When Subaru announced that it was sending two hybrids to America, it felt about time. Cut to the present day, and the Forester Hybrid has been on sale for months, offering a little bit of extra everything over a standard model. More power, more quiet, more miles to the gallon. How does that translate to the smaller Crosstrek? While we haven’t driven it yet, impressions from other outlets are out, so here’s what everyone’s saying about the new Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid.
Under the hood of the Crosstrek Hybrid sits a 194-horsepower hybrid powertrain consisting of a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated flat-four, a 1.1 kWh battery pack, and a two-motor transaxle feeding a mechanical all-wheel-drive system. It’s effectively the same setup as in the Forester Hybrid, and when I drove Subaru’s larger hybrid earlier this year, I noted substantially more refinement that in the regular Forester.
Does the extra electric motivation of the Crosstrek Hybrid make a substantial difference? That seems to depend on what your benchmark for acceleration is. On the one hand, Motor Trend found that the hybrid setup gives the Crosstrek an appreciable power boost, writing:
On its face, 194 horses aren’t world-bending compared to the regular model’s 182, but when a power bump also brings more low-end electric muscle, you tend to notice. Also, given the Crosstrek never had a ton of scoot to begin with, it’s nice. The hybrid Crosstrek now accelerates from a stop eagerly and even piles on mph nicely when already at speed.
On the other, Car And Driver seems to feel that freeway reserve power isn’t exactly stellar, writing:
An aggressively tuned gas pedal and the extra torque from the electric motor make the Crosstrek Hybrid feel zippy around town. Still, like the standard Crosstrek, the hybrid loses steam as the speeds rise. We reckon the run to 60 mph should still take in excess of eight seconds. The handoff between the gas engine and electric motor feels smooth, although our drive mainly took place on empty rural roads and not the sort of low-speed, stop-and-go urban driving that might reveal clunkier behavior.
Reading between the lines, the Crosstrek Hybrid seems to drive like a Crosstrek, and that should extend beyond the powertrain to the handling. While the suspension has been retuned to cope with the extra 330-ish pounds of the hybrid powertrain, the result seems to give the impression of a fairly standard model with almost nothing out of the ordinary happening when the road gets curvy. As The Drive wrote:
Even with the same 8.7 inches of ground clearance and nearly identical MacPherson front and double wishbone rear suspension, the Crosstrek Hybrid felt solidly and evenly connected to the pavement. Off pavement, it negotiated trails at speeds I wouldn’t dare in other small crossovers.
Wait, why almost nothing out of the ordinary? Well, road testers have noted that the brake pedal doesn’t seem to inspire a ton of confidence. Car And Driver found that “The brake pedal doesn’t provide a ton of feedback,” while Motor Trend wrote that “the brake pedal can feel odd when it’s in the regenerative mode.” Still, not all road testers noted pedal feel, so there’s a chance it’s fine for most drivers.
As for other downsides, it’s worth talking about the price and the packaging of the hybrid system. While some road testers noted the loss of 1.3 cu.-ft. of trunk space, everyone noticed the $35,415 starting price. That’s a good clip higher than a Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid, but the Crosstrek Hybrid does serve a slightly different use case and doesn’t come with a super-base model.
At the same time, EPA ratings of 36 MPG on all cycles represent improvements of three MPG highway, nine MPG city, and seven MPG combined over the standard 2.5-liter Crosstrek, which should be enough to make a noticeable difference in the real world. The result looks like the obvious choice if you’re set on a Crosstrek and able to splash the cash. As Edmunds summed it up:
The hybrid is the best-driving model in the Crosstrek lineup. It’s quicker, smoother and offers better fuel economy than the rest of its brethren. I am charmed by the Wilderness, and it’s certainly the best buy if you want something compact but surprisingly capable off-road, but to live with day-to-day, the Crosstrek Hybrid is the one to get.
Needless to say, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the Crosstrek Hybrid once it hits the local press fleet. Early media drive impressions seem positive, but there is something to be said about living with a car for a full week and taking it over the sort of familiar broken pavement that really lets you get an accurate gauge on things like ride quality and cabin noise.
Top graphic image: Subaru
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
The post Here’s What Everyone Is Saying After Driving The 36 MPG Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid appeared first on The Autopian.
