2026 Subaru Crosstrek review

The Subaru Crosstrek is a relatively new nameplate in the Japanese brand’s Australian lineup, but it’s proven popular with local buyers.

The Crosstrek name was introduced locally with the release of this small SUV in 2023, when it replaced two generations of compact crossovers wearing the XV badge. Like before, it’s still effectively a higher-riding Impreza hatch, promising improved off-road capability in a similarly small package.

That formula seems to resonate with Australian buyers, as the Crosstrek was Subaru’s second-highest seller in 2025, behind the larger Forester mid-size SUV.

To keep this generation of Crosstrek ticking along, Subaru has rolled out a selection of minor changes for 2026. The headline upgrade is the addition of Subaru’s Emergency Driving Stop System (EDSS), which can bring the vehicle “to a controlled stop while alerting other road users”.

This system debuted in Australia with the new-generation Forester in 2025 and is part of Subaru’s goal of achieving zero road fatalities in its cars by 2030. The focus of that commitment is preventative, active, and passive safety tech.

Other tweaks include the addition of a two-position driver’s seat memory function, as well as two new exterior paint finishes, which come at the expense of one orange and three blue finishes.

Prices are up as a result. The biggest jumps have been applied to the three most expensive variants, including the 2026 Subaru Crosstrek 2.0R on test here, which are all now $1500 more expensive. The range-opening ‘L’ trim is up by $500.

There’s still no word on the local release of the Strong Hybrid (S:HEV) system available for Australian Foresters and the Crosstrek in other markets, nor on any other petrol engines that are also available overseas.

All of this means many new small SUV rivals now offer stronger value on paper, especially since many are considerably cheaper. With that in mind, is the lightly refreshed Crosstrek good enough to keep Subaru relevant in the small SUV world?

How much does the Subaru Crosstrek cost?

The 2.0R is the middling variant of the Crosstrek family and costs $40,990 before on-roads. That’s $1500 more than it was in December 2025.

Most of the Crosstrek’s small SUV rivals are cheaper and, perhaps unsurprisingly, many of them sell better.

The Chery Tiggo 4 leads the segment and tops out at $34,990 drive-away, but there’s also the GWM Haval Jolion for a maximum of $38,990 drive-away, and the MG ZS for as much as $34,990 drive-away.

The only caveats to that are the Hyundai Kona, which costs $42,700 before on-roads in non-hybrid Premium guise, and the hybrid-only Toyota Corolla Cross, which starts at $44,190 before on-roads if you want an all-wheel drive model.

To see how the Subaru Crosstrek stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

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What is the Subaru Crosstrek like on the inside?

Nothing has really changed inside the Crosstrek, which is both good and bad.

It’s good because it’s still fairly hardy, and Subaru fans will feel right at home. There are large physical buttons and a real gear selector, and the placement of every frequently used item (USB ports, cupholders, etc) feels logical.

Those who appreciate Mitsubishi’s more traditional approach to interior layout (excluding the new ASX) will find similarities in this Subaru. That’s also where the ‘bad’ starts, however, because the Crosstrek is already showing its age.

It has a different taste compared to Mitsubishi’s old-school flavour, but the Crosstrek still comes with Subaru’s 11.6-inch portrait touchscreen, which has only grown less palatable over the years. Its graphics just look old, and the climate control system is purely digital at the bottom of the screen – at least Mitsubishi still offers buttons.

In fact, the function of this screen has arguably gotten worse with the introduction of Subaru’s Emergency Driving Stop System, which is astounding given the screen itself hasn’t changed at all. We’ll explain why in our driving impressions.

The other thing about this screen is that it isn’t as snappy as we’d like, which again makes it feel dated. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are at least standard, and we didn’t have any connectivity issues during our week with the car.

The ribbons at the top and bottom of the screen also stay open when smartphone mirroring is active, minimising the number of inputs needed for basic adjustments. It’s also worth noting that the sound system isn’t too bad for a non-branded setup, though it lacks low-end punch.

The latter is still cumbersome on its own, with controls such as air direction and recirculation locked within the expanded menu that opens when you press the climate readout at the bottom of the screen. This is somewhat offset by basic temperature controls and demister buttons on the screen bezels.

In contrast, we like the analogue instrument cluster. The dials are tidy and attractive, and there’s just enough information on the small digital screen in the middle to keep tech fans happy. This is easily navigable using a switch on the steering wheel.

