2026 Subaru Crosstrek Is Consumer Reports' Top Subcompact Suv (or Is It A Car, Maybe?)

The 2026 Subaru Crosstrek is, by astir accounts, a perfectly bully commuter vehicle. It's mini capable to consciousness versatile connected nan road, large capable to suffice arsenic practical, rather affordable starting astatine $28,415 (including $1,420 for destination), and its symmetrical Subaru all-wheel thrust and somewhat lifted quality mean it holds its ain connected a way aliases successful nan snow.

As portion of its yearly Top Picks program, Consumer Reports went arsenic acold arsenic naming it arsenic nan champion Subcompact SUV this year, citing a notably comfortable thrust "even during off-pavement excursions" arsenic good arsenic easy ingress and egress connected relationship of that raised suspension. A new, 36-mpg Hybrid version was introduced this year, which surely contributed to its Top Pick-worthiness and wide user appeal.

But having driven nan Crosstrek and uncovering it shares small pinch actual, honest-to-god inferior vehicles, immoderate successful our newsroom raised nan mobility — tin you really telephone it a "subcompact SUV?"

Depending connected wherever you look, Subaru's ain lit calls nan Crosstrek a "compact SUV" aliases "compact crossover SUV," but we should statement that not everything an automaker's trading section says should beryllium taken arsenic gospel. Ferrari, for example, likes to lick nan other optics problem by refusing to telephone nan Purosangue an SUV astatine all.

Some whitethorn telephone it a subcompact crossover, others consciousness compact crossover is much fitting. Those who for illustration much honorable categorizations erstwhile it comes to cars, though, mightiness moreover telephone it a lifted hatch –or conscionable a car, essentially.

Subaru astir apt likes that past group nan least, but mechanically, they wouldn't beryllium wrong. Despite what its achromatic integrative cladding and rugged-adjacent sanction mightiness person you believe, nan Crosstrek is functionally small much than an Impreza RS pinch an other 3.6 inches of crushed clearance. Other than that, they person very akin exterior and interior designs, thrust connected nan aforesaid level pinch nan aforesaid wheelbase, and usage nan aforesaid 2.5-liter flat-4 making nan aforesaid 180 horsepower.

To beryllium adjacent to Subaru, nan Crosstrek is acold from nan only compact hatchback pinch a assistance going astir calling itself an SUV. Its full conception of peers successful nan "subcompact crossover" people fundamentally consists of conscionable that. The Mazda CX-30 is fundamentally a taller Mazda 3, and nan Toyota Corolla Cross is, arsenic its sanction suggests, a crossover-ized Corolla.

Even if you judge nan SUV moniker here, there's still nan mobility of subcompact versus compact. The Impreza, Mazda 3, and Corolla connected which these things are based are beautiful definitively classified arsenic compact cars (the subcompact people beneath it is practically extinct successful America now that nan Nissan Versa is discontinued). So why does nan size classification abruptly move to subcompact erstwhile they're turned into crossovers?

Was it a conscious, calculated prime to compensate for consumers' inflated size expectations erstwhile you telephone thing an SUV? Or did 1 personification erroneously telephone them that 1 day, it caught on, and now we've collectively been surviving a lie? Or person we each conscionable softly agreed that words don't matter and modern car classifications are mostly based connected vibes?

What opportunity you? What do you telephone this type of vehicle?