2022 Subaru Crosstrek

2022 is a carry-over year of the second-generation (GT) Crosstrek — Base and Premium keep the 2.0-liter FB20 at 152 hp, with the 2.5L reserved for Sport/Limited. Squarely at the floor of the SUV horsepower band.

Peak torque of the FB20 fitted to the 2022 volume Premium — unchanged from the surrounding model years of this generation. The 31 lb-ft deficit to the 2.5L is felt whenever the 2.0L car is loaded or climbing.

Instrumented tests of the 2.0L cluster around 9.7 seconds to 60 mph for 2022, beyond the slow end of the SUV band. The 2.5L cars are close to a second and a half quicker.

The naturally aspirated boxer delivers power cleanly and immediately at light throttle with no turbo lag and no hybrid handover to manage, but the 152-hp 2.0L in the volume Premium has to be worked hard for merging and grades, where it turns audibly coarse — a routine part of driving the car, not an occasional one.

The Lineartronic CVT is unobtrusive around town and steps through simulated ratios rather than pinning revs, but paired with the low-output 2.0L it spends more time at high revs and drone under load is the recurring complaint. A genuine 6-speed manual remains available on Base and Premium in 2022, and CVT trims add an 8-speed manual mode with paddle shifters.

Every 2022 gas Crosstrek is rated at 1,500 pounds maximum when fitted with the available hitch — there is no Wilderness trim this model year, so nothing in the range reaches the 3,500-pound rating the 2024 car introduced. Near the floor of the SUV towing band: a small utility trailer or a pair of jet skis, not a camper.

Symmetrical full-time AWD is standard on every 2022 US trim rather than an option or a top-trim upsell — the strongest possible showing on availability. Held out of the top of the band because the volume Premium gets only single-setting X-MODE, dual-function X-MODE with Hill Descent Control is limited to the Sport, manual-transmission cars get no X-MODE at all, and there is no low range or true torque-vectoring rear unit.

8.7 inches of ground clearance standard on every 2022 trim beats most subcompact crossovers outright and, with X-MODE and standard AWD, makes the Crosstrek genuinely useful on forest roads and snow. But 2022 predates the Wilderness by two model years, so there is no dedicated off-road variant, no lockers, no low range and no all-terrain tire option — light-duty trail hardware only.

2022 offers two naturally aspirated gas boxers (2.0L and 2.5L), a 6-speed manual alongside the CVT, and the Crosstrek Hybrid plug-in — an electrified option the third-generation car would go without until 2026. Short of the top band because the PHEV was a low-volume model at a $35,645 price roughly $11,000 above the volume Premium, and there is no turbo option anywhere in the range.

EPA rates the 2022 volume Premium's 2.0L CVT AWD configuration at 30 MPG combined — a strong figure for a subcompact SUV carrying full-time symmetrical AWD as standard, unchanged from the 2021 and 2023 model years either side of it.

EPA city rating of 28 MPG for the 2.0L CVT volume trim, helped by the auto start-stop system fitted to the CVT cars. Near the top of the SUV city band despite standard all-wheel drive, and the strongest city figure in the 2022 range.

The 2.0L volume trim posts 33 MPG highway. As in the surrounding model years, the larger 2.5L is a mile per gallon better on the highway cycle thanks to taller effective gearing, so the 2.0L's efficiency advantage is entirely a city-cycle one.

The 16.6-gallon tank is shared across the 2022 Crosstrek gas range, so at the EPA combined 30 MPG the volume 2.0L Premium covers roughly 498 miles per fill and about 548 on the highway cycle. Solidly above the middle of the SUV range band — capped by the small tank a subcompact carries rather than by the engine's efficiency.

EPA's published annual fuel cost for the 2022 Crosstrek AWD 2.0L CVT is $2,050 at standard assumptions. Low absolute running cost, driven by 30 MPG combined on the cheapest fuel grade.

Every 2022 Crosstrek gas powertrain — the 2.0L FB20 and the naturally aspirated 2.5L FB25 alike — runs on 87-octane regular unleaded, with no premium recommendation, no turbocharger to feed and no special fuel handling. There is no ongoing grade penalty relative to any rival in the class.

