When was the last time a fairly normcore crossover gained the same sort of following enjoyed by the Subaru Crosstrek? Sure, on paper, it’s just a tall Impreza with cladding, but it has some serious ride-or-die fans, sort of like the Ford Mustang and Porsche 911. Pricing for the 2026 Crosstrek is out, and while the hybrid model seems a bit expensive, the absolute base model looks to be a far better deal for 2026 because it fixes the biggest complaint people had about the model.
If you walked into a Subaru dealer right now and looked at a base Crosstrek, you’d find a two-liter flat-four under the hood making 152 horsepower and 145 lb.-ft. of torque. Those wouldn’t be bad numbers for a relatively light compact sedan, but not only are we looking at a vehicle with a curb weight of nearly 3,300 pounds, we’re also talking about a non-hybrid vehicle with a price tag of $27,980 including freight. That’s a decent chunk of change for something rated at 27 MPG city, 34 MPG highway, and 29 MPG combined while requiring more than nine seconds to reach 60 mph from a standing start.
If you’re willing to wait until the 2026 model rolls into showrooms, however, the base Crosstrek will have significantly more power. Come autumn, the 2.5-liter, 182-horsepower flat-four from higher trim levels will be standard even on the most affordable model. Not only is this powertrain rated identically to the two-liter for city and combined fuel economy, but it only gives up a single mile-per-gallon on the highway for an extra 30 horsepower and 33 lb.-ft. of torque. Since that torque peak kicks in at a lower engine speed, not only are we looking at more than a second cleaved out of the zero-to-60 mph time, the 2.5-liter powertrain is also a more refined experience than the outgoing two-liter unit.
Of course, pricing has risen with the new powertrain, but not by much. The base 2026 Subaru Crosstrek stickers for $28,415 including freight, a mere $435 more than the 2025 equivalent with the smaller engine. Subaru’s also throwing in a few other goodies like push-to-start and rear side airbags with the 2026 base model, which makes it absolutely seem worth the wait.
Speaking of waiting, the Crosstrek Hybrid is also almost here, with an Atkinson-cycle 2.5-liter flat-four and two electric motors, one in the transaxle and one acting as a starter-generator combo. With a total system output of 194 horsepower and mechanical all-wheel-drive, it’s a tempting formula, but it’s going to cost you. The least expensive Crosstrek Hybrid builds on the Sport trim and offers a wireless phone charger, blind spot monitoring, a power moonroof, a 10-way power driver’s seat, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, and the big 11.6-inch portrait-style infotainment system. The Sport Hybrid will, however, run you $35,415 including freight, a $3,370 premium over the combustion-only Sport trim.
One step further up the electrified range, the Crosstrek Limited Hybrid will run you $36,415, making it the most expensive variant in the lineup. Weirdly, the moonroof becomes optional on this trim as part of a $1,600 bundle with a 360-degree camera system, and you don’t get real leather like you do in the combustion-only Crosstrek Limited. This top trim does give you a 432-watt Harman/Kardon sound system, leatherette, and GPS navigation, but the resulting price tag is a lot of money for fewer features than a regular Crosstrek Limited. Sure, it’s only an extra $2,000 more than the Sport Hybrid, but having to pay an extra $1,600 on top of that to get a moonroof back still seems weird.
What’s The Crosstrek Hybrid Up Against?
If you aren’t too concerned about how your all-wheel-drive system operates, the Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid starts at $29,945 for its least expensive trim, will run you $32,205 for a moonroof-equipped SE trim that’s roughly comparable to the Crosstrek Sport Hybrid, and tops out at $35,795 for a loaded XSE trim with the available moonroof, power liftgate, JBL audio system, and adaptive headlights. Sure, we’re looking at a through-the-road all-wheel-drive system with just an electric motor powering the rear wheels, but for most people, that’s enough.
