Some premium brands are the choice of buyers of the parvenu kind. In contrast, choosing Subaru sets you apart as someone who is discerning and self determining. A Subaru exudes class; not flash.
If you want style, SUV capability and sterling pedigree in these days of fast living, who better than Subaru – a manufacturer of four wheel drive cars who got there first and has had the opposition playing ‘catch-up’ ever since.
The ‘crossover’ concept is often – in the hands of other manufacturers – too compromised. Subaru makes no such mistake. It cleverly adapts the SUV’s appearance to today’s style-conscious imperatives while underpinning a very attractive car with hardware that does the business in the best possible way.
You can take it off-road and still look fit to cut a dash down the Kings Road. The Crosstrek dovetails dynamism and performance with versatility and underpins it with Subaru’s trademark all-wheel drive for superior all-weather and off-road ability. This can really handle off-road conditions where others would flounder.
Inside the large and airy cabin there’s plenty of room for five. Cabin architecture is dynamic and distinctly tough and yet there’s a feeling of intimacy too. There’s plenty of storage space, seats are really comfy and the driver enjoys the benefits of good ergonomics from the high driving position.
Well equipped with climate control, cruise control and a reversing camera to name but three, and all the safety aids to make you invincible, the rugged Crosstrek – with its five year, 100,000 mile warranty – is the sort of vehicle that’s ideal for battling everything from the busy highway to the bumpy forest track. And in these straitened times, prices starting from £34,995 aren’t too bad when you consider that we are in a mad world where even a top-of-the-range medium size hatchback costs a prince’s ransom.
As you would expect with a Subaru, there’s the trademark four cylinder horizontally opposed engine – and this, of course, is low slung to give all the benefits of a low centre of gravity with the resultant good handling and surefootedness which that brings.
It’s an excellent engine. At the bottom of the rev range there’s ample torque and the brilliant off-road X mode optimises the four-wheel drive. The CVT transmission can be controlled by paddles but leaving it to its own devices is best. It’s a gutsy and willing car that pulls well so that you don’t need to overuse the six ‘gears’.(Not ‘gears’ really but ‘steps’ in the CVT transmission) The 134bhp 2.0 litre unit with mild hybrid assistance can take you to over 120 mph – . Silky smooth and sepulchrally silent are not for this Subaru when working hard – yet back off the throttle on the motorway, set the cruise control and it’s comfy and relaxing. I liked the Crosstrek because it felt tough and indestructible.
Naturally, the car’s dynamics on or off road are excellent. (Of course, serious mud plugging is best left to the likes of a Landrover Defender.) The Crosstrek It’s just an all-round jolly good egg of a car. Fuel consumption on test was around 38mpg overall – which considering the car’s very broad capability, is acceptable.
So there you have it. The all-round manners are the finest. Interestingly, my companion on the test was equally well-mannered, equally stylish and equally capable of unsurpassed versatility – being a concert hall flautist.
“What a superb vehicle!” she cried. “A veritable symphony of a mechanical polyphony.”
I kept my attention on the road and on the subtle and reassuring Subaru.
With that ‘Boxer’ engine punching clever beneath its belt it was plus points all the way.
