements, seats , ride , noise levels etc that I am wondering about. I pick up my ‘23 at the end of the month. Time will tell.
I have a 2021 Crosstrek, I love it, but looking at the new one: replacing all those nice physical controls on the center console with just a huge touchscreen kills it for me. I need to be able to control all this stuff by feel, without taking my eyes off the road. Moving everything to a touchscreen just isn't functional.
Touch screens are just cheap if you ask me. I'll take a physical button with the ability to "feel" over needing to take my eyes down to watch where I'm pressing on a screen all day. Not only is it annoying, it's dangerous. You would think they standard safety features would mandate that certain buttons cannot be touch screen only features.
We just got the 2024 2.5…. Very happy and the screen, yes it’s big, and perhaps fiddle, but you can voice control pretty most ….turn ac down to 19 degrees …no Robles…as Ryan says Swiss Army knife of cars, we are on our 3 rd living in backwoods Canada, it works and doesn’t stop….my old fella has the 2015 diesel in UK, again just keeps working…
I have a 2022 Outdoor (Canadian Sport) with the 2.5L and love it. Could not image having less power though. Feels like they should just discontinue the 2.0 in North Ameria.
Same here. I drove a 2020 Crosstrek with the 2.0L engine for a while. The 2.0 was a bit underpowered at 9,000-12,000 ft climbing mountains in Colorado. If I buy another Crosstrek, it has to be the Sport or higher trim with the 2.5 L engine.
You can't just cut out the base engine. If you want the company to survive you have to let them sell mass market economical engines so that they can meet their EPA targets. Hundred's of thousands of the 2.0l engines were sold, it's not like it was holding them back.
I agree. There is not huge difference on mpg between 2.0 and 2.5 especially on highway. Additionally, I believe let the factory produce 2.5 solely might easier on manufacturing cost instead of having variety of powertrain. But again this is my subjective opinion.
Always love your balanced and fair reviews of Subies. I've been wanting the Crosstrek and this is seriously tempting me to trade in my current Subaru for the '24 Crosstrek given the (finally) updated seats and suspension.
Great Review, looks like a fantastic vehicle. Drone shots are next level as always! That view at the end was great. Excited for the Sport review as I’m eyeing that one.
This looks like a really good vehicle for the money especially with Subaru Eyesight with lane centering and adaptive cruise coming standard with all trims! Looking forward to test driving it!
Glad to hear they softened the suspension a bit. Previous gen I thought was pretty punishing off-road, especially on washboard, in contrast to the vehicle's general ability to get me to some cool, out-there places (and out of some hairy situations). Spot on with the engine power. The 2.0L is "sufficient" for one person around town, but passing power is seriously lacking on the highway. And add people and/or cargo (to say, go camping) and passing is legitimately a dangerous game. The EPA mpg numbers don't mean much if your foot is constantly in the throttle to keep up with traffic.
From all the cars that you've reviewed here, I noticed that you're way more comfortable driving any Subaru models. Like there's less fear to put them in an extra challenging situations. Probably because you've got a good relationship with Subaru. Just my personal observation. 😉😊
It’s more likely because I’ve owned several, and have driven thousands of miles including snow rallies with them. That gives me a good understanding of how far you can push them before they break
I have a 2020 Crosstrek Limited and I have to be honest, these 2024 models make me just want to keep mine longer. Pretty much loaded out and only missing the heated steering wheel that Subaru stiffed the US on. Been all over the deserts of the US southwest to the hills and forests of Oregon, etc…such a lovely vehicle! Just can’t get on with the new looks inside and out with the Crosstrek.
Looking forward to the Impreza RS review - not off-roading anytime soon but hit the snowy mountains often enough that a sport hatchback will get the job done while being much more satisfying to drive.
Crap, Subaru really did go ahead and mess up with the Infotainment display taking over the dash and tactile buttons. That’s going to be a huge drop in safety for Subaru. 😢 Here’s hoping they make it available with a smaller screen and button options in the near future again. I was seriously considering purchasing another Crosstrek but not if they’ve replaced them all with the massive screens.