NHTSA rated the 2022 Crosstrek SW AWD five stars overall, the top of the band. The overall figure is carried by a clean 5-star side result (driver and passenger); frontal is 4 stars (driver and passenger) and rollover is 4 stars, unchanged from the same second-generation platform's other tested years.

The 2022 Crosstrek carries the same underlying crash results as the rest of this generation — legacy small overlap (driver/passenger), original moderate overlap, roof strength and head restraints all Good, but Poor on BOTH of IIHS's updated tests (moderate overlap update and side update). The difference from the following model year is that IIHS had not yet folded those updated tests into its award criteria: the 2022 Crosstrek, equipped with EyeSight and the Limited's LED steering-responsive headlights, earned an 11th consecutive Top Safety Pick (not TSP+; the Crosstrek Hybrid alone reached TSP+). That is a real, official award this year that 2023 lost, but it rests on two already-published Poor results on the tests IIHS itself would require the very next year, and it requires the Limited's headlights/EyeSight combination the volume Premium trim doesn't carry standard.

The volume Premium with the CVT gets EyeSight standard — pre-collision braking and throttle management, lane keep assist, lane departure and sway warning, and Advanced Adaptive Cruise Control with Lane Centering — a stronger standard core than most subcompact SUVs this year. The gap that holds it out of the top band: Blind-Spot Detection with Lane Change Assist and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert is a paid option on Premium and Sport and standard only on Limited/Hybrid, and Base without the CVT upgrade ships with no EyeSight at all.

EyeSight's stereo-camera AEB posts the top result in vehicle-to-vehicle testing and Superior in daytime pedestrian detection, with Advanced — one notch down, not a failure — at night, unchanged from the rest of this generation. That combination sits in the top band, though it remains optional-equipment on manual-transmission cars rather than fleet-wide standard.

Blind-Spot Detection with Lane Change Assist and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert exists and works, but it is alert-only — no active steering or braking intervention, no safe-exit warning — and on the volume Premium it is an extra-cost item rather than standard equipment. Reverse Automatic Braking, the one piece of active rear intervention in the range, is confined to Limited and Hybrid.

Lane Keep Assist, Lane Departure and Sway Warning, and lane centering (bundled into the Advanced ACC) are all standard with the CVT, so the volume trim wants for nothing on paper. The execution is the second-generation stereo-camera EyeSight rather than the wide-angle system the 2024 redesign brought: centering holds a lane competently on well-marked highway but wanders on faded markings and through sweeping curves. Solidly functional, not confidence-inspiring.

Advanced Adaptive Cruise Control is full-speed-range with stop-and-go and comes standard on every CVT trim, paired with lane centering — a genuinely useful commuting package at this price. It falls short of the top band on refinement rather than capability: EyeSight leaves a conservative following gap and closes on slower traffic later than the best radar systems, with no integrated highway-assist mode above plain ACC-plus-centering.

No hands-free highway system is offered on any 2022 Crosstrek trim. EyeSight is a hands-on assist with a driver-attention requirement; Subaru had no BlueCruise/Super Cruise equivalent in the US lineup this model year.

IIHS rates the headlights POOR on the Base, Premium and Sport — three of the five trims, and the volume trim among them — with Good reserved for the Limited/Hybrid's steering-responsive LED units. The buyer taking the mainstream Premium gets halogen reflector headlights with no adaptive features. The 2024 redesign fixed exactly this, making Good-rated headlights standard.

One of the Crosstrek's genuine strengths and a deliberate design choice: slim roof pillars, a low beltline, deep side glass and a tall upright seating position give sightlines noticeably better than the subcompact-SUV norm, which partly offsets the blind-spot monitor not being standard. Held below the top of the band because no surround-view camera is available on any 2022 trim — the compensation is all natural glass, with only a standard rear camera behind it.

IIHS gives the LATCH hardware its second-best result — Good with extra positions — unchanged across this generation. Two sets of lower anchors under removable fabric covers are easy to find, plus three clearly marked and accessible top tethers; wide rear doors and generous rear legroom for the class make installation straightforward. The ceiling is the car's width, not its hardware: three car seats will not fit across the rear bench.

