Subaru Crosstrek 2023 review: Hybrid S

When you’re wearing a hybrid badge and you’re up against veterans in the field like Toyota with the Corolla Cross, you want to make sure you’re offering up something substantial.

At $45,090, before on-road costs, the Hybrid S tops the range and comes with a features list that screams it from the rooftops. Or the mountaintops. Or at least as far as the gravel tracks will take you towards the mountaintop.

From the outside, 18-inch wheels are the first indicator for the ‘S’ grade - note that hybrids don’t come with spare wheels, just repair kits - as well as body coloured door handles and black plastic trim and cladding, aside from the gloss mirror caps.

The range-topping Crosstrek Hybrid S wears a price tag of $45,090, before on-road costs. (Image: Chris Thompson)

The door mirrors are heated and fold away when parked, while up top there’s a sunroof flanked by roof rails, with a styled spoiler at the rear.

Interestingly, there’s no power tailgate.

LED DRLs and headlights are automatic and are aided by steering responsive active cornering lamps, while the wipers are auto rain-sensing.

Upfront of the Hybrid S is a 11.6-inch portrait multimedia touchscreen. (Image: Chris Thompson)

Inside, dual-zone climate control and heated front seats (the driver’s is eight-way power adjustable) for the cold - all seats are leather accented - while the steering wheel and shifter are also leather-wrapped.

Tech is covered off by the usual 11.6-inch portrait touchscreen centrepiece, with sat-nav, AM/FM and digital radio, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, USB-A and USB-C plugs (in the rear, too), a wireless phone charger, and a 10-speaker Harman Kardon sound system over the usual six-speaker set-up. There’s even an auxiliary audio input.

The driver display is a small 4.2-inch unit flanked by physical dials.

Practicality is pretty much a staple of Subaru as a brand, so it should be a huge surprise that it feels that way from the driver’s seat.

The interior doesn’t look futuristic, but it does look functional. 

For example, even though the centre of the dash is all screen - and we love buttons for climate controls around here - the controls for air conditioning and temperature are at least always present on the screen, no sub-menus needed.

The phone charger is large enough for even very tall phones (looking at you, Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, pictured), and it’s out of the way to minimise extra digital distraction.

The steering wheel’s buttons, while many, are all clear and simple, as is the iPad-like icon layout on the multimedia screen.

Storage in the front is miles ahead of the rear seats, a large central bin with two cupholders, a big glove box, and decent space for water bottles in the door cards. In the rear, two central cupholders in the armrest and a small space in the door.

But there is a decent amount of space for an adult to sit in the rear, even if the sides of the roof are a little close to the head. It’s a little like the front, where the seats are supportive and easy to adjust to a comfortable position.

Further back, the boot space is a relatively small 315 litres, though its slightly larger than the 291L the petrol versions come with - that extra space likely swallowed by a spare tyre in the petrol versions, as opposed to the smaller batteries taking up some space in the hybrids.

This is perhaps the part of the review you’re most interested in - as well as the following sections on efficiency and maybe driving - if the ‘Hybrid’ part of the Crosstrek Hybrid S’ name brought you here.

Like its design and interior, the engine will be familiar to anyone who has owned or driven a relatively recent Subaru - a 2.0-litre flat-four petrol engine good for 110kW/196Nm - which means it makes a little less than the standard petrol variant’s 115kW.

Drive is transferred to all four wheels via a seven-step CVT. (Image: Chris Thompson)

However, the electric motor is capable of its own 12kW/66Nm outputs, though Subaru doesn’t supply a claimed total maximum for the whole powertrain.

Drive is transferred to all four wheels - it is a Subaru after all - via a seven-step continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Subaru claims the Crosstrek Hybrid will sip 6.5L/100km on the combined cycle, which isn’t enough to blow anyone away, even when you take into account the extra fuel needed for permanent all-wheel drive. The AWD Corolla Cross Hybrid comes with a claimed 4.4L/100km.

Compare this to the 8.5L/100km reading the Crosstrek returned after our time with the car, mostly with a (somewhat unkind) mix of inner-city and semi-rural backroad driving, and it’s clear the Crosstrek isn’t one of the most frugal cars in its class.

Subaru claims the Crosstrek Hybrid will sip 6.5L/100km on the combined cycle. (Image: Chris Thompson)

More highway driving would certainly have lowered the figure - we’ve achieved 8.0-litres on previous testing with a non-hybrid Crosstrek - but perhaps being top of the charts for efficiency isn’t necessarily what Subaru buyers are looking for.

Of course, the Crosstrek Hybrid S employs a couple of features to avoid using fuel where it can be avoided, such as auto stop-start and its (relatively mild) electric system taking over when mostly coasting or the engine isn’t required.

As the range-topper, the Subaru Hybrid S comes with the lot in terms of safety. 

And even though it hasn’t been tested by ANCAP yet, it’d be a shock if its score was anything less than the maximum five stars.

It’s what the XV scored in 2017, and the brand hasn’t missed out on full marks since the Impreza and Foresters of the early 2000s.

The Crosstrek Hybrid S is yet to be tested by ANCAP. (Image: Chris Thompson)

Nine airbags include dual front, dual front side, dual curtain, driver's knee, far side, and front passenger seat cushion airbags, plus Subaru’s 'EyeSight' safety suite does the work in crash prevention.

On top of the standard safety features you’d expect from any new car like electronic stability control and ABS, there’s a ‘Pedestrian alert system’, emergency lane keep assist with departure warning and prevention, a ‘Driver Monitoring System’ that includes drowsiness and distraction warnings, sensors and monitors for blind spots and rear cross-traffic, and of course parking sensors.

The Hybrid S features sensors and monitors for blind spots. (Image: Chris Thompson)

Some less common features of EyeSight include ‘Lead Vehicle Start Alert’, ‘Pre-Collision Braking System’, ‘Pre-Collision Throttle Management’, ‘Intelligent Speed Limiter’ as well as ‘Speed Sign Recognition’ and ‘Brake Light Recognition’.

Specific to the S, is a surround-view parking camera, high beam assist, plus front- and side-view monitors to help avoid kerbing wheels or bumping towbars.

It’s all fairly well implemented in the Crosstrek, though some of its chimes can be a bit much - the driver distraction alert can mistake a quick climate control change at the lights for a proper lapse of focus, while an alert for approaching speed and red light cameras comes without any indication of what the noise is for.