Hey Ryan, would be great if you could get every Subaru crossover in their Touring trims and do comparatives and reviews. I know Forester is being updated so would be great once that updated model is available. Your viewerbase seems to love the Subaru stuff so would be cool for you to show them Subaru at its most luxurious.
Another gold review! 🏆. Our 2019. Crosstrek, when given a full tank of gas with winter grade, usually comes in at around 480 miles to 510 miles. Filling up with summer grade…. easy 560 miles, obviously depends on the driver. This was a great review. Calling this a Swiss Army knife pretty much sums it up. Always look forward to when you have those Subaru reviews. Would love to nab one of these beauties, just out of my price range, but very grateful, thank God, my 2016 Forester is really proving to be quite the vehicle! 🥇🏆❤️
I just purchased a 2019 Crosstrek with 13,000 miles on it from a local Subaru deal and I love it. It's my first Subaru and so far so good, I'm not as high up as my previous vehicle but I'm also not low either in this car but I have to say, I am loving the gas mileage on the car and it's strange filling it up once every 10-14 days rather than once every 5-7 days. I'm going to hold on to this one until the Wilderness edition comes out and then trade it in for that one.
@@steviem5279 you have a great car and Subaru should be coming out with a crosstrek wilderness edition mostly because these vehicles are so crazy popular! Hope you’re able to nab one of those when they come out, I would love to get the wilderness Forester, but a bit out of my price range lol. Randomly talk to somebody who I saw had the outback wilderness, asked him about it he said he loves it, the biggest problem he has with it is that he does feel quite invincible with terrain, snow lol.
Just picked up our 2023 crosstrek with the 6mt and I love it. Google says the life expectancy of the cvt is 100k miles and the 6mt is 200k+ miles and it was $1500 cheaper. We didn’t want the nuisance technology like eyesight.
I wouldn’t believe Google. It comes down to the driver, driving style and servicing. It’s no different than RU-vid, there is partial truth out there, but right now, from what I am reading on the Subaru forum, and also hearing from friends of mine, the CVTs are in the 110-140,000 miles, they haven’t had any problems. And those are just the ones I know about, many more people out there are pushing I’m sure will be on that. And if this was really truly a huge problem, Subaru wouldn’t be in business. I believe them not google.
I wish the whole lineup was made in Japan, or at least I wish the higher trims were made in Japan. For such a large vehicle, the 2.5L really should be the standard engine and we really need a turbo option and a strong hybrid option. With the Crosstrek being Subaru's best selling car, I don't think these things are too much to ask for. Oh and for the love of God bring back physical climate controls Subaru.
Really does not matter lot of the parts are made in Japan. It's just assembled here. But that being said my 2014 outback is on its 3rd cvt. All replaced by Subaru with a sticker made in Japan. Car only has 71k on it now. I used to paddle shift no more after 3cvts.
It’s not a large vehicle by any standard so not sure where your getting that from. This thing is essentially the same size as a Jeep renegade and for its size and purpose the 2.5 is more than enough engine and power… not everything needs a turbo. That being said the forester is a decent size vehicle and definitely a little underpowered
@@samvocella supposedly the 2.5 crosstrek is only being released in the American market and that’s why it’s only being assembled in the US.. all parts are from Japan though.
About the Crosstrek Wilderness. It is in Subaru's ordering system - model codes RRI-21 and RRI-23 for 2024. But officially, Subaru hasn't announced or acknowledged it.
Subarus are one of my favorite cars! The Crosstrek and the Forester are amazing cars that are comfortable, good-looking, and have great performance. The price is what makes it even better! Who wouldn't want an offroad family car for such a less price? Great vlog! Amazing filming quality and content! Thanks for sharing the next year's model!
I was really wanting to wait for one of these to come out. But for the money you spend on this same trim level vehicle you can get what i got, a brand new Chevy Colorado WT. And trust me, the 2022 Colorado WT is worth it. There are so many things that the Subaru gets that the Chevy doesn't. Like genuinely a good amount of things you don't get (including the dreary cvt, but also sadly AWD). But you do get a pickup truck that is super practical for many applications. Weigh your money wisely. I would have really liked a corsstrek but as a long term vehicle the pickup just made so much sense for my lifestyle. Literally so close to the same price.