Otherwise, the cloth-finished seats are comfortable, and power adjustment makes the driver’s seat easy to position. This is where you’ll find the only interior tweak for 2026: a handy two-position memory function for the driver’s seat.

Adjustment is still manual for the passenger seat, which is common for the segment, while there’s a huge range of tilt and reach adjustment in the steering wheel. Cumbersome as its tech may be, we can’t fault the Crosstrek’s ergonomics.

The tiller is also wrapped in leather and appropriately sized, making it nice to hold. As mentioned, there are numerous buttons, all of which are real (not touch-sensitive) and finished in durable black plastic. It’s also worth mentioning the metal-faced sports pedals are nice to have, even if they’re unnecessary.

Storage-wise, you’ll find a decently sized box under the central armrest, a passenger-side glovebox, and bottle holders in the doors. The centre console also houses a 12V outlet, two cupholders, antiquated seat heating switches, and a wireless phone charger – not to mention a mix of dull and piano-black plastic finishes.

The second row offers decent space that’s just about on par with most other cars in this segment. Legroom is fine unless there are taller people in front, though headroom is slightly compromised by the Crosstrek’s compact body.

The rear bench itself is comfortable enough, even if it feels like a fairly big step to get in – this has been the case in the body-sharing Impreza hatch for at least 10 years, but the Crosstrek is slightly less accessible thanks to its raised ride height.

Back-seat amenities are also limited, which you might think is common for the segment, until you realise Subaru hasn’t fitted rear-facing air vents. The Chery Tiggo 4, MG ZS, GWM Haval Jolion, and Toyota Corolla Cross all feature air vents on the back of their centre consoles, so it feels like the family-oriented Crosstrek has missed the mark here.

You at least get a soft fold-down armrest with cupholders, along with individual USB-A and USB-C ports. Parents with child seats will also be happy about the ISOFIX anchors on the outboard seats and the three top-tether points.

The boot is on the smaller side, but it’s certainly still workable. Subaru’s quoted five-seat capacity of 291 litres is much smaller than Chery’s 380L claim for the non-hybrid Tiggo 4, or Toyota’s 390L figure for the all-wheel drive Corolla Cross, though the Crosstrek’s load floor is still fairly wide and flat.

It’s only vertical space that’s compromised by the vehicle’s egg-shaped rear-end. Groceries and the like should still fit without issue, and you can fold down the rear seats for extra space, creating an almost-flat floor.

There are also small cubbies on either side for storing loose items, and a sturdy privacy cover that flops around when retracted. You don’t get a power tailgate in any Crosstrek, but it’s still easy to open the boot.

There’s no extra storage under the boot floor, which we forgive Subaru for since the space has been used to retain a space-saver spare wheel.

To see how the Subaru Crosstrek stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

As ever, the Subaru Crosstrek is powered by a 2.0-litre non-turbo four-cylinder ‘boxer’ engine, producing 115kW of power and 196Nm of torque. Drive is sent to all four wheels through a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).

Our week with the car involved highway commuting – both free-flowing and in heavy traffic – along with suburban errand-running and countryside cruising. The skew towards lower-intensity, high-speed driving contributed to our lower-than-claimed fuel economy.

To see how the Subaru Crosstrek stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How does the Subaru Crosstrek drive?

Much like its interior, the Crosstrek’s on-road behaviour hasn’t really changed – except for one major downgrade.

Put bluntly, its driver attention monitoring system is now way, way too sensitive. We’re genuinely reaching stereotypical Chinese-car levels of poor calibration here; this isn’t at all what we’ve come to expect from Subaru’s historically inobtrusive, well-engineered safety gear.

Spend a second too long trying to figure out the confusing (and sometimes slow-moving) digital climate system, and the car beeps. Look down at the speedometer or read a traffic sign for more than a glance, and the car beeps. It’s so disappointing, and the new-generation Forester has the exact same issue.

The Crosstrek even warned me to ‘Take a Break’ for no apparent reason on multiple occasions. The monitor can be disabled, but it shouldn’t have to be.

We have a fair idea of what’s caused this, and it’s likely to be Subaru’s new EDSS tech. Because its more advanced capabilities have almost certainly required tweaks to the car’s existing safety tech, we suspect it makes the driver distraction monitor much more reactive to the slightest variations in attention.

