Compare the2024 Honda CR-VVS 2024 Subaru Crosstrek

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda CR-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 CR-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.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the CR-V deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The CR-V’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Crosstrek’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Compared to metal, the CR-V’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Subaru Crosstrek has a metal gas tank.

Both the CR-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, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, 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 CR-V is safer than the Crosstrek:

The Honda CR-V achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Crosstrek last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2023.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the CR-V for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Subaru doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Crosstrek.

There are over 67 percent more Honda dealers than there are Subaru dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the CR-V’s warranty.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Subaru vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 1 place higher in reliability than Subaru.

The CR-V’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 38 more horsepower (190 vs. 152) and 34 lbs.-ft. more torque (179 vs. 145) than the Crosstrek’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder. The CR-V’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 8 more horsepower (190 vs. 182) and 1 lbs.-ft. more torque (179 vs. 178) than the Crosstrek Sport/Limited/Wilderness’ standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The CR-V Hybrid’s standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid produces 22 more horsepower (204 vs. 182) and 69 lbs.-ft. more torque (247 vs. 178) than the Crosstrek Sport/Limited/Wilderness’ standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Honda CR-V turbo 4 cyl. is faster than the Subaru Crosstrek 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder:

On the EPA test cycle the CR-V gets better mileage than the Crosstrek:

Regenerative brakes improve the CR-V Hybrid’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The CR-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 CR-V stops much shorter than the Crosstrek:

For better traction, the CR-V has larger tires than the Crosstrek (235/60R18 vs. 225/60R17).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the CR-V Sport Touring Hybrid has standard 19-inch wheels. The Crosstrek’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the CR-V’s wheelbase is 1.2 inches longer than on the Crosstrek (106.3 inches vs. 105.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the CR-V is 2.3 inches wider in the front and 3 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Crosstrek.

The CR-V EX-L AWD handles at .84 G’s, while the Crosstrek Wilderness pulls only .75 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The CR-V EX-L AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1 seconds quicker than the Crosstrek Limited (27.4 seconds @ .61 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .6 average G’s).

The CR-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 CR-V has 5.5 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Crosstrek (106 vs. 100.5).

The CR-V has .2 inches more front headroom, .5 inches more front hip room, 1.1 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear headroom, 4.5 inches more rear legroom and .6 inches more rear shoulder room than the Crosstrek.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the CR-V’s rear seats recline. The Crosstrek’s rear seats don’t recline.

The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Crosstrek with its rear seat up (39.3 vs. 19.9 cubic feet). The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Crosstrek with its rear seat folded (76.5 vs. 54.7 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the CR-V easier. The CR-V’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 28 inches, while the Crosstrek’s liftover is 30.9 inches.

The CR-V’s cargo area is larger than the Crosstrek’s in almost every dimension:

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier, especially for short adults, the CR-V EX-L/Sport-L/Sport Touring has a standard power liftgate, which opens and closes automatically by pressing a button, or on the CR-V Sport Touring, by just kicking your foot under the back bumper, completely leaving your hands free. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer a power liftgate.

The CR-V uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Crosstrek uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The CR-V EX/Sport has a standard remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

When two different drivers share the CR-V EX-L/Sport-L/Sport Touring, the memory seats make it convenient for both. Each keyless remote activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer memory seats.

The CR-V EX-L/Sport-L/Sport Touring’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The CR-V EX-L/Sport L/Sport Touring’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Crosstrek’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

On a hot day the CR-V’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Crosstrek can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The CR-V has a standard Pushbutton Start that allows you to start the engine without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Only the Crosstrek Premium/Sport/Limited/Wilderness offers Keyless Access and Start.

The CR-V’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Crosstrek’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The CR-V Sport Touring’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

On extremely cold winter days, the CR-V Sport Touring’s standard heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

Both the CR-V and the Crosstrek offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the CR-V has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Crosstrek doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

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

The CR-V was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “Top Ten” for 2024 and 8 more times in the last 23 years. The Crosstrek has never been chosen by Car and Driver in their “10Best” issue.

Motor Trend selected the CR-V as their 2018 Sport Utility of the Year. The Crosstrek has never been chosen.

The Honda CR-V outsold the Subaru Crosstrek by over two to one during 2023.