2024 Subaru Crosstrek Wilderness: A Leggy Crossover That’s Wild at Heart

livemint.com:

OY, PIONEERS! Please tell me you’re not taking the average compact crossover wagon into the boonies. The salesperson might have told you it had all-wheel drive, and it probably does, sort of. But such systems are often surprisingly feeble off road.

In some situations—extracting on any kind of incline, for example—front-biased, on-demand AWD systems can simply refuse to turn any wheel, leaving you stuck. Then you have to eat the dog. The Subaru Crosstrek has no trouble getting traction.

Introduced in 2022, the third design generation of what is effectively a lifted Impreza wagon is now the company’s most popular model in the U.S., and not just with dogs, scoring almost 160,000 sales last year. Among its temptations, the Crosstrek includes the company’s rock-ribbed mechanical AWD system as standard equipment, starting at $25,195. Our test car—the Crosstrek Wilderness edition ($35,560, as tested)—is the new apex herbivore of the lineup, designed to take nature lovers even deeper into the weeds.

Hitched up on a leggier and more limber suspension, the Wilderness has 9.3 inches of ground clearance—higher than the underbelly of a Jeep Compass Trailhawk. That’s special. The Subaru’s front and rear bumpers are also briefer and bluffer than standard, improving its approach and departure angles—that is, the steepness of holes it can drive through.

Under the chin is a non-trivial steel skid plate. Exposed tender bits—the lower door panels, bumpers and wheel arches—are protected with heavy polycarbonate cladding, like a Vibram sole molded on a hiking boot. Speaking of footwear: The Wilderness wears a set of knobby, noisy 17-inch Yokohama Geolander all-terrain tires (225/60 R17s), wrapped around matte-painted alloy wheels.