I've a 2018 XV/ Crosstrek (2.0l, not e-boxer). Four years old now and it's probably my favorite car ever. Been in some crappy situations with it and it just inspires confidence at all times, in snow, rain storms (permanent awd), fog (great lights, with auto high beam), loose surfaces, mud etc. Intuitive physical(!) controls for HVAC etc, and the adaptive cruise control is awesome. People say its gutless, well no it's not, it's just not fast. So buy a fast car if that's what you want, this is clearly a different animal. Plenty of space with the back seats down for me and my missus' camping expeditions. Glad I avoided the e-boxer version though it seems to contribute nothing positive.
I know. For me the car color is part of the fun. But apparently most buyers are more reserved, and they prefer non-offensive black, silver or white hoping for better residuals.
I just got one in this colour. Looks even better up close than it does in videos or pictures. As for the engines available, the 1.6 is weak and 2.0 non-hybrid is very juicy. The e-boxer feels smooth and stronger than the other two.
With 2.5 NA engine we get here in the US it makes a lot more sense. We also have a PHEV, but the price means it doesn’t make sense. Looking forward to the new model going on sale in Spring 2023. It’s basically a smaller Outback and would be great for the wife, she prefers driving a smaller car than my Outback. 😉
Good looks, competent light offroader with a very good AWD system. Some people complain about its reliability, and not many mechanics can work on those engines.
What impressed me is that you stopped in a cross-axle situation three times and got going again with minimal slip. This is a haldex-like system in here, correct? That's mightily impressive. Any haldex-4wd car I've ever driven would've vomited torque on the wrong wheels instead of going up 😅😅
Hi Marek, thank you for the review! And if you were to compare it against KIA Xceed (1.5T 160hp) what you think is better on highway? In terms of acceleration, wind/tires noise, conform, handling, fuel consumption, overall experience? How powerful it feels with only 197 Nm of torque? Is the trunk volume really 450 l. - hard to find such info?
As long as you stay on good quality roads, XCeed is a better choice, than the XV. You'll find all the info here: ruclips.net/video/cc_6C-mMN0k/видео.html ruclips.net/video/ab3W4HVxUOM/видео.html ruclips.net/video/YadB5cpQeec/видео.html
The price in EU and UK are crazy, it just cost 21k euro in japan (After-tax!). With 11" monitor and 360 birdview camera, not the pathetic config with 8" monitor in the EU/UK.
I’m driving a same configured XV and I have the same feelings. This engine does not fit to this car. I don’t know if it’s the weight of the car or the AWD but this engine feels powerless. To be clear here, I’ve been driving other cars with CVT gearboxes so I’m familiar with them, but in this case the car almost always needs to rev to 3000-4000 RPM and the output is always insufficient. The result is 9.9 Liters per 100 Km. Consider it as close to the minimum possible consumption since I’m having a very economic driving style. Other than that the car feels well built and easy to maneuver around
I had to add, every time I hear a reference to the Last of the Mohicans I think of SCTV. They did a skit for "masterpiece theatre" called Mohicans Galore.... check out all of those famous comedians back when they were unknown! They are so funny. SCTV.
An excellent manufacturer ... if you watch from the side)) The engine does not run without a turbo, with a turbine - reliability is 50/50. The drive is excellent. Chain variator. But the engine...Achilles' heel. Marek, thanks for your work! 🤗
Subaru is popular in Australia and anyone in europe says its not reliable try to have European cars in rough aussie climate and travel thousands of km across the continent and last. European cars are trash in Australia, won’t survive after warranty runs out.
I learned recently from Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles channel that Subaru is the offshoot of Nakajima, known for making important airplanes for Japan in WWII. I laughed when Greg taunted how beautiful those planes were and how ugly the cars are.
The Duster is much much worse on the road, offroad is not that far, but it's still worst. Duster AWD driveshafts are super thin and brake all the time. Interior quality is also not comparable. They're two very different cars. If you want something basic, yes, the Duster can be a good option, but that's all that it offers, a basic car
I hate to mention this, but looks like Subaru is falling behind on different aspects concerning economy and emissions. Are we witnessing the downfall of Subaru? Their current line of cars are clearly not meant for EU market?
They’re definitely late, but their roadmap says they’ll have their own production line for EV/hybrids from 2025 and a dedicated EV only production line in 2027. In the meantime they’ll have a presence with Solterra.
Subaru just doesnt give much of a damn about europe, for exmple all the fun engine options are for everyone but europe. new WRX not in europe etc etc, kind of sad. Not to mention the prices are way more expensive than the US versions
My 2nd generation Forester is 10 times better offroad car than this miserable modern joke. Fitted with symmetrical, permanent AWD and reductor old Forester is real offroad car with serious offroad capabilities. I'm very disappointed how bad is Forester today.