At the same time, if you’re willing to sacrifice features for size, you can get into a base-model all-wheel-drive Hyundai Tucson Hybrid for $34,960. While it doesn’t come with a big screen as a gauge cluster or a power moonroof, you still get wireless smartphone charging, a big 12.3-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, an eight-way power driver’s seat, a proximity key system, and a mechanical all-wheel-drive system.
Still, while the 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid is still a bit of a maybe when it comes to recommending it due to its price and the fact that we don’t yet know its final fuel economy figures, the base model 2026 Subaru Crosstrek is absolutely worth holding out for. If you like the Crosstrek and want your money to go further, it really seems like an obvious choice thanks to gaining that 2.5-liter engine.
Top graphic image: Subaru
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“Subaru Just Fixed The Biggest Problem With The Crosstrek”
They got rid of the 3rd pedal a few years back. They have not brought it back with the newest generation, so therefore, they have not solved the biggest problem with the Crosstrek.
Well, the third pedal is indicative of a far inferior transmission, so I think they’re doing okay on that part. It’s no Jatco, but it’s acceptable.
aw man, i thought it was actual boost.
FYI: Both electric motors on the Crosstrek Hybrid are inside the transaxle. It’s basically the Toyota Prius-style hybrid system, but modified for a longitudinal drivetrain layout.
Yay!
I wonder if you will be able to swap it into other cars that Subaru swaps are possible in now
Amazes me how slow Subarus (outside of WRX) models are. I recently bought an old 4Runner and it’s by far my slowest vehicle. But then I realized while driving one day that its still faster than 95% of Subarus I encounter on a weekly basis. I live somewhere with a long winter so there are a LOT of AWD vehicles around.
They seem to exist in an alternate universe where Americans don’t care about power. Nobody else can afford to sell such slow things and still be successful.
Ironically, their EVs will be the most powerful cars they’ve ever sold because they’re all Toyotas underneath.
I’m guessing some of that $3800 difference between the hybrid/non-hybrid versions is some kind of options package being standard on the hybrid? If not, it would be one of the largest hybrid markups amongst smaller mainstream cars.
When they stop burning through pallets of engines and trannies weekly on a scale that boggles the mind, maybe then
Yeah ..how are those head gaskets doing? How long to change 4 spark plugs? I heard book time is 3 hours. My niece bought a new one. Blew up on the way home. Honest! They gave her a new one and threw in an extended warranty so as not to lose the sale! Told her change the CVT fluid every 30k. Might make it last longer. Meh
But, wait … isn’t that what makes a Subaru a Subaru?
As for spark plugs, reality of a boxer engine. Gotta take wheels off, etc.
The lesser Subaru demands you change the fluids every 30K miles.
The continously superior Jatco Xtronic never asks you to do such a chore, because why would you do that silly “maintenance” thing anyway?
Huh, I’ve now had two over 100k with no issues. Guess I missed that weekly grenading schedule….
The guy I gave my Impreza to has over 250,000 New York miles on it. And that’s after the car hit two deer, got rear-ended by a Land Rover, and sideswiped by a UPS truck. Other than some rust in the fenders, where it got a rattle can paint job, it is running fine. And I drove it like the accelerator was an off-on switch for a lot of those miles. The things a beast.
The 2.0 liter engine is pretty good. It’s the 2.5 I see problems with. People fix to em. They like em!;
I would imagine converting an Otto cycle engine to an Atkinson cycle engine would result in a fairly bulletproof engine since it would have a lot less stress on it.
Prius engines go 200+k miles often. Unless you don’t do oil changes on time. Have seen the 1st gen Priuses with 300k on them. The is out in Cali where they don’t rust away.
Can’t fit in the new one! Lol
You forgot to mention that they eat wheel bearings for breakfast lunch and dinner,way worse than the Chevy pickups and suburbans used to.
I’ve always liked the look and idea of these; they seem like fun little cars. Whenever I get a little too interested though, the pricing cures me. I just don’t see good value with these, especially with them getting close to 40K.