The 2022 Crosstrek is a strictly five-passenger, two-row subcompact SUV in every trim including the Hybrid, which places it near the floor of the 4–8 seat SUV band.

Subaru publishes 39.8 in of front headroom for the 2022 Premium and every gas trim without the moonroof — mid-band for an SUV and generous for a vehicle only 63.6 in tall. The optional glass roof costs a substantial 2.2 in.

43.1 in of front legroom on the 104.9-in wheelbase sits about two-thirds up the SUV band — the front cabin is the roomiest part of this vehicle.

38.0 in of second-row headroom lands exactly mid-band for an SUV, helped by the upright roofline that survives to the tailgate. The moonroof costs only 0.2 in in the back, against 2.2 in up front.

36.5 in of second-row legroom sits a little above the middle of the 30–42 in SUV band, enough that U.S. News's 2022 interior review credits 'spacious seating' — but short of what a size-up compact SUV provides.

The 2022 Crosstrek is a two-row, five-seat subcompact SUV — no third row is offered in any trim or option package, so this scores in the bottom band by definition rather than because of any shortcoming in the seating that is fitted.

20.8 cu ft behind the second row falls below the 25 cu ft floor of the SUV cargo band — the Crosstrek is graded against SUVs of every size and its subcompact hatch area is the single largest space penalty in this category.

55.3 cu ft with the 60/40 bench folded lands barely above the 55 cu ft floor of the SUV band. The seatbacks fold flat over a square load floor, but the absolute volume is subcompact.

Everyday provisions are complete but plainly of their era: dual console cup holders, a bottle holder in each door, an illuminated and lockable glove box (Premium and up), an armrest console bin, a rubber cargo tray with four tie-downs and two grocery hooks, plus a retractable cargo cover standard from Premium up. What is missing is the whole modern layer — the volume Premium has no folding rear-seat armrest with cup holders (that's a Limited/Hybrid item), no wireless charging pad at any price, no underfloor cargo bin and no household outlet.

Reviewers rate the seats comfortable for the class and credit the overall cabin as 'highly functional,' but the front seats have no lumbar support, and the volume Premium's driver's seat is a 6-way manual with the 6-way power unit an extra-cost option — adjustability is thin. Rear passengers get no centre armrest this model year.

Ride is the clearest comfort strength of the second-generation car: the long-travel raised suspension soaks up small bumps and avoids sudden jarring impacts over potholes despite the vehicle's small size, and it is 'very comfortable' by reviewer consensus. Held below the top band because the same soft springs and 8.7 in of ground clearance produce noticeable body roll in quick transitions.

Road and wind noise are reasonably well suppressed at a steady cruise, but the volume Premium's 152-hp 2.0L is the problem: it has to be worked hard for any merge or grade and the CVT holds it at high revs. Reviewers note the optional 2.5-liter Sport/Limited is quieter and has a 'great speaker system,' because the bigger engine is not straining — the Premium buyer does not get that engine.

The volume Premium does reasonably well on the one feature that matters most in a Subaru — heated front seats, heated mirrors and a wiper de-icer are standard via the All-Weather Package rather than a costly option — and automatic climate control with voice-activated controls is standard on every trim, though the climate dials are easy to use. But the system is single-zone, there is no heated steering wheel outside a Hybrid option package, no ventilated seats and no rear climate control anywhere, and remote engine start with climate is a Limited exclusive.

The 2022 Crosstrek opened at the very bottom of the subcompact-SUV normalization band even with the industry-wide chip-shortage price creep of the year — one of the cheapest new vehicles sold in the US with standard Symmetrical AWD.

Premium with the CVT is the volume Crosstrek configuration — the CVT is what unlocks EyeSight, which is why most Premiums leave the lot with it. It still runs the base 152-hp 2.0-liter; the larger 2.5-liter is reserved for Sport and Limited this generation.

Boxer-plus-AWD servicing runs modestly above the Toyota/Honda class benchmark but well below luxury rivals, and nothing about the 2022 model year changes the maintenance schedule from any other year of this generation. Published projections for this nameplate disagree by more than 3x, so this is a blend weighted toward the clustered low estimates rather than either endpoint.