Since Subaru has gone to bed with Toyota, the passion has all been drained from this brand. To my knowledge the electric powertrain is being sourced from Toyota and therefore a rather bland excercise in greenwashing. Or maybe the boxer engine does not go too well with e-power. All in all this battery just seems to be dead weight to carry around without any significant benifit to performance or environment.
It probably depends where you do your driving. I live in the sticks but work in a city. It's nice to be able to crawl in traffic on electric. The electric motor also helps when you put your foot down at traffic lights or when accelerating to get on a motorway.
I see Crosstreks everywhere in Toronto. Starting at 24k, it's got brakes, a steering wheel, seats, a big clearance so people feel safe knowing they won't get beached on a snow bank in the middle of Toronto where we salt the streets into the ground.... in fact the salt is higher than most snow. This thing is cheap and probably never breaksdown. Done deal for most. Thanks for the review Marek, our football teams are out of the World Cup, booohooo.🥸
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Regardless of the silly hybrid system, I bet this is a lot more reliable than any Land Rover.
I've a 2018 XV/ Crosstrek (2.0l, not e-boxer). Four years old now and it's probably my favorite car ever. Been in some crappy situations with it and it just inspires confidence at all times, in snow, rain storms (permanent awd), fog (great lights, with auto high beam), loose surfaces, mud etc. Intuitive physical(!) controls for HVAC etc, and the adaptive cruise control is awesome.
People say its gutless, well no it's not, it's just not fast. So buy a fast car if that's what you want, this is clearly a different animal. Plenty of space with the back seats down for me and my missus' camping expeditions. Glad I avoided the e-boxer version though it seems to contribute nothing positive.
I don't know what lights you get on the XV wherever you live, but when I drove this at night, it was like going back in time 10-15 years.
I looked at the e- boxer as well but I couldn't see much net gain against the 2L petrol boxer.
I think its a great car too.
@@MarekDrivesENG Your car should have had LED adaptive headlights like mine .. they are brilliant on the German roads😉
"Active and dynamic people from the broschure..." 😄
Being able to sleep in this car is a convincing reason to buy this car for me ❤🎉
That colour is stunning it really suits the car.
I know. For me the car color is part of the fun. But apparently most buyers are more reserved, and they prefer non-offensive black, silver or white hoping for better residuals.
I just got one in this colour. Looks even better up close than it does in videos or pictures. As for the engines available, the 1.6 is weak and 2.0 non-hybrid is very juicy. The e-boxer feels smooth and stronger than the other two.
Thanks Marek for including cabin noise in your reviews. It is a very important matter! For me in this case, a deal breaker!
Glad to help!
To me it sounded noisier in the video than my car sounds in real life 🤔
With 2.5 NA engine we get here in the US it makes a lot more sense. We also have a PHEV, but the price means it doesn’t make sense. Looking forward to the new model going on sale in Spring 2023. It’s basically a smaller Outback and would be great for the wife, she prefers driving a smaller car than my Outback. 😉
I like the analogue gauges; hate the touch screen
Good looks, competent light offroader with a very good AWD system. Some people complain about its reliability, and not many mechanics can work on those engines.
The multi tier screen is super helpful for offroad.
Interesting about the constant charging in cold weather.
What impressed me is that you stopped in a cross-axle situation three times and got going again with minimal slip. This is a haldex-like system in here, correct? That's mightily impressive. Any haldex-4wd car I've ever driven would've vomited torque on the wrong wheels instead of going up 😅😅
It's always partially engaged, so there's less initial looking for where to send power.
@@MarekDrivesENG You've gotta give it to the Japanese - that's a clever approach to basically eliminate a well-known weakness of this system. 💪🏻
Minus the fuel economy :)
Hi Marek, thank you for the review! And if you were to compare it against KIA Xceed (1.5T 160hp) what you think is better on highway? In terms of acceleration, wind/tires noise, conform, handling, fuel consumption, overall experience? How powerful it feels with only 197 Nm of torque? Is the trunk volume really 450 l. - hard to find such info?
As long as you stay on good quality roads, XCeed is a better choice, than the XV.
You'll find all the info here:
ruclips.net/video/cc_6C-mMN0k/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/ab3W4HVxUOM/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/YadB5cpQeec/видео.html
Seems like the engines and the soundproofing have been weaknesses of the XV since the first generation - shame they haven't sorted it yet!
38k euro… jesus! New car prices make no sense anymore!
The price in EU and UK are crazy, it just cost 21k euro in japan (After-tax!). With 11" monitor and 360 birdview camera, not the pathetic config with 8" monitor in the EU/UK.
True. But prices in the EU include the VAT
Very reliable brand, but for me to much "back in the day" 6:40.