I’m trying to decide on a hatchback-y daily driver on a budget, and these are an obvious choice. Unfortunately, even used they don’t seem like a great value. The high resale means that for 5-ish year-old example on a 20K budget, I’m exclusively looking at 2.0s. For the same money, I could get a BMW X2, which has almost 50hp more, nicer interior, AND better fuel mileage. And really, will it be that much less reliable than the Subaru?
Modern BMWs are incredibly reliable.
For reals? Or is that sarcasm, I can’t tell.
IMO Subaru is taking sort of the same approach Honda did with the Civic Hybrid. When you compare to last year’s options, Crosstrek Sport Hybrid basically ‘replaces’ the Sport with an option package. You can’t get a Crosstrek Sport with the moonroof now, it appears. Which kinda makes sense, once the Premium added the 2.5 a year or two ago it made the Sport a little redundant.
A Civic Sport Hybrid was more of an EX replacement, as it adds a lot of equipment over a regular Sport Civic; a Sport Touring is right where an Accord hybrid starts, and not far off a CR-V hybrid. Similarly at the Crosstrek hybrid price you’re right up against the Forester Hybrid and that’s where more of the hybrid volume will probably be anyway.
Edit: for reference, the MSRP on a similarly equipped 2025 Crosstrek Sport is/was $32,835, so a $2500 premium over last year not factoring in any inflation or quiet tariff offsets.
There is nothing wrong with the base engine of the Crosstrek provided it truly represents a savings to the buyer. It gives us, the buyer, choice – and that’s good.
If, however, it costs Subaru the same money to build, and you don’t get savings at the fuel pump, then it does not make financial sense except to create a premium gap to the 2.5 option.
Yeah, the 2.0L just doesn’t make sense in that car…if they can offer the 2.5L at only a slightly higher price, there’s no real penalty. It’s not like the Outback where there’s a significant difference in fuel economy, complexity, and price between the 2.5L and 2.4L turbo.
I have an irrational attachment to the Crosstrek. I’ve never owned one, and the one that I’ve driven kind of sucked because it was saddled with the anemic base engine, but I just think they’re charming and very honest little cars. They stand out as being cheerful in a world of endless angry, gray blobs.
I think this is a worthy step up and that the hybrid is long overdue, but I really don’t know what they’re doing here price wise. They’re betting big money on people caring about the Subaru badge over all else. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a selling point and they have very loyal customers….but the Forester hybrid is within spitting distance of the Crosstrek and is in the same damn showroom.
It’s the same powertrain and great all wheel drive system but with significantly more cargo room….and Subaru is already putting money on their hoods. Unless the plan all along was to upsell people to the Forester (which it may well have been), this seems like an unforced error to me.
I like the idea & look of the Crosstrek. Maybe because it’s a wagony-hatchback.
But I, too, disliked driving it. It was slow, and handling was far too tall/squishy for me. Slow being relative – the 2.0 is still faster than many cars from the 80s/90s/00s (and will likely be quicker than a brand new loaded plumbing van).
It’s been begging for the WRX powertrain since its inception but Subaru has more or less thrown in the towel on enthusiasts at this point. It sucks, but from a business perspective I get it. They’d make a manual Crosstrek WRX, we’d complain that it’s too expensive and not buy it, they’d cancel it, brown ones would sell for exorbitantly sums on Cars And Bids a decade later, and we’d go back to complaining about no one makes cars like they used to.
The L.L. Bean/REI/granola/dog loving/often but not always lesbian crowd actually…you know, buys new cars.
I found a used 24 year old Forester XT manual selling for $30k recently.
It’s the only XT locally, in good shape, and manual.
So, yeah. What you said.
The orange ones are definitely interesting to look at.
Subaru’s burnt orange is one of the best in the game. They have great blues as well, but we already knew that.
It always kills me that Ford has long had a similarly fetching blue but one that it mostly refuses to offer on its North American vehicles. I don’t know the name, but I always think of it as “Ford Euro blue.”
So the 2.0L is only going to be for the Impreza? That seems silly to make an engine for such a low volume car. I wonder if the Impreza will get the 2.5L across the board too.