The Crosstrek is the strongest retainer in the subcompact-SUV class, and the 2022 car carries this generation's typical curve — standard AWD, tight 2022 supply conditions and durable outdoor-brand demand all held resale up. KBB gave the 2022 Crosstrek its Best Resale Value Award in the subcompact SUV class the same year.

Industry-baseline coverage at the floor of the normalization band, unchanged across this generation — two years behind the 5 yr / 60,000 mi basic term Hyundai and Kia offer on the Kona and Seltos.

Baseline powertrain term at the bottom of the band — half the 10 yr / 100,000 mi original-owner coverage Hyundai, Kia and Mitsubishi extend, which matters more on a CVT-and-AWD driveline.

Subaru of America included no complimentary scheduled maintenance for 2022, so the owner pays from the first service — a standing gap against Toyota's ToyotaCare and Hyundai's included-maintenance plans. What is included is roadside assistance tied to the warranty term plus STARLINK connected-service trial subscriptions, which is basic-roadside territory rather than a real perks package.

$26,070 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (67% retained, or about $17,467) leaves about $8,603 in depreciation. Add the projected $4,700 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $13,303 in total.

2022 is the fifth model year of the second-generation (GT) Crosstrek, a pure carryover with no mechanical or trim changes, so predictors were rating fully mature hardware and Consumer Reports gives it the strongest possible marks. The forecast is only partly borne out by the field data that has since arrived: J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, which surveyed three-year-old 2022-model-year vehicles, named the Nissan Kicks (not the Crosstrek) the most dependable small SUV, and Subaru's brand-wide PP100 in that same study came in slightly worse than the industry average — a weaker corroboration than the segment win the 2023 model year went on to claim a year later.

The studies contemporary with this exact model year are noticeably softer for the brand than the cycle that followed. Consumer Reports' 2022 Annual Auto Reliability Survey had Subaru at 7th place, down one spot from 2021; J.D. Power's 2022 Initial Quality Study — the worst industry-wide IQS result in decades — put Subaru at 191 PP100 against a 180 PP100 average, a step down from the brand's 182 PP100 the year before; and the 2025 Vehicle Dependability Study covering this same 2022 model year placed Subaru at 212 PP100 versus a 202 PP100 average. All three land the brand in mid-pack-or-worse territory for this specific ownership window, well short of the top-5 dependability finishes Subaru began collecting starting with the following model year.

NHTSA lists zero recall campaigns against the gas 2022 Crosstrek; the only recall touching this model year — a 12V charging-harness corrosion campaign — is scoped to the Crosstrek Hybrid (2019-2022) and does not apply to the gas volume trim scored here. Owner complaints are unremarkable in volume, and the generation's familiar TSB patterns (CVT shudder, FB-family valve-cover/spark-plug-tube oil seepage) carry over unchanged from surrounding model years, keeping this just short of a perfect record.

The volume Premium carries the 2.0-liter FB20 boxer four with the Lineartronic CVT, unchanged for 2022 — by this point a five-year-old pairing in this body and a decade-plus-old engine family with a deep high-mileage record and no new red flags. It doesn't reach the top band because of well-documented family traits rather than anything specific to this model year: direct-injected FB engines' known oil-consumption pattern, cam-carrier/valve-cover seepage, and CVT shudder as the most-cited Subaru driveline complaint.

Unchanged 2018-vintage cabin built for outdoor durability over richness: cloth upholstery, a small central touchscreen, padding at hand/elbow contact points and hard textured plastic elsewhere. Reviewers describe the volume trims as functional and practical rather than plush, with soft-touch surfaces concentrated at the Limited level — a step behind the segment's more upscale entries like the Mazda CX-30 on perceived quality for the money.

Every US 2022 Crosstrek was built at Subaru's Gunma, Japan plant, a well-worn line by the fifth year of this generation, and reviewers report generally consistent panel gaps without a pattern of rattles or misalignment. Held below the 2023 model's mark because the industry-wide initial-quality slump landed squarely on this ownership window — J.D. Power's contemporary study put Subaru below the industry average rather than above it, unlike the following model year.