Thank you Ryan for your through and very informative review! I’ve always loved the Subaru crosstreck. Here in the Caribbean they are called the Subaru XV. I’m completely sold, I would like to buy one.
Excellent video as always. I am interested in this vehicle with the 2.5 if it scores higher in the new IIHS Side Impact test than the previous model which earned a “Poor” rating. Very surprised at that 2023 “P” rating result as the car had Earned a Top Safety Pick Award in the older style IIHS Testing. The new test is clearly much harder to achieve high scores. I’m sure Subaru will address this issue if it hasn’t already.
I can tell u from my experience I have a 2023 crosstrek and a guy in a 4x4 jeep hit me in the passenger side fender and front door he pushed me 3 lanes sideways I walked away from the wreck with sore neck and shoulder I believe if I was in a car I would of went to the hosiptal but insurance fixed the crosstrek cost right at $6000 these are tough crossovers
Agreed. Still love having a key and to change temp in my forester is within a second with knobs. Although I love what Subaru is doing to keep their vehicles A+, I feel like the screens are going to date these easily. With Technology always changing, it’s just a concern of mine, that they may be outdated in a matter of speaking in about five years
@martinr8278 I am ok with having screens. I understand that's the future. I SO agree with you with interiors getting outdated quicker with large screens. I much prefer the interior setup in gen2.
Ryan, You used the term 'axed' 1:59 to describe the removal of the manual transmission option from the Crosstrek. Now I have an image of Subaru henchman brutally chopping out the manual transmissions from inside the Crosstrek and then savagely smashing them to pieces with the blunt end of their axes. 😨
I have a 21, it will be...hard to not want to swap for this. I really like the LED lights on all trims now, and the softened suspension. Snaps my spine on rough roads in the 21 lol. And if they really did fix rattles and sound deadening....gonna be real hard to convince myself not to lol
Great video as usual Ryan. Love your content. The 2.5L is not for the US market only, it's a bit confusing how they've communicated it. I'm in Canada, and have a 2.5L Onyx (Canada's version of Sport trim) ordered and arriving in 1 month. It's built in Japan. It seems like the US-made 2.5L models are arriving later in the year compared to Canada's Japan-made 2.5Ls. It's a strange arrangement isn't it?
Some reviews saying still has ground clearance... the Designer in Japan and other reviews say they lowered ground clearance an inch. I am going with Subaru and designer taking off an inch.. They did this as a compromise for mpg and ride quality... I am ok with the lower ground clearance myself.. over 7 inches good for 90 percent of everyone
I have a 2021 Sport that has been lifted 2" .. Bilstein shocks and struts with Eibach springs .. strut towers are cross braced .. running 225/65 17" BFG KO2's .. have a full size spare in the roof rack and use the donut hole for tools and other items .. makes a good storage area. I have 14" at the pumpkin and rocker panels. There are a few more things I've done but to many to list. Been to Death Valley 4 times in the outback there and two times to Moab .. I call it the Crosstrek Quetico! LOL 🤠 p.s. You need more momentum on your climbs .. momentum is you friend.
I have that infotainment on my 22 Wilderness and is super laggy. Climat control also not the gratest, hopefully that screen in '24 is fixed. Outbacks eats are awesome for long trips.
Make sure you've implemented all of the latest software updates for your infotainment system. My system on my Limited was too slow, and had a rare glitch or two every few months, but the latest update seemed to improve performance and remove glitches.
I love the Impreza/Crosstrek, but Subaru definitely needs to make the 2.5L engine standard, and maybe add a second option slightly over 200 hp. The prices have gotten simply too expensive for the Sport or Limited in order to get the more powerful engine. At least in my area, you have to pay 30k or more for a Sport or Limited. Simply too much, when one can get the CX-30 with a similarly powerful 2.5L for mid to upper mid 20s. Otherwise, a great vehicle, but was hoping for a new powertrain line up with the redesign. (Let me add, the 2.0L is not as terrible as some detractors make it out to be, but the market has moved on, and Subaru either needs to lower the price bar for the 2.5, or preferably make it standard.)
