It’s not just the North American Subaru Crosstrek that gets an update for the 2025 model year. Over in its home market of Japan, the crossover also gets a welcome host of changes, chief among which is its powertrain.
Whereas the US and Canadian models get a 2.5-liter, the one to be sold in Japan comes with what Subaru calls its most powerful hybrid yet. It’s dubbed the Crosstrek S:HEV, and it has all the potential to be sold worldwide.
OTHER STORIES YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED:
The greatest hits of the late Mercedes-Benz designer Bruno Sacco
The new Porsche 911 GT3 is ready for your next track day
It’s a proper full hybrid setup that combines a 2.5-liter boxer engine to a pair of high-output motors and a large capacity lithium-ion battery pack. Subaru says this engine was specifically developed for electrified powertrains, so we can expect it to appear in more models down the line.
For power, the 2.5-liter alone makes 158hp and 209Nm, suggesting that it uses an Atkinson Cycle. The drive motor then makes 118hp and 270Nm of torque. Combined power figures weren’t mentioned just yet, but Subaru claims that the new ‘Strong Hybrid’ fitted to this model is faster than the Crosstrek mild hybrid by around two seconds. With that, we can expect a 0-100kph time in the 8-second range.
Subaru would also like to highlight the Crosstrek s:HEV’s range. Per the automaker, it is said that this arrangement gives this crossover a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. Aside from the efficiency gains from the electric drive motor, the Crosstrek S:HEV retains the non-hybrid model’s fuel tank capacity of 63 liters. Hybrids typically end up with a smaller tank due to the size of the batteries, but Subaru somehow made it work in this case.
Of course, it still comes with Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive. This is a Subaru after all. But what makes it different is the fact that it’s still a mechanical system instead of relying on the electric motor to power the rear wheels. That means it stays all-wheel drive all the time rather than the rear wheels kicking in when slip is detected.
The Subaru Crosstrek S:HEV is now available for booking in Japan with customer deliveries set for December 2024. Export dates are still unknown, but seeing this powertrain in local Crosstreks and other models would be a good addition to the range.
