I'm Sad The XV Crosstrek Isn't Awesome.

"Gpivovarov" (Gpivovarov) 08/21/2013 at 14:29 • Filed to: XV Crosstrek

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I don’t know about you, but when Subaru started teasing the XV Crosstrek back in 2011, I was giddy with excitement. Nobody knew much about it, but all the signs were pointing in the right direction. A small Subaru wagon, tall ride height, AWD, all the good stuff. Plus it looked good, all shapely and funky and aggressive. It was nice to see Subaru staying true to its rallying roots while doing something a little out of the ordinary. Things were good.

But then the specs came out and it all went downhill. I was expecting somewhere between 200-300hp (I know that’s optimistic but it’s not a small car, a little grunt would be nice). But nope, the lovely Japanese fellas down at Subaru decided that what we need is a 2.0 4cyl boxer with 148hp. One-Fourty-Eight . Yes, I suppose that’s enough to quietly lug your outdoors-oriented children from hiking trail to bike path at a polar bear-friendly 33MPG. Still, from a company that makes a 305hp road-going rally monster, I was expecting a bit more umph. That means it cant be the STI's huskier brother, but since it’s still a high-riding, chunky-tired big old brute, it can’t be a companion to the BRZ either….so what is it?

With no power, cushy springs, and a big rugged look, its clearly not a track or road racing machine. Which means it must be leaning towards that other side of Subaru - the raunchy, bare-knuckles off-roading side. “ Yeah, thats it, there’s probably a heap of torque and clever low-range and diff settings and it’s probably crazy good off-road, ” I thought. But nope, yet again, Subaru cheated us out of something amazing. Theres no ride height adjustment, no adaptive road surface settings, no low range, zip, zilch, nada. The AWD is enough to get you up a snowy knoll in the winter but a CR-V will do that too; it's nothing special.

I guess what I’m saying is that I understand the market demand for the XV Crosstrek. It's small, good looking, economical, and for the average citizen, an excellent daily driver. That’s why they’re selling like the last batch of Twinkies circa 2012. I just wish some car companies took the enthusiasts into account on occasion, and gave us a little something to play with. Subaru could have had a runaway hit with the Crosstrek like they did with the STI or the BRZ but they walked away from that opportunity and just made another ordinary car. And that, my friends, is a damn shame.

HammerheadFistpunch > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:32

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an ordinary car, unfortunately is what Subaru needed. You can't make a living catering to fickle enthusiasts.

Gpivovarov > HammerheadFistpunch 08/21/2013 at 14:34

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Subaru makes tons of ordinary cars! The base Impreza, the Legacy, the Forester. I mean I think the Crosstrek is a fine car, I just wish they made a WRX version or something along those lines.

Kate's Dirty Sister > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:35

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I know the feel bro, oh boy do I know that feel

Been shopping for a new car over the last month or so, the XV Crosstrek was sitting comfortably on top of my list, until the road test.

I so wanted to love it, but Subaru decided otherwise.

I bought a focus ST.

ColoradoTaco > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:38

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How is it different from all the other Outback Imprezas? (It isn't, just a new name)

It's not like Subaru stopped making the STI to make this instead. You can still buy turbo equipped Subies.

Gpivovarov > Kate's Dirty Sister 08/21/2013 at 14:39

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Hell yeah you did. Excellent choice.

Gpivovarov > ColoradoTaco 08/21/2013 at 14:40

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Sure I can, but this one's new and funky looking and I want to like it, I just wish this was a turbo equipped Subie.

AbigGRNboot > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:42

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It's an Impreza that you can actually use off pavement. Nothing more nothing less.

Our 2010 2.5i does not do well when taken off road. The front end is too low to drive on anything but flat ground.

Putting the STi motor in this would undoubtedly be awesome, but also wasted and drive the price up.

Takuro Spirit > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:45

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I'm sad they can't even paint all of the car the same color.

dinobot666 > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:45

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It slots between the regular Impreza and the Forester. HP has never been a selling point of the Impreza in non WRX/STI trim levels, and with rising fuel economy standards looming, Subaru did what they had to with the 2.0 engine and CVT.