I’m driving a same configured XV and I have the same feelings. This engine does not fit to this car. I don’t know if it’s the weight of the car or the AWD but this engine feels powerless. To be clear here, I’ve been driving other cars with CVT gearboxes so I’m familiar with them, but in this case the car almost always needs to rev to 3000-4000 RPM and the output is always insufficient. The result is 9.9 Liters per 100 Km. Consider it as close to the minimum possible consumption since I’m having a very economic driving style.
Other than that the car feels well built and easy to maneuver around
I had to add, every time I hear a reference to the Last of the Mohicans I think of SCTV. They did a skit for "masterpiece theatre" called Mohicans Galore.... check out all of those famous comedians back when they were unknown! They are so funny. SCTV.
:)
XV? Simple. X - Crossover
V - Vehicle.
Got it?
Thank you Captain Obvious.
Is that CVT reliability still an issue?
Not in Subarus and Toyotas. I would avoid Nissans with CVT. Those can break in as little as 20k miles.
So it’s gutless, likes a drink, not really spacious but peeps in North America buy shitloads of them???
The e-boxer is ruining the Forester and XV experience. Subaru still doesn't want to bring the CB18 engine to Europe...
An excellent manufacturer ... if you watch from the side)) The engine does not run without a turbo, with a turbine - reliability is 50/50. The drive is excellent. Chain variator. But the engine...Achilles' heel.
Marek, thanks for your work! 🤗
Subaru is popular in Australia and anyone in europe says its not reliable try to have European cars in rough aussie climate and travel thousands of km across the continent and last. European cars are trash in Australia, won’t survive after warranty runs out.
People buying this? With money?
I think it needs a major facelift because it looks so dated.
Yes, already announced. Goes on sale in Spring 2023. 😉
I learned recently from Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles channel that Subaru is the offshoot of Nakajima, known for making important airplanes for Japan in WWII. I laughed when Greg taunted how beautiful those planes were and how ugly the cars are.
You're better of getting a Duster for 10k less 🙂
I prefer boxer engines and guess Subaru buyers do so for that reason. People either like the brand and understand them or they dont.
The Duster is much much worse on the road, offroad is not that far, but it's still worst. Duster AWD driveshafts are super thin and brake all the time. Interior quality is also not comparable. They're two very different cars. If you want something basic, yes, the Duster can be a good option, but that's all that it offers, a basic car
I hate to mention this, but looks like Subaru is falling behind on different aspects concerning economy and emissions. Are we witnessing the downfall of Subaru? Their current line of cars are clearly not meant for EU market?
Yes your right, because there main market is north America.
They’re definitely late, but their roadmap says they’ll have their own production line for EV/hybrids from 2025 and a dedicated EV only production line in 2027. In the meantime they’ll have a presence with Solterra.
@@JanHenrik541 EVs will be the total annihilation of the automotive industries, so I'm kind of glad Subaru is behind.
Subaru just doesnt give much of a damn about europe, for exmple all the fun engine options are for everyone but europe.
new WRX not in europe etc etc, kind of sad.
Not to mention the prices are way more expensive than the US versions
To me that's part of their charm 😜
My 2nd generation Forester is 10 times better offroad car than this miserable modern joke. Fitted with symmetrical, permanent AWD and reductor old Forester is real offroad car with serious offroad capabilities. I'm very disappointed how bad is Forester today.
Since Subaru has gone to bed with Toyota, the passion has all been drained from this brand. To my knowledge the electric powertrain is being sourced from Toyota and therefore a rather bland excercise in greenwashing. Or maybe the boxer engine does not go too well with e-power. All in all this battery just seems to be dead weight to carry around without any significant benifit to performance or environment.
It probably depends where you do your driving. I live in the sticks but work in a city. It's nice to be able to crawl in traffic on electric. The electric motor also helps when you put your foot down at traffic lights or when accelerating to get on a motorway.
I see Crosstreks everywhere in Toronto. Starting at 24k, it's got brakes, a steering wheel, seats, a big clearance so people feel safe knowing they won't get beached on a snow bank in the middle of Toronto where we salt the streets into the ground.... in fact the salt is higher than most snow. This thing is cheap and probably never breaksdown. Done deal for most. Thanks for the review Marek, our football teams are out of the World Cup, booohooo.🥸
Are they already? Last I heard we lost, and got promoted. That didn't last :)
@@MarekDrivesENG Oh wait, Poland did advance. Under very strange circumstances. I thought they were out for sure!! Ok then GO POLAND!!
Belgium out… they never knew how to play football, we still got Poland! May there be goals. Oh nice review btw.
@@MrAndrei4777 haha. Go Poland!!! Get the boots on Marek!! Drive to Qatar in that Crosstrek!!