are you the outdoorsy type or do you just merely like making people think
you're the outdoorsy type well regardless of how many kayaks you own or
marathons you run even if you live in the deepest wildest urban jungle the
2018 Subaru Crosstrek might just be for you it's a brand new cross track even
though it doesn't look all that different from the old one it's 95
percent new it sits on a new platform the Subaru is planning to use on a lot
of their cars and SUVs going forward and we must say it really is an intriguing
new offering now like the Crosstrek before it the new cross track shares
most of its bits and pieces with the Subaru Impreza compact hatchback but
there are a few key differences that will help you spot a cross track in the
wild the easiest one to notice is this grey plastic cladding on the front
bumper the wheel wells and on the rocker panels it's meant to be a little bit
more rugged and in case it gets damaged offroad by a tree or some rocks and you
might not mind quite as much it also sits higher than a Subaru Impreza about
3.6 inches higher for a total of eight point seven inches of ground clearance
which is really nothing to sneeze at when you're looking at a quasi off-road
vehicle but you're not going to want to go too far off-road it still uses
regular all season tires that are best for on-road applications it doesn't have
any underbody skid plates or protection for all of the bits underneath it
doesn't have a transfer case it doesn't have a creeper gear it does have
something called X Drive which is a low-speed traction control based crawl
control but don't really expect it to do much more than get you to a trailhead or
up a slippery slope of gravel if you're looking to do the Rubicon Trail you
might want to leave that to the jeeps inside it still doesn't look all that
different than it used you in the previous model but it is an all-new
interior we still have the same great Subaru proportions that we've gotten and
pretty much the rest of the lineup there's a very low Beltline and he's
sitting up fairly high which means the visibility out is really excellent
you've got unique stitching on the seats and on the dash to separate it from the
Impreza and you've got a lot of really great content and space up front but the
biggest difference comes back here look at all the space you get back here
there's tons of legroom more than you get in competitors like a Mazda cx-3 or
a Jeep renegade for the same amount of or more on that value proposition in a
minute but it almost feels like a bigger category of vehicle than a lot of these
compact and subcompact SUVs because it is Subarus priced it differently so
while you're still paying as much as you are for some of those competitor
vehicles you get a lot more usable space for 2018 it also gets some updated
electronics including standard apple carplay or Android auto when you slip
behind the wheel the cross trick becomes something of a mixed bag
the steering ratio is very quick almost as quick as the Subaru BRZ sports car
now that means that the steering feel and response is really very good it's
fun to toss through corners it's very responsive it actually handles quite
well the suspension soaks up bumps very well
it's also got that bit more ride height so it actually is great in urban
settings where you're gonna be driving through the broken rutted pit in streets
of America where the cross creek stumbles a little bit is in the
powertrain it's powered by a 2 liter 152 horsepower flat-4 engine and that's not
a whole lot of power when you combine it with all-wheel drive you can made it up
to either a 6-speed manual or a continuously variable automatic
transmission and in a rare case for me a guy who really likes manuals the
automatic is the one to have for this car it really does match up well with
what little power is available from the 4-cylinder so while it's going to be
revving its little heart out it will get you where you want to go but then speed
is really not the mission of the cross drive it's really more about fuel
efficiency at least the Crosstrek like most Subarus comes that that standard
all-wheel drive so inclement weather doesn't really bother it that much and
neither do rising gas prices the cross track is rated at 27:30 329 miles per
gallon for the automatic in 23:29 25 miles per gallon for the stick shift
version now that's 33 miles per gallon on the highway for that automatic makes
the cross-check the most fuel-efficient vehicle in its class beating out several
competitors that are front-wheel drive only so you're not going to be winning
any stoplight drag races in the cross track but quite frankly who cares this
is not about speed it's about utility and versatility safety fuel efficiency
and value as well at twenty two thousand seven hundred ten dollars starting price
including destination thinks it's smack in the middle of where
a lot of much smaller competitors like the Mazda cx-3 here the Jeep renegade
also sit top out at about $30,000 just north of there and that includes things
like navigation in the Subaru eyesight safety system as well now if you want to
find out more about the crosstrack including a more detailed review of the
thing check us out on cars comm
you