Subaru's Best 5 Models are All Impressive

Sometimes a company or person recognizes a trend before anyone else does. Subaru was famous for their reliability, all wheel drive, and truck like features on some of their cars. They had no idea that this ideology was basically the beginning of the crossover. 

Subaru still prides itself on quality. It works tirelessly in the lab to engineer vehicles to overcome any obstacle. Occasionally they can go too far and arguably engineer a vehicle so much that it’s no longer any fun to drive. However, in those instances, they’ll just tell someone to jump in a WRX and get all the fun they could ever want from there! Subaru gets a lot of the same credit and the reputation that Volvo has. They are safe. They are incredibly well built. They take care of the little details. If you’re someone who doesn’t need a speed burner of a vehicle, doesn’t that sounds perfect? The following are the 5 best models Subaru has to offer. 

1 - Ascent

With the near death of the minivan, it’s three row SUVs that have come to the fore when it comes to family transportation. The Ascent is one of the best. Subaru all wheel drive is of course included. The ride and handling feels balanced and confident. Fuel economy is good and the interior is comfortable and for the most part spacious. The Ascent is a top safety pick from the IIHS and has features like adaptive cruise control, lane departure warnings/lane assist and forward collision warning coupled with automated braking. What’s even better is that all of these come standard with the Ascent! 

2 - WRX

When it comes to fun,the WRX has been providing it for two decades. Subaru took their all wheel drive to the world rally scene with their Impreza. Their complete and utter dominance caused them to realize they really had something, and the Impreza WRX was born. Now badged as simply the WRX, things remain much the same, but without the ridiculous rear wing. For a package that start around $30,000, you get a 268 horsepower turbo 4. 0-60mph time is quite fast at just 5.5 seconds! The WRX all wheel drive system means that when you point it into a corner with pace, you’re going to come out the other side alright. There are a few things that might make some people unhappy. When you have an engine like that and a price point that low, sacrifices have to be made somewhere. In this case, the cabin is noisy and the interior feels a little cheap. But for pure driving bliss, it’s hard to beat a WRX. 

3 - Outback

The outback started life as a Legacy station wagon and Subaru thought “what if we raised it up so people could have more ground clearance?”. Thus the crossover was born. Despite being badged as a crossover, the Outback still looks like that original design. All wheel drive is of course standard, and that elevated seating makes a driver confident that they can see everything around them. Power comes from a 2.4 liter 4 cylinder in most cases. Some versions can take an optional 3.6 liter V6. If you wait a year, it’s rumored 2020 model year will feature a new turbo engine. Driver assist features like adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane assist and their auto high beams are all standard features on the Outback!  A few items like blind spot monitoring are still options. The interior is spacious for people, with tons of cargo space in the rear. Fuel efficiency is very good. Even the V6 managing 27 mpg in highway driving is solid for a vehicle of this size. 

4 - Crosstrek

Sometimes Subaru isn’t quite as exciting for younger buyers. The one thing Subaru models tend to lack is speed. The Crosstrek is no different. The Crosstrek uses a noisy 152 horsepower four cylinder engine. Good fuel efficiency is the tradeoff there. However, despite the lack of power, the Crosstrek really appeals to many younger buyers. The infotainment system is easy to use and appealing. The interior is well built and layout is intuitive. On the exterior, the Crosstrek looks great, especially if you choose some of the adventurous colors. An orange car can be off putting, but the sunshine orange looks great on the crosstrek. 

5 - Forester

The Forester was one of the earliest crossovers and excels in that role in 2019. All wheel drive is of course standard in the Forester. Power comes in the form of a 182 hp 2.5 liter flat four cylinder. Transmission comes in the form of a CVT. It’s not a powerful combination. 0-60mph times are a bit slow in the 8.5 second range. The ride however is very comfortable and steering fairly responsive. 33 mpg on the highway is a respectable rating for a vehicle of this size. Speaking of size, the cargo area is huge, allowing for plenty of storage. The interior is designed with space and efficiency in mind. Essentially, with the exception of speed, the Forester is a well designed and comfortable crossover.