Subie Talk

one piece crank

one piece crank

Well-Known Member
Looking for real world Crosstrek experience. The Crosstrek is available with a 6spd manual, but only with the 2.0L Boxer. You have to get the CVT toget the 2.5L Boxer. So, my question is the 2.0L too little for that vehicle? The plan would be daily driver, post college car, with wheel swap to 15x7 high aspect tires.
  • 2.0L: 152 hp @ 6,000 rpm / Torque: 145 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm
  • 2.5L: 182 hp @ 5,800 rpm / Torque: 176 lb-ft @ 4,400 rpm
The other thing that bites, the LED headlights are only available with the 2.5L/CVT.
 
We have a 2016 2.0 CVT and a 2021 2.5L Sport CVT. We bought the 2016 for my daughter after the 2021 and honestly I expected the 2.0 to be much slower, but not really that much difference in the real world. Neither is going to win any races, but they are not as sluggish as some reports on the internet seem to make them out to be. I've been driving the 2016 for past few months daily back and forth to work, and it does fine for that.

The Sport package is nice with the 2.5L, StarTex interior and black wheels, but if you are changing the wheels anyway, maybe not worth it?

Looking at possibly doing a 1" lift and 15X7s on the 2021, the look is pretty nice and the lift kit is less than $200.
 
delt with the 2.5 for many years in both of my wifes outbacks 2001 and 2009....both had head gasket issues. I guess the power was ok in that car, barely.....but the gas mileage was terrible. im sure the cross trek is better with the CVT
 
Thanks for the posts. One son has a 2021 Crosstrek 2.5L and loves it. I was concerned about leaving HP on the table just to get the 6spd. Fuel MPG is of no concern.
 
I have a 2019 CrossTrek Premium. For me, it is great - I'm at 73k miles already. Coming from a HOnda Fit before, I don't worry about accelerating to merge on the highways. Overall, I'm very happy.
 
We have 89k miles now on our 2.0 L 2014 CVT cross trek. Was my sons car when he turned driving age, then my daughter’s when she did. She now has it in college in Ohio. It’s been through two accidents and is still going strong. My only complaints have been the slow acceleration and the annoying CVT. If they had been open to learning stick back then I would have gone with the 6MT
 
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UtahJoe said:
delt with the 2.5 for many years in both of my wifes outbacks2001 and 2009....both had head gasket issues. I guess the power was ok in that car, barely.....but the gas mileage was terrible. im sure the cross trek is better with the CVT
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They've worked out the head gasket issues since then, any of the newer 2.5s are fine.

I've had 2 newer Outbacks with the 2.5 and while fast is not an adjective I'd use, it's enough to get you from A to B. I'd imagine the 2.5 in a Crosstrek would be a bit better.

I just got an Ascent a few weeks ago and it's got some nice acceleration. I've yet to get into it too hard since it's still the break-in period, but it's noticeably better than the OB 2.5. If they put that 2.4t in the Crosstrek it would be a fun car to drive!
 
one piece crank said:
Yes, I think this lift, 15x7's and 6spd could be a perfect combo.

How are the halogen headlights?
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Honestly I can't tell the difference, but maybe the 2016 has them also because it has the adaptive steering headlights? I don't drive the new one much at all.
 
No issues with our 2014 Forrester with about 85 to 90k. It has enough speed and pickup for me to merge into traffic. We also have a 2016 Legacy (under <10k) and that has more than enough power to get me from point a to b and back. Before we purchased the 2014 Forrester we had a 1998 Legacy with 200k+ miles.
 
rlb said:
They've worked out the head gasket issues since then, any of the newer 2.5s are fine.

I've had 2 newer Outbacks with the 2.5 and while fast is not an adjective I'd use, it's enough to get you from A to B. I'd imagine the 2.5 in a Crosstrek would be a bit better.

I just got an Ascent a few weeks ago and it's got some nice acceleration. I've yet to get into it too hard since it's still the break-in period, but it's noticeably better than the OB 2.5. If they put that 2.4t in the Crosstrek it would be a fun car to drive!
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I love that turbo in my Ascent.
 
UtahJoe said:
delt with the 2.5 for many years in both of my wifes outbacks 2001 and 2009....both had head gasket issues. I guess the power was ok in that car, barely.....but the gas mileage was terrible. im sure the cross trek is better with the CVT
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My 2002 needs a gasket job. Not worth the 2k. I might try to pull the engine and throw in some new ones and hope it works. But then I'll lose my storage space which is probably more important to me than having another car.
 
UtahJoe said:
delt with the 2.5 for many years in both of my wifes outbacks 2001 and 2009....both had head gasket issues. I guess the power was ok in that car, barely.....but the gas mileage was terrible. im sure the cross trek is better with the CVT
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The old EJ series motors were finally retired with the outgoing sti and I don't think they were in the Impreza or foresters since after 2012 and 2014 and so far no prolific head gasket failures.

@one piece crank I have a 17 Impreza wagon that has the matching 2.0 but a 5 speed manual, it's fast enough to merge onto 80, I'm looking at the same model as you and honestly I'd love a turbo or the larger motor but it's not needed. I'm at 80k now and beat the shit out of my car I've only replaced oils and brakes. The Crosstreks have larger rotors so I'll assume you won't have my one complaint of warping rotors every 25k but that's due to my driving. Do it I don't think you'll regret it.

@soundz If it wasn't knocking replace the head gasket yourself, I'd you were looking to swap it out already the only difference is you know the engines history. Buying a used subie engine will still need a new head gasket kit and timing belt plus you have no idea what the hell else is up with it. The ej253s and ej251s we're almost as bad as the ej25ds when it came to head gasket failures. So many times I'd have to use a hanger to clear out the botched abortion that is stop leak plugging up the coolant passages.

Also if you have it apart you have so many options for more power you can get delta to regrind the cams or pick up ej22 heads and bump up the compression to give you wrx power. I'll give you 50 bucks for it lol.
 
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