Presumably most other markets will retain the 2.0L since they’re not power hungry like the US.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Impreza gets discontinued in the US soon.
I’m glad they somewhat fixed the drivetrain issue, which is one dealbreaker for me. But I assume this is a CVT-only proposition and from the pictures it still has an infotainment screen that looked terrible yesterday and definitely will not age well.
CVT yes, but one of the best. I’d taken it every day and twice on Sunday over an 8-speed auto that can’t make up its mind and shifts 10 times pulling away from a stop light.
Stop, you know it’s not cool to like CVTs. Be better.
The Cool Paradox is much like the Alpha Paradox: In order to be it, you can’t care about being it. And I agree—these CVTs aren’t a joy, but they aren’t frustrating or annoying like I find modern auto boxes to be.
Yes, but this is a pretty basic car by today’s standards. I’d be a lot more interested in it with a manual transmission. I understand it’s not realistic, but I have purchased Subarus only because they offered AWD and a third pedal when the competitors did not.
Not a belt drive CVT, but a Prius style gears and torque-splitting-combining thing.
I know. It’s the best CVT. I’m just thinking for a small (ish) car that really isn’t all that luxurious, I’d like to row my own.
There’s no shortage of crossovers in this range with similar power, most with better mpg numbers and more space.
I know I’m not the typical car buyer, but I have purchased two Subarus (three if you count my FR-S), and the reason was the manual transmission. Without that, I feel like there are better options from other brands.
Subaru is the best CVT?? You take that back.
Pfft – the manual Subies had that back in the 1980s. 😉
The current Subaru market base is NOT interested in manuals.
Which is too bad, because this car with a 6-speed would be pretty cool.
There’s relatively recent vintages of the crosstrek with the manual. I’d thought about getting one for my kid for a first car because it makes the IIHS/Consumer Reports list for good first cars for teens. Although my wife disagrees, I think one hand on the wheel, one on the shifter will keep one hand off the cell phone.
This exactly. A more engaged driver is a safer driver.
Naw, you just learn to steer with your knee.
COTD
I don’t think you could have a hybrid with a key start. I mean, most of the time it’s going to be starting and stopping on its own.
My 1957 TR3 has push-to-start. Our old farm trucks had push to start buttons on the floors. I put a push to start button in a 70 Ford truck when someone broke the key off. I put a push to start button on a 2000 Volvo so that I could start it while it was moving, bypassing the brake and transmission interlock. I don’t get why it’s a big deal.
Here is a review on the Forester hybrid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ONzgOz1Fj4
It uses the CVT from Toyota and is rated 35 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, and 35 mpg combined so the Crosstrek should see similar mileage.
Also the Corolla Cross and Tucson aren’t as good off road.
They should offer the hybrid on the wilderness for the improved power and better CVT.
The idea of competitors being only those in the compact crossover segments always bugs me — nothing again Autopian, it’s EVERYWHERE. As a car enthusiast, I’d much rather see the Crosstrek also compared to cars in the same range, especially the class leaders in adjacent segments. Civic Hybrid comes to mind, which is a fantastic car and a few thousand dollars cheaper than the Crosstrek hybrid.
It’s a broader issue where it makes it hard for average consumers to see proper comparison tests, or even get new ideas, because the media has followed the manufacturers’ lead in almost every case…so comparison tests end up really shortsighted.
I can’t speak for everyone, but in 90% of my car shopping and purchases, I was NOT tied to a segment. I was tied to “the idea of getting the best car for the job.”
Yes, we ended up in a minivan after discovering that all the 3-row crossovers were 20% more expensive for no reason. /obvs
That does make for a more difficult job and it’s tough to compare when, what might be a positive in one class is a negative in another or features that don’t exist, but I’m with you. I looked at the Maverick, Civic hatch (manual), Si, and Corolla hatch (manual, theoretically) before buying a GR86. Were I looking now, I’d drop the two compacts that are no longer offered with manuals and add the Prius.
