2024 Subaru Crosstrek: Little Adventure Wagon Gets a Bigger Screen, Same $26,290 Starting Price
The 2024 Subaru Crosstrek gets a bigger screen and better looks, but no word on a hybrid version just yet.
Subaru’s little crossover that can is getting a new look and some bigger screens. The 2024 Subaru Crosstrek was unveiled Thursday at the 2023 Chicago Auto Show, its North American debut after it was initially unveiled last year. Like before, it’s powered by one of two flat-four engines paired exclusively to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT)—the manual is gone now—and all-wheel drive.
The base version will cost $26,290, including mandatory destination charges, which is the same price as the outgoing 2023 version. It’ll be offered in base, Premium, Sport, and Limited trim levels, with the latter two receiving an uprated 2.5-liter flat-four that makes 182 horsepower compared to the base and Premium’s 2.0-liter flat-four that makes 152 hp. Base and Premium models will arrive in the spring and be assembled in Japan versus the Sport and Limited trims that will arrive in summer and be assembled in Lafayette, Indiana.
The headliner for the Crosstrek has been its capability in a small package. Like its predecessor (and most Subaru vehicles for that matter), the 2024 Crosstrek sports 8.7 inches of ground clearance and body cladding that nearly qualifies as jousting armor. The base powertrain with CVT has been criticized at times as too leisurely, something that the uprated 2.5-liter flat-four has largely quashed since its arrival. It’s not likely to blow the doors off most, but Subaru says that it’s ported over the steering in the WRX to at least make it feel a little livelier on the road.
Inside, the base Crosstrek utilizes twin 7.0-inch touchscreens for infotainment while Subaru’s larger 11.6-inch tablet-style touchscreen is standard on trims above the base. Subaru said it updated the sound-deadening in the Crosstrek for a quieter interior and added more comfortable seats. The same suite of active safety features is standard, which Subaru calls "EyeSight." Blind-spot monitoring and lane-keeping assist are available on Crosstrek Premium and higher trims and, when equipped, add automatic emergency steering that Subaru says will help steer to avoid crashes at 50 mph or slower.
The 2024 Crosstrek’s packaging is largely the same this year, too. It seats up to five, although three adults in the back should probably be on a first-name-or-better familiarity with each other, and the split-folding rear seats can tumble down for up to 54.7 cubic feet of cargo storage. Despite its tall ride height, the Crosstrek’s low load floor remains as does its wide aperture in the rear for swallowing bulky gear.
We’ll know more when we drive it later this spring, but Subaru’s bestselling Crosstrek is measuring up to be the same small ‘ute its always been, even if what’s under the hood doesn’t sport added electrons via a hybrid powertrain. We asked Subaru about a hybrid Crosstrek, but the automaker declined to comment.
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