Another great review! Thank you Sam.

Thanks for your honest opinion. I look forward to you testing the Ascent.

Great review. Thanks for pointing out downsides. You are one of the only reviewers to do so. CR has a love fest with Subaru. Great job and I will keep watching!

My son drives a 2018 Crosstrek and it is tight: no rattles on or off road. Just wanted to clarify this for anyone considering buying one. My local Subaru dealer encourages you to test drive it off road so you can experience the ride quality.

I just bought one of these and I agree with you. It is not as rugged and solid as I expected but I am only using it on-road so that's fine. I love the balanced handling and soft ride. The CVT encourages a relaxed driving style - this would not suit everyone but I like it.

I just bought a 2008 impreza outback sport. I'm a mechanic and I can't understand why I waited so long to buy a Subaru. I have come from huge land yachts like Lincoln and caddies and went to fwd compacts. Subaru is fitting the Bill for me. Don't care what they offer for convenience nor comfort, it's a Subaru. Like a Toyota it stands on it's own merit. Gonna take a huge incentive to get me to swap to anything else and that's from a lover of all things Ford. 14 years of employment in vehicle repair and I am in love.... take a chance like I never did until now, do yourself a favor please....

Appreciate the frank comments. A bit rare among the on-line reviewers -- congratulations.

Don't mean to sound critical here but I have tried two crosstreks and have seen many other reviewers and neither I nor the the others seem to have experienced the suspension noises you experienced off-road which leads me to think that it might be a particular problem of the vehicle you were given to review. Having said that, I appreciate that you were honest about it and didn't try to mask it with generous fancy wording.

great review Sam \m/. Was thinking of getting this for my mom, but now I might take a look at some other options like a Honda crv

Try driving the premium on your off road section, the 55 series tires are really more suited to on road. The 60 series tires on the premium soak up the bumps much more effectively.

Recently drove an '18 Crosstrek premium for a week while my '17 Impreza was in for warranty work. Although I didn't take it off-road I found it to be a nice ride and didn't seem to notice the noise issues you were describing. Perhaps test driving another Crosstrek and seeing if the same problem persists would be a more fair determination of your review? I do however feel a 30 to 40 horsepower bump would be a good idea.

We had a new 2014 XV and liked it. We have a 2018 Crosstrek Limited, and it’s WAY better. Feels tighter, but softer. Awesome gas mileage and very refined.

The car isn't built for speed, get an STI or a Mazda if you wanna get tickets. I own a 2018 crosstrek and its fine for merging and overtaking. It's meant to be fuel efficient and offroad capable, which it is. The car does what it was built to do, nothing more, nothing less.

Nice review. How about some night driving to show the lights? Driving the manual version?

Wow Sam..talking about that powertrain you almost seemed pissed...pretty funny to me...awsome review as always...nice to see long sleeves for once in Phoenix ;)

I just bought a 2018 Crosstrek premium and really like it. The only ding for me is the stock tires are not that great in the snow. I am probably going to switch them out.

I really like this vehicle.

The seats need lumbar support for that price along with rear air vents, a stronger motor and as the tester mentioned, stronger chassis.

I like the "gravely" sound. It's a boxer engine it's how they sound.

I pick my 2019 Crosstrek Limited up tomorrow, can't wait to get it home!

Love the desert wash board road and the other roads. Please continue to use these roads. What similarly priced vehicle does well on the wash board?

Good review. The off road noise was interesting. In Oz we only get the CVT. So looks like no Subaru for me.

Have an 18, and the power is ok with you and another person. If you have a full load with gear in back, it is definitely underpowered. The new turbo going into the Ascent would be nice in the Crosstrek.

You left out how it measures up to the other sub compact suvs, Toyota C-HR Honda HR-V Maxda 3, if you compare it to its competition it holds up pretty well, top of class, but for the price I would take a Forester Or Outback any day. Just depends on what your needs and what you like.

Do you think replacing the springs with stiffer ones will take care of the rattling?

"Aplomb?" "Undulations?" Ahh, your vocabulary belies your cowboy cred! Love the review, Pardner!