If you’re unaware, the EDSS can bring the vehicle to a safe, controlled stop if it detects that the driver has become unresponsive. It only operates when adaptive cruise and lane-centring are active, because that’s when the car has control over braking and steering.

But these issues consistently occurred when cruise control was not active, which makes no sense in the context above. We appreciate the value of the EDSS, but a little more time in the oven for the safety systems in both the Crosstrek and Forester would surely go a long way.

Aside from all that, the Crosstrek is solid. It’s a very unassuming package in terms of performance, ride, and handling, which is all it needs to be, and there’s nothing really wrong with any of it.

Let’s start with the engine, which fires up into a fairly abrasive high-RPM idle upon pushing the start button. This is how this particular family of 2.0-litre boxer engine has behaved since it debuted in 2012, so there’s no cause for concern.

In fact, I lived with this same engine (or near enough) for five years when I owned a 2014 Impreza hatch, with the only real powertrain difference being that my hatch was manual. Surprisingly for some perhaps, the engine isn’t any more potent 12 years later.

Realistically, it’s an adequate powerplant for a car of this stature and purpose, but – and without wanting to be that guy – it’s not fast. It’ll get up to speed eventually, and it is fairly efficient for a non-hybrid small SUV, which makes it appropriate – but we can still dream.

The CVT auto is also adequate but not fantastic. Again, it’s practical and does a perfectly fine job, but it doesn’t inspire hard acceleration. It will at least pretend to shift gears as it climbs through the rev range, though it isn’t as satisfying as a Honda CVT can be.

An odd quirk is that you get a surge of power when it ‘shifts up’, so it’s vital to be pre-emptive with throttle inputs as the CVT can be caught off-guard – that’s where the control provided by my old six-speed manual was beneficial, even if the Crosstrek still has a manual mode and paddle shifters.

You can sharpen things up by switching to Sport mode by pressing the ‘[S]’ button on the steering wheel. This will shorten the CVT’s ratios, meaning the engine runs at higher RPM and makes it a little more spritely and snappier in throttle response.

The long and short of it is that Sport mode makes the Crosstrek slightly quicker and more helpful for overtaking or pulling onto high-speed roads, while the default Intelligent mode (signified by the [I] button) is more docile and generally better for efficiency. These are the only two driving modes, making the Crosstrek approachable.

It’s a similar story with the steering, which is nicely weighted and direct. This is something Subaru has been doing well in recent years, and it makes the Crosstrek predictable and easy to adapt to if you’re coming from any other car.

Ride quality is on the firmer side and therefore lacks some compliance on bumpy regional roads. But it isn’t unbearable given the car never feels skittish, and we like how well the suspension cushions the cabin from small holes and tram tracks.

No doubt that’s a result of the thicker tyre sidewalls, and road noise is also impressively muffled. These things make it easy to rack up kilometres on longer drives in the Crosstrek, which does well to avoid tiring its driver out – despite the frequent ‘Take a Break’ reminders.

The only other thing we can criticise is the lane-centring function, which struggles to provide smooth steering inputs and often sits too close to one side of the car’s lane. It just doesn’t feel settled, even if the adaptive cruise system does a good job of matching and reacting to traffic around the Crosstrek.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to test the car’s light-duty off-road chops, but given nothing has changed with its drivetrain or chassis, including its relatively generous ground clearance, we’d still expect it to be more capable than most other SUVs in its segment.

So, the fundamentals are all still intact; it’s just that some of the tech changes have detracted from the Crosstrek’s otherwise well-rounded package.

To see how the Subaru Crosstrek stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What do you get?

The Subaru Crosstrek continues to be available in three trim levels.

2026 Subaru Crosstrek 2.0L and Hybrid L equipment highlights:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• Space-saver spare wheel (petrol only)
• Tyre repair kit (Hybrid only)
• Automatic halogen headlights
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Rear privacy glass
• Standard steering wheel
• Cloth upholstery
• Manual seat adjustment incl. driver’s seat height
• Standard analogue instrument cluster (petrol only)
• Premium instrument cluster (Hybrid only)
• 4.2-inch multi-information display
• 11.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• DAB+ digital radio
• Bluetooth
• Auxiliary jack
• 1 x USB-A port (front)
• 1 x USB-C port (front)
• Wireless phone charger
• 6-speaker sound system
• Paddle shifters
• Dual-zone climate control
• SI-Drive (2 modes)
• X-Mode (1 mode)

