Crosstrek is a strong contender among best SUV's come 2018. Their 2018 promises some nice upgrades which we will look at shortly.

The Good side of the Crosstrek

The Subaru Crosstrek is one of the compact SUV’s you can count both on the trail and around town. It features the EyeSight driver aid technology which offers lane assist along with the latest stop-and-go adaptive cruise control system. The tech in this generation of SUV is well upgraded. It features the Apple CarPlay and standard Android Auto.

The Bad side of the Crosstrek

The Crosstrek has some improvement but the onboard technology look otherwise. It is quite too simple for our liking. In fact, it doesn’t appear as a system that has been well upgraded compared to the smartphone integrations. There is also detraction in its performance. We discovered that the manually shifting rations using paddle shifters were a bit laggy.

The Bottom Line

If you are looking for a compact SUV capable of tackling rough dirt trails, only a few options can perform better than the Crosstrek. Also, the tall-wagon features new technology that makes it safer on all roads and to live with.

Many people fell in love with the first generation Crosstrek and we did too. But it was not very perfect as expected. In fact, the dashboard technology needed an upgrade. And over the years, since its debut, the Subaru pioneered SUV caught the attention of hungry competitors. The Crosstrek’s formula was copied by automakers like Volkswagen. In fact, Volkswagen’s Golf Alltrack is a perfect example.

However, Subaru's fans shouldn’t be afraid because the Crosstrek is back with something more interesting. The second generation model comes with tons of promises and offers something better than before. Let’s take a dive at some of its latest features.

The New StarLink technology

The dashboard is one of the areas the Crosstrek recorded massive improvement. There are little and meaningful upgrades such as improved graphics to the new Subaru StarLink infotainment system.

In fact, the StarLink tech comes with a standard 6.5 inches display as well as the Android Auto and standard Apple CarPlay connectivity. There is also a Magellan smartphone application for navigation which is present on the in-dash display.

Crosstrek drivers are offered four navigation options which include the Magellan app, TomTom system and Apple and Google’s respective Maps apps.

The Engine of the 2018 Subaru Crosstrek

The 2.0-liter engine has received massive revisions and tweak. It features a 152 hp and torque of 145 pound-feet. There is also a six-speed manual. The Subaru 2018 model is upgraded to the “Active Torque Vectoring system”, which is a break-based system that makes use of light pressure on the vehicle’s inside wheel when turning.

Pricing

The 2018 Subaru Crosstrek’s base 2.0i model starts at a price of $21,795, while the Premium model is sold at $22,595 USD (around 312,000 NAD for the car in Namibia).