Yep, and the other issue is that if you’re looking at a top-trim of one brand, it might be nicer than the lower trim of a more luxurious brand, but you might not even know that the latter even exists because it’s technically in “compact luxury crossovers”.
I want to see them all — the immediate class plus, say , “2 degrees of separation.”
Yes, I know a Volvo has a nicer interior than a Honda, but most cars are already reviewed based on the value they provide; not strictly within their class.
That’s a good point, too, especially where trim levels can bump a base price up 50-100%, putting it in at least another price category, if not two.
Back in ’05 I test drove an Audi A3 hatchback, Toyota Avalon, and Nissan Altima, and sat in a Mazda3 and Volvo V30; I also considered a V6 Mustang. Different classes, but still good basic DD material. I wanted to like the Mazda but the driving position was poor, so I went with the Altima.
I’d consider a GR86 now if it weren’t for the crummy fuel economy, my ’14 Mazda3 has spoiled me and I only want to go up from here.
The EPA numbers are a joke, but you will definitely not get the same numbers as the ’14 Mazda. An ’06, sure, but not a ’14, and it takes premium, of course (I get about the same as my ’06 2.3 5MT, which is around 30 mpg combined). Highway-only constrained to 65-70 due to traffic, I got 34 from a tank, but that was an anomaly and it’s consistently 29-31. I see people saying they get ridiculously poor mileages, but I’m convinced they’re just bad drivers in both technique and recklessness as I don’t drive like I’m transporting Miss Daisy (though I stay within a reasonable distance of the speed limit most of the time due to traffic, cops, pedestrians, etc., and the car is, oddly enough, satisfying to cruise along in, arm on the door sill and music up—oh, the sound system sucks, but so do my ears and the car is also loud—when I would have thought it would be frustrating). I don’t even get as bad as some of these F&F wannabes report when towing a utility trailer for 1/3 a tank.
Last Fall I test-drove a 2.0L base Impreza hatch. It was kind of an impressive car for ~$24k, except the engine. 40-65mph on-ramp acceleration was virtually nonexistent. It really needed a turbo or another half liter of displacement. Will the Impreza get the upgrade, or just the Crosstrek?
The Impreza will probably die off, but then again, if the 2.0L goes away, Subaru might be forced to put the 2.5L in the Impreza…..or they just might kill off the Impreza.
The 2.5 is already in the Impreza RS, and it would be silly to kill the Impreza since it just came out and takes the same kind of pieces as the Crosstrek. Otoh the Legacy is dead so who knows
the Legacy is a different body style but the Impreza is a lowered Crosstrek, or is the Crosstrek a taller Impreza? I mean the Impreza got a better business case than the Legacy to stay around as it’s pretty much the same body style as the Crosstrek (Impreza sedan is gone).
But MFRs don’t necessarily use the common sense. Case in point, the WRX is sedan-only while the Impreza and Crosstrek are HB only
Wasn’t the manual only available with the base engine? Does this mean no more manual Crosstreks?
There hasn’t been a manual Crosstrek since 2023.
Haven’t fully kept up. Good to know.
I do not understand why they don’t put the WRX engine into it…
This 100% with a manual option
Seems like such a no brainer
I’ve been saying this for many years, and I came here today hoping that it was finally real.
yeah the word boost in the headline was a real fake out
“Crosstrek XT”
Roof rails with cross bars and the trailer hitch should be standard on every trim, but $$$.
I mean, they basically are in effect. The ship so few true “base” models that seeing a flat roof Impreza is super rare and flat roof Crosstrek…thinking…..literally have never seen one. That means that I’ve seen more LaFerrari Apertas on the road that Crosstreks without roof rails.
Hm. I bought my ’19 Crosstrek Premium (mid level only to get the heated seats) and barely any options except all-weather mats and auto (didn’t care if this car had auto or manual). Think it was like $22-23k?
It hits 80mph on the highway without a lot of struggle, it was definitely leaving my old Scion xB being driven by my friend back to my house because I wasn’t paying attention at first. I needed an appliance, it didn’t have to be fast. It’s served me well for 6 years and roughly 68K miles.
