Compare the2023 Honda HR-VVS 2023 Subaru Crosstrek

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda HR-V have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Subaru Crosstrek doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Honda HR-V has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Both the HR-V and the Crosstrek have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Honda HR-V is much safer than the Crosstrek:

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the HR-V its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Crosstrek was last a “Top Safety Pick Plus” in 2019 but no longer qualifies.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the HR-V for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Subaru doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Crosstrek.

There are over 68 percent more Honda dealers than there are Subaru dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the HR-V’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Subaru vehicles. With 8 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Honda higher than Subaru.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Subaru vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 2 places higher in reliability than Subaru.

The HR-V’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 6 more horsepower (158 vs. 152) than the Crosstrek’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder.

The HR-V has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Honda HR-V comes standard with an automatic transmission, for driver comfort, especially in the city. Automatic costs extra on the Crosstrek.

For better stopping power the HR-V’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Crosstrek:

The HR-V stops shorter than the Crosstrek:

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the HR-V is 1.6 inches wider in the front and 2 inches wider in the rear than on the Crosstrek.

The HR-V EX-L AWD handles at .80 G’s, while the Crosstrek Premium pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The HR-V uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The HR-V has a much larger cargo volume than the Crosstrek with its rear seat up (24.4 vs. 20.8 cubic feet).

The HR-V’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Crosstrek has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

On a hot day the HR-V’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Crosstrek can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The HR-V’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the Crosstrek’s standard halogen headlights. LED lights also light instantly and last over twenty times longer than halogen.

The HR-V has a standard automatic headlight on/off feature. When the ignition is on, the headlights automatically turn on at dusk and off after dawn. The Crosstrek has an automatic headlight on/off feature standard only on the Premium/Sport/Limited.

The HR-V EX-L’s standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Honda HR-V EX-L has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) for the front seat. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The HR-V is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda HR-V and the Subaru Crosstrek, based on reliability, safety and performance.