By Jill Ciminillo
The hood tipped as much as the sky because the entrance wheels hit a divot within the pink dust. Tires spun, then caught, pushing the 2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness up and over the steep incline. The highest of the hill required a decent proper flip to hit the following impediment, and the compact SUV neatly executed the maneuver earlier than dipping proper again down the hill.
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2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness
On this compact seven-minute off-road course designed by Subaru, we pushed the latest Wilderness mannequin by way of its paces, and I, for one, was impressed. From articulation to free dust to a sploosh of mud, the Crosstrek Wilderness calmly walked by way of each impediment and appeared to say: What else you bought?
Throughout this one-day drive program, we in all probability spent 75 % of our drive time on dust and gravel roads, and the Crosstrek Wilderness was completely at house.
This new off-road prepared mannequin hits the highest of the Crosstrek lineup at $33,290, together with vacation spot. Whereas this may appear steep for a Crosstrek, it contains a variety of the up-level options you see within the Restricted trim, like heated seats, blind-spot monitoring, an 11.6-inch vertical infotainment display, wi-fi Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, and a wi-fi cellphone charger.
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However Wilderness takes issues a step additional. Within the identify of ruggedness; the brand new trim stage contains an additional 0.6 inches of floor clearance, leatherette water-repellant seating surfaces, a lightweight within the rear cargo space, an upgraded suspension, tow factors on the entrance and rear of the car, Yokohama Geolander all-terrain tires, a 3,500-pound towing capability 2000 greater than lesser Crosstreks), and superior dual-function X-Mode. Customary on Wilderness, X-MODE offers settings that may optimize traction for various situations together with dust, deep snow, and dirt.
Severe off-roaders will likely be glad to know that with distinctive bumpers and the aforementioned added floor clearance, you additionally get will increase in strategy angle (by 2 levels), departure angle (3 levels) and breakover angles (1 diploma).
The outstanding factor isn’t how effectively it does off street, nonetheless, it’s what it does on street that actually impresses. The Crosstrek Wilderness has knobby all-terrain tires, and also you’d anticipate tire noise to creep into the cabin – and it does. But it surely’s not as harsh as you’d anticipate, and Subaru nonetheless managed to make the experience and dealing with comfy on the freeway.
Gasoline financial system does undergo in consequence – but additionally not as a lot as you’d anticipate. The Crosstrek Wilderness is supplied with the identical 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder “boxer” engine you see within the Crosstrek Sport. It delivers 182 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque. Within the Sport gasoline financial system rings in at 26/33 MPG metropolis/freeway. On the Crosstrek Wilderness, it’s the freeway gasoline financial system that takes the hit, which matches again to these knobby all-terrain tires. per the EPA, It’ll get 25 MPG within the metropolis and 29 MPG on the freeway.
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Whereas there are lots of people clamoring for a turbocharged engine within the Crosstrek Wilderness, and it could be superior, I’m unsure it actually wants it. It is a compact SUV, and it has loads of get-up-and-go for the dimensions. You’ll hear a bit of engine-and-transmission whine beneath arduous acceleration, but it surely’s not terrible, and it falls in keeping with a car of this measurement on this class.
There’s a lot to love on this compact off roader–from the bronze accents and rugged look to the easy-to-clean inside–however there are all the time a pair ache factors with any car, and the Crosstrek Wilderness is not any exception.
As we had been leaving camp on a rocky dust street, my espresso, which I’d positioned within the passenger aspect cup holder, instantly spilled everywhere in the console space as a result of the cup holders don’t have any grips to carry smaller cups in place. So, the lidded cup bobbled about splashing scorching espresso out the drink gap and everywhere in the automotive. Skinny cans and different small drinks wouldn’t do effectively within the house both, and that’s a particular ding.
I’d additionally prefer to level out that although there are superb heated seats within the Crosstrek Wilderness, there isn’t a heated steering wheel choice. In any respect. That’s a little bit of a miss for me because you’re supposedly taking this car on offroad, outside adventures, which suggests you may come again a bit chilled. A heated steering wheel could be beautiful in that occasion.
One thing else that isn’t accessible on the Crosstrek Wilderness: A navigation system. Whereas this isn’t an enormous drawback, it’s price noting. Subaru mentioned most of its clients would favor to make use of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto–I get it, so would I. However the issue for this car particularly is that this: When you purchase it to do off-road issues, you’ll seemingly end up sometimes with out cell service. In that scenario, which was most of our drive, CarPlay and Auto gained’t do diddly.
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Lastly, and that is maybe the largest miss on the Crosstrek Wilderness: There isn’t any front-facing digicam. Whereas I respect such niceties in an city atmosphere for parallel parking, in an off-road scenario it takes on a brand new stage of significance. When your hood is pointed to the sky, and you may’t see the trail in entrance of you as you come over a hill, a entrance digicam could be useful.
Then once more, whenever you take a look at the aggressive set, a variety of these options aren’t accessible there both, or if they’re, the automobiles are considerably costlier.
So, what’s the aggressive set? And the way do they stack up? The fast comparo, in accordance with Subaru, is as follows (pricing is with out vacation spot):
Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness ($31,995): 25/29/27 MPG, all-terrain tires, 9.3 inches of floor clearance, 3,500-pound max towing, 700-pound max roof rack load.
Jeep Compass Trailhawk ($36,395): 24/32/27 MPG, all-season tires, 8.6 inches of floor clearance, 2,000-pound max towing, 150-pound max roof rack load.
Jeep Renegade Trailhawk ($31,970): 22/27/24 MPG, all-season tires, 8.7 inches of floor clearance, 2,000-pound max towing, 150-pound max roof rack load.
Ford Bronco Sport Badlands ($38,390): 21/26/23 MPG, all-season tires, 8.8 inches of floor clearance, 2,200-pound max towing, 150-600-pound max roof rack load.
General, that is the Wilderness mannequin I’ve been ready for. Within the Crosstrek Wilderness, Subaru has put collectively a snug and competent package deal that provides a variety of the options the youthful demographic craves, whereas maintaining it comparatively reasonably priced. It’s simple to drive, comfy for street journeys, simple to maintain clear and may take you off the overwhelmed path with aplomb.
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2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness Gallery
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