Subaru Crosstrek review

A reminder, then: UK buyers get the choice of a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol-powered Boxer engine paired with a CVT gearbox… and that’s it. Its 136bhp and 134lb ft of torque make for a 0-62mph time of 10.8 seconds and a top speed of 123mph, but it feels (and sounds) sluggish when worked hard. No surprises there.

Keep your expectations in check and you might just come away pleasantly surprised. The steering is well weighted, the ride surprisingly composed, the handling nicely mannered. Tread gently and it copes with pretty much anything you throw at it just fine. Any more refined and it’d be at odds with the image anyway.

WHAT ABOUT OFF-ROAD?

We’re yet to properly test it in the rough stuff but the headlines are all-wheel drive, Subaru’s off-road X-Mode system with various terrain mode settings to help you negotiate any particularly gnarly sections, and 220mm of ground clearance, “notably” higher than most other SUVs, its maker claims.

Sure, it won’t be quite as capable as a Land Rover Defender or Ineos Grenadier, but it will get around a sodden Glastonbury campsite (other festival sites also available) after the British weather has failed to play ball, and likely show up a few of its more glamorous compact SUV rivals in the process too.

WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?

All Crosstreks get adaptive cruise control and Subaru’s full suite of safety tech including its EyeSight driver assist system, which constantly scans the road ahead to identify any potential hazards and applies the brakes if necessary. You hope you’ll never need it, but you’ll be glad you’ve got it when you do.

Also fitted as standard is Subaru’s driver monitoring system, which checks whether you’re paying attention and will bong at you if it detects your eyesight has been diverted elsewhere, though we pleasingly found it far less intrusive than elsewhere.

Subaru also claims to have put much effort into reducing noise in the cabin with this third-generation model, though the engine note is still very apparent and there’s a fair amount of road roar too, if wind noise is minimal. So, a mixed bag there.

TALK FUEL ECONOMY TO ME…

Subaru claims 36.8mpg and 174g/km CO2 emissions, but over a 50-mile test drive taking in plenty of stop-start London traffic we found we just exceeded that mpg figure. Depending on where you live, we reckon you could easily manage 40 plus.

Expect that to drop significantly if you’re planning on testing the 1,270kg towing capacity, handy for towing a (small) caravan or trailer about.