That said, it might be time to upgrade after I pay off the GR Corolla early…
I am sorry but there is nothing similar to people who like this car and those fans of Mustangs or 911’s.
Most owners of these are busy clogging up the left lane of your nearest interstate.
is the crosstrek cvt reliability not the biggest flaw? (actually curious, not naysaying!)
I’m far from an expert on this, but I thought they were one of the few that were reliable, but it came with the downside of being the worst “feeling” one.
’19 Crosstrek with 68K so far and no issues.
Subaru has been doing CVTs for 35+ years hopefully they can build a decent one.
The hybrid uses the CVT from the Prius which is fairly reliable.
Not directly from the Prius since the layout is pretty substantially different being longitudinal. But similar planetary eCVT concept as also used by Ford and the Pacifica Hybrid.
But better for going off the beaten track.
The 2012 Impreza was notorious for CVT issues (I would know, I used to have one and the CVT had to be repaired once) but Imprezas/Crosstreks after that year seem to be fine
Wife’s ’19 Crosstrek, 86k, no issues and she’ a bit of a lead foot.
I’d wager this is part of their tariff math, moving 100p of Crosstrek production to Indiana wouldn’t surprise me, especially now that it would all be FB25s. They might also be willing to sacrifice total sales, given the crazy tariffs, so raising the pricing and power makes some sense.
Plus with the EPA/CAFE and CA rules all being removed they no longer need to force the FB20 into their lowest cars for emissions.
Wait, the Crosstrek Hybrid with the moonroof is 38 THOUSAND DOLLARS? That gets you a CX-30 Turbo Premium, and you can get a CX-30 Carbon 2.5NA for 30k flat with some nice stuff, or save for a base in the 25k range. All US CX-30 are AWD no less, sure there’s no hybrid, so it isn’t entirely apples to apples, but I’d always thought the Crosstrek was the budget AWD option compared to rivals, but even with the 2.5 adding to the value proposition, I’d probably still buy most competitors over a Crosstrek any day of the week.
You can a very nice CX-50 or Rav 4 at that price.
No, the ‘starting’ one includes the moonroof for $35.5k. The Sport Hybrid appears to basically swap out for the old Sport 2.5 + option package from last year. It’s a little quirky though, the Limited hybrid does not have the moonroof standard, still an option there. A little different from the Forester hybrids which are like monospec trims, the hybrids include whatever option package the nonhybrids have available.
Make a simple affordable hatch but give it a decent AWD and good ground clearance and the outdoor crazy, cash strapped market scoops it up. Weird.
Seriously though, the Crosstrek should never had even come with the 2.0. Nothing Subaru makes should have that anemic little motor.
It was barely acceptable unladen at sea level, but outdoors things notoriously require…um…things and are often at not-sea-level places. When the 30 year old Land Cruiser passes your brand new Subaru on the 80mph 6000 foot Utah highway because your 3 friends, their gear and your rooftop tent have the 2.0 tapped out…you got to rethink things.
It’s certainly not helped when you push what little the 2.0 has through as CVT and AWD system, the losses in that drivetrain are immense. If memory serves, the 2.0 crosstrek has been in the bottom 10 accelerating cars for sale in the US for nearly a decade now.
It’s tradition! In the early ’80s, they had a 1.6 for the people for whom the 73hp 1.8 was just too much action. On the right day with a perfect launch and maybe some tail wind, my 1.8 FWD manual sedan could hit 60 in the 13 second range. I can’t imagine an automatic wagon 1.6 with 4WD (if they sold that combo).
I don’t think they did. I know 4wd was manual only through 1982.
That’s probably correct for the 1.6 as that had to be the real cheapskate model that they kept to pretty minimal options. I don’t recall even seeing many 1.6s, so I don’t think they were popular.
I brought my 1.8 auto FWD wagon to the drag strip and ran 19.6 @ 66. Hit that twice, but of course, there was no trick to managing traction or anything. I should have done bracket racing.