First the impreza and now the crosstrek have lost their manual transmissions. I was really hoping to buy one of these once I finish grad school but I don't think that will be happening anymore
If they stuff an actual spare tire into it, add transmission cooling, and tinker with the drive ratio like they did on the Forester, a Wilderness Crosstrek would be pretty compelling. Seems wild to me that a spare tire is an actual relevant selling point in this day and age, but here we are lol Of course, what we really want is the 2.4 turbo, but that'll never happen
I've owned a crosstrek, and I'm telling you, it'll never get 500 miles of range lol. I've owned one for 6 years and the average MPG was around 28 and it'll get at most 380ish miles before the gas light comes on. This is also mostly highway commutes. That being said, still a good commuter/snow car though. Not the most reliable, but good enough for the price.
I have a 2023 Crosstrek and I commute 18 miles to work every day, and with that plus standard city driving I average 30-32 mpg. On longer drives I definitely get 34. I use cruise control a lot, and set my cruise control acceleration to "eco". You must have a lead foot to be killing your mpg
I just recently did about 400 miles and 85% of that was highway. I average 36.9 mpg, and this is in a 2021 Limited that's also had a full undercarriage rust proofing added. Which puts a little extra weight on. I was running 75 mph the majority of that trip.
Built in Japan 🇯🇵👍👍👍 hell yes !! As a former skilled trades contractor at various GM plants throughout Michigan, I STRICTLY enforce a NO GM policy in my family !! Our Hondas, Toyota’s and KIAs have never let us down after hundreds of thousands of miles. Our LAST brand new GM vehicle left us stranded in sub zero conditions miles from nowhere after parts that literally were falling off it going down the road almost killing us when it swerved into oncoming traffic. That pile of “great GM feeling💩” nearly killed me. Moreover, it was in the dealer constantly for recalls and the for mentioned front end parts falling off !! NEVER GM, NEVER AGAIN !!
Thinking hard about replacing my 2021 Legacy with a 2024 Crosstrek Limited. The quieter, smoother ride plus the 10 way power driver's seat pretty much remedies anything that would have held me back.
You can put stuff on the roof racks, but it looks like that fin style antenna on the roof would interfere with stuff such as cargo baskets, and cargo bags. So glad I ran across your channel Ryan, you test these vehicles extremely well and show what they can actually do, rather than a certain other channel that does nothing but bash Subaru because they just don't grasp how an AWD system functions.
After watching this review I subscribed to your channel. You are clear, concise and do a comprehensive review! 2 points: Why do manufacturers mix halogen and LED lights? Some cars use it for brake lights but not reverse lights. And this Subaru doesn’t have it for interior mirror lights. Everyone is going to LED for better lighting and less voltage. Also this is the car I want to trade my 2 door Honda in for so I can fit friends in the back seat, but it’s a deal breaker that in 2024 there are NO rear air vents! What is Subaru thinking?
That´s weird - here in Europe this engine is only available as a 2.0 L e-Boxer. It has 150 hp + 16,7hp E-Boost from a mild hybrid system (not plugin!) that delivers also a additional torque of 49 foot pounds!
The good: 1. Subaru finally put a temperature gauge in the dash. 2. The alpine green is a killer. The bad: 1. auto only. 2. Electronic parking brake. 3. That center outback screen which is known to be buggy.
Buggy you say?!, it’s a real piece of crap on my 2023 OB Touring. It’s has been flashed 3 times with the firmware for multiple issues, but Subaru Canada Customer Service is numb and useless. If I could trade it for another brand today I would. This is my 2nd and last Subaru.
I sell Subarus and can tell you that the only reason Subaru doesn't sell many manual Crosstreks (or Imprezas for that matter) is because they simply refused to build a substantial amount of them. Anytime one would show up here, it'd get snatched up very quick.