I have owned seven Subaru's, the last one was a 2015 WRX. Like you Sam, I am disappointed with the Crosstrek's suspension noise and the lack of power. I hope the Forester XT is a more solid value as I may be purchasing one this spring. Thanks for another great review! :)

Our first Subaru... And really enjoying it! Kids are gone, so just the two of us. Not to big, not to small. Just right. Extra height makes it really easy to get in and out of. Plenty of head room. Paddle Shifters. I find it useful when going down a steep mountain, like our passes we have out here in Montana. Just shift down and it 'holds back' just enough that I don't have to use the brakes so much. That is only time I use them. Normally let the CVT do all the optimizing work :) . I never noticed the noise when going over washboards in our '18 Premium Crosstrek. In fact I was impressed on how well it took them. We've had lots of snow here, and this vehicle is handling it very well. Power? More than adequate. Takes the two of us over the passes with ease. When we take my mom and dad with us, you can feel the difference, but the passes are still a breeze, just a higher RPM and more gas to get up and over. No biggie. Glad you can disable the constant seat belt warning dinging too (another you-tube video) when unbuckled. That was one irritation I had with the vehicle!

i think that night time navigation is a fault. I was test driving it at night and manually changed the settings to night mode only. I think there is a hardware issue with improper wiring.

Would you suggest opting for the 2015 model over this one?

Thanks for the in-depth reviews! I own the 2018 Crosstrek Sport and test drove the Limited. Neither were as loud nor exhibited any of the steering wheel shake you experienced. With the 18" wheels the off-roading and bump absorption is definitely not as good as the stock 17" which, while better, are best swapped out for premium tires as most of us do who drive on dirt daily. Others on reddit complain of the suspension noise and, while I have some internal cabin squeaking at -30, the suspension is not loud. Note, here in Canada undercoating comes standard, so that may explain why my suspension isn't as loud but I would think that there would still be the steering wheel shake as my dirt road appears similar to your desert test road. The stock wheel / tire combo are susceptible to picking up clumps of snow or dirt, I wonder if someone took your demo mudding and the dealer didn't get the tires totally cleared out.

I bought a 2019 Crosstrek Premium last June, I love it. It drives very smooth and it will keep up with traffic, I normally get 35 MPG on the freeway in Dallas.

How fast do you usually take your test vehicles over the washboard road? Would the typical owner take a vehicle that fast over the road? It seems like you were going kinda fast - or does that speed make the inherent characteristics stand out more so you can review them better?

8:08 The navigation "Dark/Night mode" will automatically start when the headlights are on. However...! The display dimmer dial (on the left) must not be on "Max" brightness. If it is, it will keep the navigation screen on "Day" even at night, very annoying.

I wonder if the people bitching about the Crosstrek's acceleration are also on the Mustang GT reviews bitching about its off-road performance. Would be interested to know what vehicles in its class would handle the washboard road like a hovercraft. This is the first negative review I've seen after dozens, so will take it with a grain of salt.

So what’s the alternatives for the price?

Hmmm. I drove the 2017 and 2018 Crosstreks in the space of about a week. I didn't have any problems with the 2017, but the 2018 was a better ride in every way I could think of. In fact, the first thing I noticed was that the suspension in the 2018 was much stiffer and sportier. Edit: The paddle shifters can be very practical if you drive through mountain passes or other places with miles of downhill driving. Also, I'm not sure if he had the car in manual mode (might be wrong). Downshifting in my parent's outback slows the car down a lot.

Sam, I am looking at cars. I can get a 2016 Outback Premium with under 50k miles for about the same price as a 2018 Crosstrek Premium with low mileage. You have tested both. Which do you suggest?

Damn, was really hoping for get a light off-roader. Sometimes the 4Runner is a bit big.

I'm a little confused about your dissatisfaction with the chassis. If I understand correctly, Subaru increased the stiffness of the chassis by "70%" or so from the previous model. Would love some clarification as I am very interested in this particular car. Thank you in advance.

Why does his CVT car sound like he's shifting gears around 14:15?

Over $30k is steep when you can get a well-equipped Forester or Outback for a similar price. The Forester redesign should be this year and Outback next year so their interiors will soon catch up to the Crosstrek, which does have an excellent interior.

