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Originally Posted by chipmunk
BRZ is in the shop for some warranty work (again). For a loaner they gave a Crosstrek instead of the usual Forester. So I have first hand experience with a CVT 2019 Crosstrek on the new Global Platform.
● Power is plenty for the vehicle. Have only driven so far with 2 lightweight adults, so can't say about fully loaded 4 heavyweight adults
● CVT is actually pretty good! No jerks, no hesitation, no annoying low frequency hums
● Oil warmup (blue light) took a while. But we're talking 20 degree Michigan winter here
● No road noise (a lot better than the BRZ, that doesn't say much though!)
● Driving was pretty smooth even on SE Michigan roads
Anything else you wanna know, feel free to ask.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e30kawi
How was the tech in it? User friendly? Outward visibility?. My wife has been wanting a crosstrek for a few years now.
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Funny story... I actually traded in my STI for one back in December. Didn't do any track time last year, wasn't planning on any this year. That paired with the fact that I'm driving more every day for work made it hard to justify keeping the STI considering the piss poor fuel economy and having a MT in traffic with a less than perfect left knee just made it seem like the obvious, smart choice to go for something less expensive.
I drove it back to back with a 2019 Impreza sport hatchback with the 5MT. In short, the Impreza was disappointing; the crosstrek was surprising. I think most of it is because of the transmission (since they're basically the same car). The impreza felt like a turd everywhere. No grunt, anywhere. Transmission felt sloppy. Gas pedal felt dead until about 50%. I considered it because it was the same price as the Crosstrek but came with push button start and the nicer infotainment. I wanted to like it, but it was god awful to drive with that transmission. Maybe if they had a CVT sport, but nobody in the area did.
The Crosstrek seemed much more eager down low, which is perfect for traffic. In manual mode, the upshifts are fairly quick. Downshifts are a bit slow/dimwitted, but it rev matches fairly well. I've driven with 4 people in the car and it's definitely on the sluggish side, but it's not exactly a ludicrous speed type of vehicle.
Road noise is much less than the FRS was or the STI was. Obviously much more comfortable. Fuel economy is pretty good too. I went from spending $45 for like 14 gallons and 270 miles range to like $35 for 14 gallons and over 400 miles range.
Steering feels pretty good, considering they're using the same ratio as the 86/BRZ. So its pretty quick, just not the most communicative in the world (tires are probably a major factor there). Interior MUCH nicer than the previous gen Subarus as well.
All in all, I think it's a solid every day car if you're just trying to keep it simple. I miss the STI but I'm just not doing anything car related right now, so it didn't make sense to spend STI money every month on the payment, insurance, and gas to just drive from A to B in traffic every day. I'm happy with it though. It works well for DD use. It allows me to go on the back trails to the mountains when I go shooting (which is pretty often) and there's plenty of space/capability to go up north in the winter to go snowboarding.
Also, aside from wheels and all-terrain tires, I don't care to do anything to the car, which is another reason I bought it. I'm just going to chill and save some money on the side to buy another car to enjoy for track fun... and that's easy to do when you have a car that isn't always tempting you to spend money on it lol