I agree as this was my exact experience. I had to order one. Whenever a dealership got a manual Crosstrek in, it was gone within a day. Like you, I feel if they had made more of them, they would've sold more. They created a self-fulfilling prophecy. That said, I think one of the largest reasons Subaru didn't want the 6MT any longer was because they wanted to claim all Crosstreks now have EyeSight (and its associated safety suite - yeah, debatable for us old-schoolers).
Wth my former 2019 Crosstrek Sport 2.0L we would get 5,8L/100 on the highway and over 950 Kms autonomy before deciding to fill her up. That was the average on a 11 hour drive, with cruising speeds from 110 to 130 km/h. We would easily do 590 Kms on half a tank and cruise control set to 110 km/h. That was the only good part of it. Road noise and hard seats killed my back, so I replaced it after 90,000 Kms with a 2023 OB Touring (non-XT), for which I regret for all the issues with the crappy infotainment and airbags/seat belt sensors.
Ive got a 04 honda pilot. It only unlocks from the trunk, no radio (i use a wireless bluetooth speaker), no igniton cylinder wafers in the lock anymore and 170k miles on it. Starts up and gets me where i need to go. I dont have a car payment. With all that being said, I'll give many of you some advice. Dont grt caught up on the little things but focus on longevity and dependability. After a week, you wont give a shit, trust me.
Ryan, you didn't mention about the rear passenger head room! I can see you had to tug your head a bit. It looks good, actually makes me consider a subaru. How easy is it to work on that boxer engine though? I'm used to the simplicity of honda and toyota.
I can confirm that one of the major reasons I got the Crosstrek is the rear passenger room is exceptional, especially for its class. Legroom is much roomier than other vehicles I looked at, headroom too was plenty enough as long as you’re not a basketball player!
As an owner of the previous generation trek I prefer the more masculine exterior appearance, the interior appearance and physical climate control buttons of the older model. Also not a fan of electronic parking brakes. Now that my 16 year old inherited my 19’ trek im really not sure what route to go for our next crossover.
A very nice review. But I find one of the difficulties with reviews of crossovers and SUVs is that the term off-road is used for too broad a range of conditions and activities. I think something like off-pavement better describes what I want to do. My recreational interests are not about seeing where my vehicle can go. But for interests like photography, rockhounding, backwoods hiking/camping, etc. one frequently wants a vehicle that can handle unpaved roads ranging from bumpy to somewhat rough and hill climbs that may be steep but still on recognizable roads. It would be nice to have categories of off-road, because it seems silly to compare this vehicle with all other vehicles labeled as off-road. Maybe have “Swiss army knife” category for some, a “mountain goat” category for others and so on? 🤔😁
Same here about the seats, my 21' Sport was terrible on my tailbone on long trips. I only have 20,000 miles on it but (LOL) Im getting rid of it for that exact reason. Maybe I will switch over to this one when the Sport comes out.
Anyone looking into getting this car, DO IT. I got my 2021 Limited and the only thing I wish was different would be to give me my damn 6 speed over the CVT for the 2.5L engine.
If the seat bolt pattern is the same as the previous years I'm totally going to try to order some for my 2018. Get that rear cupholder that my premium never came with 😂
It's good to see all trims get the adaptive cruise control which mine doesn't I feel cheated out every time I have to brake to disengage it or else I would drive into the vehicle Infront of me.
The 2.5L should be the base engine, with something more like the BRZ engine as the upgraded one. The only one I would consider is the top trim for the better headlights, but only if it does a lot better on the updated side crash test.
Thank you for this comprehensive review. Actually, the 2.5 liter engine and the CVT are built in Japan and installed in Indiana. Way toooooo much touch screen tech. Way overboard. Good review brother.
Better seats sounds good, bigger rear opening good, miss the handbrake and like the old second display above the main screen on my 2021 Ltd edition. Oh, BTW my 2.5 engine get 34+ on a long highway run! Last word, you have to love the Crosstrek!