The J.D. Power Customer Service Index study that actually samples this ownership window — surveying 2020-2022 model-year owners — ranks Subaru highest of all mass-market brands for dealer service satisfaction. What keeps it off the top of the band is network reach: roughly 600-630 US retailers is about half Toyota's footprint and a fraction of Chevrolet's, concentrated in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest and Colorado, leaving longer drives to a dealer for Sun Belt and Plains owners.

Running costs measure below both the compact-SUV and all-vehicle averages, unscheduled shop visits are roughly a third of the segment norm, and the Crosstrek's outdoor-accessory aftermarket is among the largest in its class. Held short of the top band because boxer-specific labor — spark plugs, cam carrier and valve cover reseals — costs more shop time than a transverse inline-four, and CVT service stays largely dealer-oriented.

The volume Premium carries the 6.5-inch Multimedia Plus head unit, which is below the 7-inch floor of the SUV touchscreen band — the largest screen in the 2022 range is 8.0 inches and it is not offered on the Premium at all.

Layout logic is the system's redeeming feature — expert coverage of the 2022 model calls the infotainment 'among the easiest to use in this segment,' and Subaru keeps physical volume/tuning knobs plus hard climate buttons rather than burying them in the touchscreen. Against that, the 6.5-inch panel on the volume trim is small and its graphics were visibly dated by 2022, CarPlay renders on a screen barely bigger than a phone, and the head unit is the outgoing generation's rather than the cloud-connected 8.0-inch unit.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on every 2022 trim including the $23,145 Base, which is genuinely good coverage — but every one of them is a wired USB connection. No wireless projection is offered on any 2022 Crosstrek at any price. That places the car squarely in the middle 'wired standard' band with no upper-trim escape.

The volume Premium has no embedded navigation available at any price — the TomTom-based 8.0-inch Navigation system is an option confined to the Limited and Hybrid — and the Premium's 6.5-inch unit is not credited with the voice-activated multimedia controls the 8.0-inch systems get. Owners rely entirely on CarPlay/Android Auto maps over a wired connection; the only native voice function on the Premium is the climate system's.

Six speakers on the volume Premium is adequate rather than good — a step up from the Base's four, but a long way from a branded system. The Harman Kardon 8-speaker, 432-watt-equivalent upgrade exists and is well regarded (reviewers single out the optional 2.5-liter trims' 'great speaker system'), yet it is locked inside Limited/Hybrid option packages, so no Premium buyer can reach it.

There is no full-digital cluster anywhere in the 2022 lineup, and the volume Premium sits at the bottom of what is offered: analog speedometer, tachometer and eco gauges with a 2.4-inch monochrome LCD, with the 4.2-inch colour LCD only an option. The 6.3-inch colour multifunction display is a separate dash-top screen, not a gauge cluster, and it is a Limited/Hybrid item.

There is no whole-vehicle over-the-air update capability on the 2022 Crosstrek, and the volume Premium's 6.5-inch head unit is the outgoing hardware — map and firmware refreshes are dealer or USB affairs rather than pushed updates. The car is connected (4G LTE Wi-Fi capability is standard from Premium up and MySubaru Connected Services runs over it), but that connection is used for telematics and a hotspot, not for adding features.

MySubaru Connected Services is standard from the volume Premium up and covers the core set — remote lock/unlock, vehicle locator, automatic collision notification, SOS, enhanced roadside assistance, monthly health reports and concierge. Two things hold it mid-band: remote engine start with climate control is a Limited-only feature, so the Premium buyer cannot pre-warm the car from the app, and the safety/security tiers revert to paid subscriptions after 3-year and 6-month trials. There is no digital key.

The volume Premium gets dual front USB-A input ports and nothing else: the dual rear USB charging ports are a Sport-and-up item, there is no USB-C anywhere in the 2022 car, no factory wireless charging pad on any trim, and no household outlet. Rear passengers on the trim most people buy have no way to charge a phone.