Mine doesn't rattle at all. In fact it's very good on rough dirt roads. Aussie premium.

I recently bought a 2018 Crosstrek and I like it. It serves it's purpose. I wanted a vehicle that is AWD and will get about 30 mpg. I knew I wasn't going to break any records for speed and that's fine. That's what my RAM 1500 with the HEMI is for. The one thing I am not happy with is the Starlink entertainment system. I know it got an upgrade for 2018 but it's still slow and glichy. The U Connect works way better. Subaru has to do a better job with voice recognition, bluetooth connection, and the way it indexes mp3. An example is if you wanted to play a full album from a thumbdrive and commanded the Starlink system to play it, Starlink will not play the album in track order like it should, but will play the songs in alphabetical order. Since Subaru Technical Support was no help at all, I found a solution on the web and that was to create playlists for the albums using Microsoft Media Player. Starlink didn't recognize playlists from I-Tunes. That's not good when you got over 800 albums! And as I said before, the voice recognition although alright, could be a little better. Final complaint is just recently the Starlink system did not recognize the command to make a cellphone call. The system kept asking me "what type of music I wanted it to play", are you kidding me? It took a complete shutdown of my car for 5 minutes to solve the issue. Some might say that you should not expect everything out of a $30000 vehicle, but there are other manufacturers that are doing a better job in the entertainment field. Subaru markets it's product to a young tech savvy crowd and with that, they should cross there "t's" and dot their "i's" on everything

Please, Subaru! Please! Give us the drivetrain from the Forester XT with manual option. I’ll buy one today.

So, I'm not arguing with any judgements here, but how does 4 star scores and 2 five star scores average to 4 for quality feel? 4.67 rounds to 5

I just have to add that the paddle shifters aren't totally useless, if you're trying to do any long descents and want to have your engine do some of the braking, it'll at least let you do that. Otherwise, yea it's just a toy

I own a 2018 crosstrek 6 speed in Canada . I am Quite biased towards it! Since I can not compare it to a previous crosstrek, but am told improvements in all areas by 99% reviewers . Is it possible that the limited tested by Sam was thrashed and had previous Damage? I can compare it to my 2014 MB GLk250 and say it rides smoother even with smaller winter on the GLK. The crosstrek is not as quiet but tire noise, not engine or wind noise. Of coarse I am not comparing apples to oranges, but it is not the top line limited. Riding better than the GLK on winter rutted street roads. It should last a long time since it does not have a rubber timing belt or a CVT.

I like to see 2018 Hyundai Elantra Review

I have a 2018 Crosstrek and I love it, with that being said I would like for it to have more power as it feels slow and bogged down. My average highway mileage is about 33 mpg and that is with BF Ko2 tires that are one inch larger around than stock. The interior is awesome as well as the safety features, I have not noticed anything weird with the suspension. Great honest review.

Could some of the NVH in the wild and suspension disconnect be down to the car being a beat up press car? I went over older reviews of Subarus in this channel and this one does seem the worst one, puzzlingly.

Well, as with most reviews and opinions, subjectivity seems to creep in despite efforts to suggest otherwise; mine is no different. It it obvious this car is not to everyone's taste, and that is fine. I believe it fulfils the needs of those seeking a smallish SUV with enough capability to tackle harsh winters where traction trumps straight line speed. In that respect. I think the Subaru Crosstrek does tick all the boxes.

Thanks so much for this great and thorough review. I’ve been looking at this model along with the other Subaru SUVs and the CRV. The point about its suspension is important to me for mountain/trail driving - great info I haven’t found elsewhere

Mine doesn't rattle. Something is wrong with the car you reviewed.

Cool :)

I found some of the reviewers comments surprising and in some cases plain stupid. I’m not going to respond in detail only to say that I live in an off-road and mountainous environment and the Subaru is a high performer with 4x4, x-mode and hill ascent/startup control. Added to that the paddle shifters are essential for controlling road speed on long descents without burning your brakes out prematurely. I could continue but best do the research yourselves. It really is a great car

Sam thank you for being a honest reviewer! Not many have the guts to say/rank any car badly. Also disappointed about Subaru, non turbo engine is known to be weak for them as expected but they are well known for their off road capability yet they made this new gen backward.

