Sure. HP is important but what about Torque? A lot more important with loads and storming up to the mountains in winter (where an electric motor should work better with the altitude and oxygen starvation).

and with a stick of course. That is why I hate the Subaru dealer in my country as it offers no stick in the SUVs

The layout of Subaru's awd drivetrain puts the engine fully ahead of the front axle, which is bad for weight distribution. Using a flat four mitigates that by keeping the engine only 2 cylinders long instead of 4 if it had an inline.

I live in Portland. I stopped commuting by car and now bike because of how slow people drive here. At least on a bike I keep pace with traffic.

Less overall range, less power, less cargo capacity, with more complexity and more cost.... for a measly 17 mile all-electric range? I was super excited for this when it was rumored. Was gonna sell my current 2016 Crosstrek for this if it had decent all-electric range, even if it was 50 miles. That way, during the…

Subaru’s interiors need serious help. This one looks like they got it out of a 2004 Suzuki.

Kind of redundant to point out that your car has a 4 banger when comparing it to another vehicle with a 4 banger.

I totally take your point. But just a point of fact, electric motors are not affected by altitude.

Being in a permanent state of turbo-lag. I love it.

Technically it can be more powerful and have a lower peak power figure.

sure but thats 35/39 more hp than the regular/hybrid crosstrek still.

Is it odd that I can reliably guess how cheap the interior plastic material is and also feels to the touch, simply based on the color and visible texture of the material in those photos?

Subaru sold more XV Crosstreks last year than the combined lifetime sales of the BRZ/FR-S/86. 

I would own a Crosstrek right now if it wasn’t such a slug. It ticks every single box except “reasonably fun to drive”. I don’t expect rally car performance but I do expect to be able to merge onto a freeway without having to wonder if the semitruck a quarter mile back is going to run me over before I get to 65mph.

As another owner of a CX-5... have you driven the Crosstrek?  It is on another level. Plus I cannot get over how cheap the car felt and combine that with $34k to start!? Of course... I’m sure they’ll sell.

My 2000 accord with a 4 banger does 0-60 in under 9 seconds.

I’ve accepted the slowness of Subaru’s long ago. Sometimes slow is acceptable, like it is with say, the Jeep Wrangler. And slow is also OK if you live in New York, where most of my driving is in congested freeways or stop-n-go traffic. What shocked me about the press release is the starting price: $34K. We’re about to…

Subaru claims the Hybrid only has an estimated 148 hp output, but it goes from zero to 60 mph a full second quicker than the standard car, which Car And Driver previously tested to be around 9.2 seconds.

Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid: Because we know our customers and they’re not you fuckers. /Points to people wanting a BRZ STI