Hello everyone and welcome! We are inside of my
2016 Subaru Crosstrek
but we're not here to talk about the 2016 instead,
we're going to be talking about the 2018 which I recently was able to test in the Black Hills of South Dakota and the 2018
Crosstrek is pretty much better in every way so in this video
we're going to be talking about 10 different improvements of the 2018 versus the generation which I am currently driving.
Now starting with the transmission Subaru is now offering a 6-speed manual transmission in the 2018 Crosstrek.
I have the 5-speed manual and they've made some significant improvements to it not only shift feel but gears 1 & 2 are shorter
so you've got better acceleration gear 3 is the same, gear 4 & 5 are more aggressive
so you get better acceleration in gears 4 & 5
and then you have a 6th gear which is taller than this Crosstrek's fifth gear so you can get better efficiency
on the highway so the transmission pretty much better in every way it shifts better, it feels better, it's quicker
everything about it is an improvement and part of the reason why I bought this generation is I assumed that
Subaru would be dropping the manual transmission for the next generation
they did drop it for Europe only the CVT is offered in Europe but for North America
they did continue to offer a manual which I love that they did
small regret, small regret, no big deal I do love this car. Now the CVT has also seen an improvement
they've widened the ratio for it so we can get more aggressive
shorter gearing than the previous generation and it can also get taller more efficient gearing than the previous generation
so you know either way you go, they have improved the transmission and honestly
I enjoyed driving the CVT because there's a manual transmission offered
I certainly didn't buy it but I could you know understand those who would want the CVT it's honestly a solid CVT
transmission. Does a good job with acceleration, and I think it does a better job than the previous generation
Crosstrek with the CVT. The second thing we're going to talk about is the engine and there are it you know huge changes here
But there are some improvements, so it's still a 2.0L boxer engine
80% new construction 26 pounds lighter, it's got direct injection and
a higher compression ratio, but you know from a power standpoint not really any changes exact same torque
Though you do get that torque a little bit earlier on
145 lb-ft and you know 4 more horsepower 152 horsepower at 6000 rpm
So you also get peak power a little bit earlier. The bigger change I think with the engine is the fact that after
5,000 rpm in this current generation Crosstrek
the torque just dies very quickly and they've improved that in the newer
Crosstrek where the torque remains a bit flatter after 5,000 rpm so if you are ringing in and out all the way you know that
The top-end of that gear you do continue to have more power so while on paper
You know it looks very similar not much of a power increase you do have a better curve
overall than this vehicles engine. Is it quick? No.
It is still a pretty slow car so it's not like you're gonna get in it and be excited with the acceleration
but you know we'll get into efficiency later
and it does excel in that area. The next thing I wanted to talk about is the ride quality because they have changed the suspension
setup for the Crosstrek, the new Crosstrek and it's also on Subarus new global platform
so a shared architecture for their new models and this new platform
has really made some significant improvements what I was very surprised by is
there's both less body roll and a more comfortable ride so you know they've done kind of this
incredible thing with the suspension where it's a very smooth riding car the new vehicle is
you know it's a significant improvement in ride quality over the generation which I'm driving and yet it also corners flatter
and so that's pretty impressive that you know, it's sportier in a sense, but also more comfortable
and you know I think a lot of that can be attributed to the new global architecture
where they've really built this vehicle from the ground up again completely redesigned,
you definitely see the improvement in the ride quality. Now number four is safety and once again
this is mainly attributed to that new global platform the rigidity of this car has just been
significantly improved so front lateral rigidity up 90%. front suspension up 70% in rigidity,
torsional rigidity up 70%, rear subframe rigidity up 100%, crash energy absorption up 40%.
So overall you know it's just a safer vehicle. Now number five on top of the suspension riding smoother the interior is also
significantly quieter, it's very noticeable the difference between the two generations
they've got a quieter HVAC system so your AC isn't quite as loud,
they've got thicker glass all the way around, and then they of course have this new and improved
architecture the whole chassis design, which is more rigid less vibration and so as a result the interior is significantly more quiet and that's nice.
Now paired with that quiet interior you now get a better audio system.
So previously they didn't really offer that nice of an audio system in the Crosstreck now they
actually have a pretty decent setup. You've got apple carplay Android auto
significantly better speakers, my one gripe with it is that they only offer it on the upper trim levels
and so you can't get a manual transmission
matched with good audio, and it seems kind of crazy to me that you know enthusiasts probably like things like manual transmissions
and they probably also like good quality audio systems. I opted for the upgraded speakers in this they're mediocre,
they're not you know that great the new audio system in the new Crosstrek the limited version is quite good
but you can't get it with a manual transmission, and I think that's a bit of a disappointment though
it is nice that it has it and you still do have
apple carplay Android auto if you know you do get the lower end lower trim models with the manual transmission.
Moving on to number seven we're talking about interior space so they've actually increased the wheelbase of the vehicle by
1.2 inches and in doing this they've also increased the rear legroom by 1.1 inches you also have more headroom in the rear seats
so the rear seats already pretty spacious in this 2016 that I'm in, an improvement
you know plenty of legroom in the 2018 models.
They've also significantly increased your hip room and both the front and the back and the interior volume has been increased by 3.4 cubic feet,
So overall it's just a much more spacious interior.
They have also improved rear cargo space you've got 3.4 additional cubic feet with the rear seats
folded down versus the outgoing model
and you also have flatter sides so you have a wider entry into the rear of the vehicle
than previously where it kind of bulges in and it takes up some space if you put some larger objects in the back
I have struggled to put a mountain bike in the back here
it's nice to be able to lock your bike up inside
but closing it and getting it through that hatch was a bit difficult
and if the sides were wider it would have been easier to slide it in.
Now number nine we're going to talk about efficiency and range now the CVT highway mileage is unchanged at 33 miles per gallon
but that's better than any all-wheel-drive competitor in the segment so you know they were at the top
they've remained at the top and one of the other things they did is they increase the size of the fuel tank
not too much, but a little bit giving them a highway range of about
550 miles which is incredible it's one of the things I like about this
Crosstrek even with the smaller tank and the worst fuel economy with the manual transmission
it still has a tremendous range 550 miles with the CVT is incredible and it's nice to have that flexibility in range
with the vehicle if you want to go on a long road trip things like that and not worry about stops and
finally we get to number 10, and this is just touching on the headlights
they do offer now LED headlights in the limited trim, and they are steering responsive headlights
so they will illuminate into the corner as you turn in they also do offer a high beam assist
so it will turn your high beams on and off automatically if you do have eyesight so Subaru's adaptive cruise control
it'll use the cameras look for cars ahead and automatically turn those headlights off
so cool they put LED headlights in it, that's a nice touch, and you know overall the
vehicle is just for its category, I mean this is the reason why I bought it
it does a lot of things really well it gets great fuel economy,
it has a ton of cargo space, it has 8.7 inches of ground clearance, the best in it's category, it's got you know space for rear passengers,
fuel-efficient as I mentioned. You know all around offers a manual transmission with all-wheel drive a lot of the competitors
you know don't offer all-wheel drive and a manual transmission
so it kind of sweeps the board as far as the things that I was looking at in a car
and that's why I ended up getting it. It's boring. I don't think anyone will tell you that it's a thrilling vehicle, it's slow,
you know it doesn't have much power, but it's efficient and that's kind of the trade-off
and it's very capable. So as a boring daily driver if you want something you know
practical and great and that does everything
it's intended to do well this car does it if you're looking for a thrill
you know the Crosstrek the added 4 horsepower did not create that change, but thank you guys for watching,
and if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below!