Capable companion
Once upon a time a new Subaru would have had us dreaming of a roadgoing rallified special but these days it invariably means another SUV And lo meet the Subaru Crosstrek
So what do we have here? The Crosstrek is essentially a heavily revised version of the Subaru XV only it now adopts the nameplate already used in other markets Whatever the name it’s the third generation in the family tree and the firm’s smallest SUV offering
There’s just the one powertrain option available in the UK a litre fourcylinder selfcharging hybrid setup It’s noisy mind with the engine grumble enough to wake the neighbours on startup and not helped by the painful CVT gearbox deafen passengers at the touch of the throttle We found there was very limited electriconly running to be had either aside from when coasting downhill
It’s not all bad though The steering is well weighted the ride surprisingly composed the handling nicely mannered That’s partly down to the per cent stiffer chassis over the outgoing model On our test drive taking in plenty of stopstart London traffic we also slightly betterered Subaru’s claimed mpg figure depending on where you live we reckon you could easily manage plus
And anyway Subaru knows its market and the Crosstrek’s USP isn’t its onroad refinement it’s the rufty tuftiness Every version gets AWD Subaru’s offroad XMode system and mm of ground clearance Come summer it’ll easily handle anything a sodden festival campsite can throw at you when the British weather fails to play ball and likely show up a few of its flashier compact SUV rivals in the process too
The function over form bias continues inside it’s pleasing enough to look at thoughtfully laid out and offers plenty of practical touches but lacks the glitz and glamour of some of its rivals An inch portrait touchscreen adds a little bit of pizzazz but is let down by its original iPhonelike graphics and OS Hopefully that’ll be fixed by an update in due course
As it should given the asking price That’s some seven grand more than a Nissan Qashaqi a car which outsold Subaru’s entire model lineup £ times over in the UK in Sure the Crosstrek might be what the Subaru faithful desire but it’s unlikely to return the firm to its former glory days