The volume Premium does not get proximity entry as standard — Keyless Access with Push-Button Start and PIN-Code Access is an extra-cost item bundled into the larger CVT/EyeSight packages, and is standard only from Sport up. Remote engine start is a Limited exclusive, there is no hands-free or power liftgate on any trim, and no phone-as-key. A plain keyless-entry fob with a twist key is what a base Premium leaves the lot with.

A rear-vision camera standard on every trim is the entire parking-aid story. No surround-view or front-view monitor is offered on any 2022 Crosstrek, no front or rear parking sensors appear in the equipment tables, there is no automated parking, and Reverse Automatic Braking is confined to the Limited and Hybrid.

No head-up display is offered on the 2022 Crosstrek in any trim, option package or dealer accessory. The only supplementary information display is the 2.4-inch (or optional 4.2-inch) LCD in the gauge cluster.

Car-seat logistics are a genuine strength for a car this small: this generation's LATCH hardware is well regarded (lower anchors under removable fabric covers plus an extra single anchor for the middle position, three clearly marked top tethers), the low step-in height and upright door openings help daily loading, and U.S. News's 2022 interior review credits 'spacious seating.' It falls short of the top band on width and volume — three car seats will not fit across the 55.6-in rear bench, there is no rear centre armrest on the volume Premium, and 20.8 cu ft behind the seats fills fast with a stroller.

The headline credentials are good — 5-star NHTSA overall, Good ratings in every legacy IIHS crashworthiness test, and an 11th consecutive year as an IIHS Top Safety Pick — but the trims families actually buy carry two real gaps. IIHS rates the 2022 car Poor in both of the tests it updated to current standards (moderate overlap and side), and rates the headlights Poor on Base, Premium and Sport with Good reserved for the Limited, which keeps the car from the higher Top Safety Pick+ tier. EyeSight itself is standard only with the CVT (an option package on the volume Premium), and blind-spot detection costs extra there.

Four people travel acceptably on the strength of the absorbent ride and a rear bench reviewers call spacious, with roughly 498 miles of range between fills. But rear amenities on the volume Premium are close to absent: no rear USB ports, no rear air vents or rear climate control, and no folding centre armrest with cup holders. Luggage space with all four seats occupied is 20.8 cu ft, which is a weekend for four rather than a week.

Commuting is what this car is built around. The CVT is smooth and unobtrusive in stop-and-go, outward visibility is unusually good, the step-in height makes entry and exit easy, the climate controls are large and easy to read, and EyeSight's full-speed-range adaptive cruise with lane centring is standard on every CVT car. The fatigue penalty is the noise the 152-hp 2.0L makes whenever traffic demands a real acceleration.

Very cheap to run for an all-wheel-drive vehicle: EPA-confirmed 28 city / 33 highway / 30 combined on the volume Premium's 2.0L CVT — the best combined figure in the 2022 Crosstrek gas range, matching the 2.5L on highway but beating it in the city and beating the manual outright — on 87-octane regular. Consumables are ordinary compact-car parts. Short of the top band only because no electrified option is realistically reachable on the volume trim: the Hybrid was a $36,345 low-volume model.

A 176.5-in-long, 71.0-in-wide body turning inside 35.4 ft curb-to-curb, with slim pillars, deep side glass and an elevated seating position, makes this one of the easiest vehicles in the catalog to thread through a city and slot into a space. The one thing it lacks is electronic help — there are no parking sensors or surround-view camera on any trim, only the standard rear-vision camera, so tight reversing is done on sightlines.

Not meaningfully a work vehicle. Every gas 2022 Crosstrek is rated at 1,500 lbs maximum towing (1,000 lbs for the Hybrid), the volume Premium has 152 hp to move a load and 20.8 cu ft of enclosed cargo, and 2022 predates the higher-capacity Wilderness trim entirely (a 2024-model-year introduction). That is bike-trailer and small-utility-trailer territory — one lawn trailer, not a jobsite.