A ride height adjustment setting would have added weight and cost to a reasonably svelte AWD jacked up wagon. If you want or need more oomph and a 6 speed manual, you can step up to the Forester, which can be had for similar MSRP.

crown victor victoria > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:47

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A comparable Forester seems like a better buy all around, if you don't care about the offroad styling on the XV or the (only slightly) higher MPG.

The Forester has the bigger 2.5L with more horsepower, a 6MT versus the 5MT that's in the XV, or the same CVT the XV gets. There's only two trims available on the XV; Premium and Limited, and the Premium Forester might be a little bit more, but the Limited is actually less expensive than the same trim XV.

They appear to be similarly equipped but I didn't dig that deep as Subaru's site won't allow you to compare against other cars in their lineup.

The other benefit is that you can get the 6MT in either Forester trim mentioned above, but the Crosstrek Limited is CVT-only.

Gpivovarov > dinobot666 08/21/2013 at 14:47

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Sure sure, again, I understand the market need for it, I just think dropping some cool features and a bit of power would have made it a really cool car. I'm happy this base model exists, now give us a harder, faster, Subaru-y version of it.

dinobot666 > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:49

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It's nearly an impossible task given the fuel economy disadvantage it has being jacked up and AWD. There is a hybrid version coming out, which will be a bit heavier but will get a few more MPG. No word if it'll be any quicker though.

J. Walter Weatherman > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:52

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Disagree. I think that the criticism is purely a result of Subaru separating out what used to be different trim lines into separate model lines. The Impreza used to be a model line with more variants. Now they separated off the variants and gave them separate model names. The Impreza is the ordinary base model, the XV is the ordinary car with some ground clearance, and the WRX is the ordinary car with some go fast parts. Subaru could have just called them the Impreza, Impreza XV and the Impreza WRX and I think it would have largely eliminated your argument.

AbigGRNboot > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 14:56

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These are the same car. The XV is the offroad version. If you want a rally version...uh...wait until next year, buy the new STI, and adjust the ride height for offroad use. Done.

They have to finish developing the new STI motor for this model (2.0 turbo I think?) before they start putting it in other vehicles.

Gpivovarov > AbigGRNboot 08/21/2013 at 14:58

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It just looks like the off-road version. There's nothing mechanically off-roady about it, just the same AWD system as Subaru puts in all its cars. Its really just another road car.

ColoradoTaco > J. Walter Weatherman 08/21/2013 at 14:59

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Exactly. Instead they are giving the WRX/STi it's own chassis and leaving the Impreza do to the DD dirty work.

My wife and I have a regular Impreza and we easily get over 30mpg in mostly city driving. Pretty stout mpg for an AWD hatch

AbigGRNboot > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 15:03

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The front bumper of my wife's base model would like to disagree.

The XV can at least clear the runoff ditch on the side of the road without trimming it's beard.

Ours wasn't so lucky. :-(

ncasolowork2 > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 15:09

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The market it the snow belt in the mid-west. I'd love to have one, but they weren't available when I was in the market for a new vehicle. I ended up with a Subaru Legacy instead. Much as I would love some performance the MPG is AWESOME for an AWD vehicle. I wouldn't be taking it off-road or to the track. I'd be taking it to and from work and using it to avoid shoveling my driveway before work some morning after a massive snowfall.

Mosqvich > Gpivovarov 08/21/2013 at 20:38

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It looks okay. They're crawling all over Colorado, but on road, holding up traffic. With the exception of the BRZ and WRX, a Subaru owner/driver is akin to old school Volvo drivers: bad and slow.

milanst666 > Gpivovarov 08/23/2013 at 16:44

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I recently traded in my 2006 CR-V for a new Xterra because of hp and torque. I like hiking in the mountains and, while it usually made it to the trailhead, there were more than a few times when I had my foot all the way down and barely made any forward progress. The awd worked well and it had enough ground clearance but it just didn't have the hp and torque to effectively get the job done.