What is NVH?

TestDrivenTV: Decent review. I am very happy with my 2018 Crosstrek Premium w/ Eyesight. If you wanna really protect the seats to the max consider Wet Okole seat covers. They are completely waterproof and easy to clean.

Honestly this thing drives like a smaller Outback- if you’re making a decision based on this review you are doing yourself a disservice. Also- more power would be awesome... but it’s not supposed to be a wrx hatch- it’s meant for light off road fun and good mpg.

Driving in Mountains this thing can hardly hit 50 MPH going up. I get these cars need good fuel economy, but damn an extra 50 HP to lose 1 mpg would be acceptable.

Hmm. Subaru markets this new global chassis as much stiffer than the previous gen. In their marketing materials, they claim to have reduced the amount of stiffness in the suspension components because how rigid the platform is.... I wonder if the car was not bolted up to specs?! Either way, disappointing. I test drove that same model and came away impressed. I didn’t notice anything wonky about the suspension.

Did you use the x-mode

Subaru, please add some horsepower!

5 year warranty in Australia :-)

Sam, have you noticed Subarus and mitsubishi having very thin sheet metal on its doors, good, hatch? It's seems so thin that it'll easily dent.

You didnt even describe the eyesight features or the xmode features....so yea man what the heck?

I think that's the lowest I've seen you rate any vehicle. Very unusual, especially for a Subaru.

I have never driven a vehicle that was not noticeably noisy (suspension wise) on corrugated surfaces, that surface rattles the shit out of them all.

If you want to drive off road get a truck. Lmao

It’s just me or the front looks like a ford escape?

No rear seat vents? Not very dog friendly.

Front looks like a Ford Escape

I too was disappointed, mostly in the power train, as this was one of my top choices making a short list when I was choosing a new daily driver. I did think the chassis felt up to par with a great interior on our test drive. It was a top contender for me due to the reliability ratings, resale value, new, updated chassis and cost with AWD that would have really been great to have here in the North East snows. Love the utility aspect as well. Well, I test drove the 2.5i premium manual and couldn't get a proper handle on shifting smoothly (been driving manuals for many years) and the lack of power getting up to speed in traffic was difficult at best. I actually liked the Forester much better with more power and improved space, but it didn't have the "fun factor" I too was looking for- a lot of lean in the turns. When I visited the Mazda dealer, the choices there were more to my liking.

The leather seats break in over time and aren’t so firm.

30k$ and no hood struts wtf,

Having owned one XV for about 5 months ,like all cars it's not perfect but It's a great car all the same.I would be happy if the Nav in talk mode would just accept my command of just a town or suburb I want to get to without a street number and specific street and secondly do a best smart route from and to multiple waypoints.Also talking the Nav command remembers incorrect pronunciation choices and reinforces that incorrect response which just shits me-eg.go to geographic feature, the butcher shop .........arrrrgh.But I'm a realist too,you can't expect the Tom Tom people to get a machine to recognise wooloomooloo ,managatang,quambatook,Tallangatta,Uluru-that's space shuttle level stuff which won't happen in my lifetime.All in all it's a great car but I'm a busy boy,gotta go to the butcher shop in Warrandjurri.

F that front fascia I'm going to romp that shit

didn't realize Walter White stopped making meth to do car reviews

Sams not a fan☹️

No one, in any car should be driving on that type of off-road man made pumps. They are made to destroy a tank. You drive over them with steady and low speed.

Driving over washboard dirt roads will rattle any vehicle .

An honest review. For $25k you can get the Forester Premium which offers better engine and better CVT tune. Forester feels fun, lively and light on its feet. The Outback offers good highway ride and longer cargo area. No real reason to get the Crosstrek, maybe extra 2mpg...

What's a ruf rack? LOL

Plasticky interior ,rattles ,slow engine how the hell is this a good car?Yet everyone praises it as such.

3-1/2 Star 🌟 I’ll pass. No thanks. 30k no way

Still a gutless wonder:-(

dont buy subaru. google wandering steering wheel.