The mechanical package is about as proven as anything in the class — 2022 runs the same decade-old FB-series boxer, Lineartronic CVT and Symmetrical AWD carried across this generation, and the standard wheel-arch and rocker cladding shrugs off the gravel that work routes throw at it. NHTSA does carry at least one campaign touching Crosstreks from this era (an inhibitor-switch weld recall affecting nearby model years), a modest count for the class rather than a clean sheet. What keeps it mid-band is that none of the package is work-hardened: there is no vinyl-floor or fleet trim, cloth upholstery on the volume Premium, a unibody with no frame, and no fleet track record to point at.

The provisions are outdoor-recreation ones pressed into service rather than work-grade equipment: four cargo tie-down hooks, two grocery hooks, a standard rubber cargo tray, raised roof rails standard on every gas trim, and a deep Thule-based accessory catalogue including aero crossbars, a hitch bike platform and a 13-cu-ft roof box. There is no onboard AC power, no bed, no washable floor option and no upfitter ecosystem.

The mile-eating case rests on the ride, which is 'very comfortable' and shrugs off small bumps, on roughly 498 miles of combined range from the 16.6-gallon tank, and on EyeSight's full-speed adaptive cruise with lane centring standard on every CVT car. The ceiling is set by noise and reserve: the 152-hp 2.0L drones through highway merges and grades on the Premium, and the Premium's Poor-rated halogen headlights are a real liability on a night drive.

The Crosstrek's best use case and one of the strongest showings in the subcompact class: Symmetrical full-time AWD is standard on every trim, ground clearance is 8.7 inches on all of them — more than most compact SUVs a size up — and X-MODE with Hill Descent Control comes standard from Sport up (optional with the CVT on Base/Premium), plus roof rails and cladding as standard and a large factory outdoor-accessory catalogue. Held below the top band because 2022 has no Wilderness variant, no low range or locking differential, no all-terrain tire option, only 1,500 lbs of towing for toys, and manual-transmission cars get no X-MODE at all.

Flexibility beats raw volume here. The 60/40 seatbacks fold flat to 55.3 cu ft over a square load floor with four tie-downs, a standard rubber tray and a retractable cover from Premium up. Roof rails are standard on every gas trim and take an aero crossbar set, a 13-cu-ft locking roof box or bike carriers, and a hitch is a factory accessory. The ceiling is the 20.8 cu ft available with the seats up and the absence of any underfloor bin.

The Impreza underpinnings show through in a good way — a quick-ratio EPAS rack, standard Active Torque Vectoring and a low boxer engine give the car a nimble, secure feel. What keeps it out of the upper band is the price of the 8.7-inch ride height: the soft long-travel springs that make it comfortable also let it lean noticeably in quick transitions.

Subaru fits a quick-ratio electric rack that makes the car feel more alert than its mission suggests — a real advantage over the numb, over-light racks common in subcompact crossovers. It is still electric assist with modest feedback: accurate and predictable rather than communicative.

Braking is a quiet strength of this generation. Ventilated 11.6-inch front and solid 10.8-inch rear discs on a 3,223-lb curb weight (Premium CVT) give plenty of hardware for the mass, with 4-channel ABS, EBD, Brake Assist and a Brake Override System standard, and no regen blending to complicate pedal feel on the gas cars. Held short of the top band because no instrumented 60–0 figure specific to the 2022 car was retrieved and reviewers treat the brakes as unremarkable rather than a highlight.

The naturally aspirated boxer is smooth and immediate at light throttle — no turbo lag, no hybrid handover, no dual-clutch hesitation — and the Lineartronic CVT with Adaptive Control is genuinely unobtrusive in traffic. The calibration falls apart under load: with 152 hp the Premium has to go to wide-open throttle for a merge or a grade, where the powertrain feels strained. That is a routine part of driving this trim rather than an edge case.

The recurring criticism of this generation and the clearest weakness of the volume trim: the 2.0L is noisy when asked for anything, and the CVT holds it at the revs where it is loudest, producing a drone on every highway merge. The optional 2.5-liter Sport/Limited is quieter for the simple reason that the bigger engine is not straining — reviewer coverage of the 2022 model specifically credits the 2.5-liter cars with 'a pretty quiet ride,' a distinction the 2.0-liter Premium does not share. Vibration through the controls is not an issue — the boxer is inherently well balanced — but the noise character is.