Crosstrek 2.0R adds:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Automatic LED headlights (steering-responsive)
• LED front fog lights
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Sports pedals
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Leather-wrapped gear selector
• Premium cloth upholstery
• 8-way powered driver’s seat adjustment incl. lumbar
• Driver’s seat memory function (2 position) (NEW)
• Heated front seats
• ‘Premium’ instrument cluster
• 1 x USB-A port (rear)
• 1 x USB-C port (rear)
• X-Mode (2 modes)

Crosstrek 2.0S and Hybrid S add:

• Electric sunroof
• Leather-accented upholstery
• Satellite navigation
• 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system

To see how the Subaru Crosstrek stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Is the Subaru Crosstrek safe?

The 2026 Subaru Crosstrek boasts a five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on testing conducted by Euro NCAP in 2024.

Standard safety equipment highlights:

• 9 airbags, incl:
  • Front
  • Front-side
  • Curtain
  • Driver’s knee
  • Far side
  • Front passenger seat cushion
• Active torque vectoring
• Adaptive cruise control
• Autonomous emergency braking
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Driver monitoring system with facial recognition
• Emergency driving stop system (NEW)
• Front-side radar
• Intelligent speed limiter
• Lane-centring
• Lane-change assist
• Lane-keep assist
• Pedestrian alert system (Hybrid only)
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera
• Traffic sign recognition
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• Wide-angle monocular camera

Crosstrek 2.0R adds:

• Front-view monitor
• Side-view monitors
• Surround-view camera

To see how the Subaru Crosstrek stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How much does the Subaru Crosstrek cost to run?

Subaru Australia backs its range with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Servicing for both petrol-only and hybrid Crosstrek variants is required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.

Subaru’s individual capped-price servicing costs are detailed below:

For context, five years of servicing for the Chery Tiggo 4 will cost a total of $1445 at $289 per service. Toyota, meanwhile, steps things up with the hybrid Corolla Cross, with five years of servicing costing just $1375 at $275 per service.

But pricier than the Crosstrek is the Hyundai Kona. It’ll cost $2053 to service over five years, averaging $410.6 annually.

To see how the Subaru Crosstrek stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the Subaru Crosstrek 2.0R

Despite its powertrain and chassis remaining unchanged, price increases and the less-than-seamless integration of its new safety gear have unfortunately taken the Crosstrek a step backward.

Yes, the addition of Subaru’s newest safety tech is important and has the potential to save lives in the long run, but there’s nothing here that buyers can touch and feel to see exactly where the extra $1500 has gone.

What’s worse is that tech has adversely affected some vehicle systems that were fine before, making the price rises even harder to justify. We had similar complaints when we reviewed the new-generation Forester, which exhibits many of the same flaws.

It’s a shame, because the Crosstrek otherwise continues to offer an unintimidating drive experience, which is exactly what an economy Subaru should do. We found it efficient enough without any new hybrid tech (more than 800km on a tank of 91 RON is pretty damn good), and it’s comfortable enough without doing anything earth-shattering.

Annoying driver monitor aside, those coming from other Subarus, even ones from a few years ago, will feel at home in the latest Crosstrek, as its carryover interior brings no new buttons or physical layouts to adjust to.

And in terms of oft-overlooked payload figures the Crosstrek offers 590kg of capacity, which is more than enough for four grown adults and their luggage.

Chery quotes only 395kg for the non-hybrid Tiggo 4, so the Crosstrek should be a better long-distance family hauler.

Realistically, though, it’s fair to argue the Crosstrek needs to push the envelope a lot more than it does, especially in Australia.

We reckon Subaru should’ve already brought its Strong Hybrid (S:HEV) system Down Under, especially given it’s now here in the Forester, and that it’s readily available in the Crosstrek in other right-hand drive markets like Japan. A larger-displacement petrol engine is also available in the US.

The Crosstrek’s price premium over its Chinese rivals is also hard to swallow, even if it has a handful of worthwhile drawcards. As mentioned earlier, the Crosstrek’s fundamentals remain strong enough to keep loyalists satisfied, but there’s much more that could be done to make it more relevant to others.

All up, the Crosstrek is still a solid small SUV, and the mid-range 2.0R is a good place to start; it’s just becoming more difficult to recommend.

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