35.4 ft curb-to-curb sits near the tight end of the 34–42 ft SUV band and is a real everyday asset — U-turns and parking-garage ramps take one movement rather than three.

An elevated hip point, slim pillars, a low beltline and deep glass give the driver an unusually clear view out for the class, the step-in height makes getting in and out easy, and the controls are conventional and easy to read — large climate dials, a tilt/telescoping column standard on every trim. The limit is adjustability: the volume Premium's driver's seat is a 6-way manual with the power seat an extra-cost option, and there is no lumbar adjustment or memory (a point reviewers call out directly).

There is real character here — the chassis is nimble, the steering quick, and 2022 is still a model year in which a proper 6-speed manual could be ordered on the volume Premium, with paddle shifters on the CVT cars. But with 152 hp and an engine that sounds strained under hard use, the enjoyment is in where it will take you rather than how quickly, so it stays in the 'pleasant but not sought out by enthusiasts' band.

Every 2022 Crosstrek includes Symmetrical AWD, X-MODE and 8.7 inches of ground clearance standard — hardware many rivals either charge extra for or cannot offer at all — and Premium adds heated front seats, fog lights and a leather-wrapped wheel over Base. Against that, EyeSight is withheld from the manual-transmission cars, the 6.5-inch STARLINK screen is small by 2022 standards, and blind-spot detection doesn't arrive until Limited, so the volume Premium reads as capable rather than generously equipped.

The money buys capability and durability rather than content: standard AWD and genuine ground clearance from $22,445, low projected 5-year ownership cost, and best-in-class resale retention — recognized the same model year with a KBB Best Resale Value Award. It's held back from the top band by the 152-hp 2.0-liter in the volume Premium, which reviewers consistently call underpowered, and by an interior that reads plain next to a Mazda CX-30 or Kia Seltos.

Five variants spanning $22,445 to $35,645 MSRP, two gas engines (2.0-liter on Base/Premium, 2.5-liter on Sport/Limited) plus a plug-in hybrid at the top, and a six-speed manual still offered on Base and Premium — a wide spread for a subcompact SUV. It's narrower than the following year, which added the Special Edition to bridge the Premium-to-Sport gap, and the manual's exclusion from EyeSight forces an awkward safety-versus-transmission trade-off.

Calendar 2022 was, at the time, the best sales year the Crosstrek nameplate had ever had — 155,142 US units — and it overtook the Outback during the year to become Subaru's best-selling model overall, finishing about 8,000 units ahead. That is top-of-class volume for a subcompact SUV, achieved despite the industrywide chip-shortage inventory crunch.

Subaru carries one of the strongest owner-loyalty and brand-affinity records among mainstream makes, built on standard AWD, an outdoor identity and a long safety reputation that visibly feeds resale rather than just marketing. It is not an aspirational premium badge, which caps it below the luxury marques scored in this category.

2022 was the worst year of the decade for buyer-side deals across the industry — the computer-chip shortage left inventory scarce, and roughly 82% of new-vehicle buyers nationally paid at or above sticker price, with dealer market adjustments common on in-demand models. Subaru already runs among the lowest incentive spends of any automaker and has never offered zero-percent financing on this nameplate, so a popular, supply-constrained Crosstrek had essentially no negotiating room in 2022.

2022 is the fifth model year of the second-generation (GT) Crosstrek that launched for 2018, a carryover year with no substantive changes — pricing rose only modestly, reflecting inflation and chip-shortage cost pressure rather than any update. Unlike the following year, the third-generation replacement had not yet been revealed during 2022, so a buyer wasn't shopping a car with a publicly known imminent redesign, even though the platform itself was mid-to-late in its cycle.

Well-reviewed and, unlike the following model year, actually decorated: Consumer Reports ranked it #1 of 15 subcompact SUVs with an overall score of 86 (5/5 predicted reliability, 4/5 predicted owner satisfaction), IIHS gave the 2022-23 Crosstrek a Top Safety Pick award, and KBB named it a Best Resale Value winner. It still rarely tops a head-to-head comparison test on dynamics or refinement against pricier rivals, capping it short of the very top band.